First Weekend in Baker

Friday: I began the day by rounding on my patients at the hospital and then attempting my first dictation. St. Elizabeth's has paper charts, and so for my History & Physical note, I was to dictate (and not type) it. I admit that I was very intimidated. It was a painfully slow process, and I kept getting tongue tied. What a scary thought that others would be reading this note! I've heard several doctors over the years dictate notes like it was nothing. Will I ever get to that point? Dr. Schott reassured me that it'll come with time...hmm for me it'll take a looooong time. :) Still, it was strangely fun dictating, and when the job was (finally) done, I headed back to clinic.

I worked with Dr. Kal Kelley for the afternoon. It's fun working with different physicians and seeing each of their unique styles. All are awesome docs and fabulous teachers! I'm so appreciative of them taking the time to teach me, especially because I know they are so busy. It means so much, and I'm learning a lot.

Friday evening, Mike drove in from Walla Walla where he's living for his rotation in Milton-Freewater. He's also really enjoying his rural experience. It's fun sharing stories about our respective sites, and we're thankful to be so close to one another.

I spent most of Saturday in the hospital (another dictation...that's 2 down! It was 1% easier than the first one). Later in the day, Mike and I drove to Phillips Lake in Wallawa-Whitman National Forest. What a stunning area. We drove to Southwest Shore (thank goodness for Mike's 4WD!) and walked around a bit. It was just us in the big white wonderland; no other people creatures were in sight. We were feeling brave and ventured out onto the lake, where we saw a lot of deer and (what we think were) coyote tracks. Not long after, we heard several howling coyotes and felt it was an appropriate time to head back to the sanctuary of the car.

Drive to Phillips Lake

The following day we headed West again, and this time to North Powder and later to Anthony Lakes. In North Powder, we went on a fun elk-viewing horse-drawn sleigh ride. I don't think I'd ever seen an elk before. The guides were very knowledgable and shared a lot of interesting information.

We then headed to Anthony Lakes Nordic Area for some snowshoeing. We discovered that there were several snowshoe and cross-country skiing races earlier. We followed the same path as one of the courses, shoein' from the lodge (cute and cozy little cabin) to Black Lake. There and back was about 2 miles total. It was a nice combo of trails with lots of trees and open groomed areas. The snow was crusty on top, making a satisfying crunch as we trekked through it.

Snow-covered lakes are such a treat to see. Beautiful, pristine open spaces that are surrounded by trees are what we commonly see. We imagine what the lake looks like in the summer, and it tickles us that we can walk on it with our snowshoes in the winter.

After our snowshoeing adventure, we stopped briefly at the Anthony Lakes Ski Resort lodge for some comfort food. :) Clam chowder, cornbread, and hot chocolate hit the spot. Turns out Anthony Lakes' motto is "Where powder is reality," and I've heard a number of people comment on the excellent snow there. I can't wait to go boarding! It'll also be fun to go since Cindy, the EOMA practice manager, is a snowboard instructor. Very cool lady. :)

After Anthony Lakes, Mike and I visisted with Jacque Cobb, one of EOMA's nurses and care managers. Her husband (Josh), brother, father, and she have a huuuuuuge potato farm. It's so big that it's considered a corporate farm! Josh and Jacque kindly invited us to their farm and let us check out one of their massive potato silos. The one we visited held 22,000 sacks of potatoes, and each sack = 100 lbs! That's a lot of taters. :) And this is one of their smaller silos! I've never seen such a sight. Jackie and Josh explained a lot about the potato-growing process; it truly is both an art and a science.

The temperature of the silo is kept around 45 degrees F; any colder and the potatoes could freeze, any warmer and they could get moldy. They have a wind tunnel along one side of the silo to cool down the potatoes. "Since they are living beings, they give off heat," Jacque described. It's clear that she and Josh work incredibly hard year-round. Their farm is definitely something to be proud of!

Gift from Jacque and Josh: sack of recently harvested potatoes (washed one of them off and Mike cooked it with gruyere--delish!)

I've discovered that a number of people that I work with have farms and ranches, raise calves, ride horses, hunt, fish, and participate in snow sports. It's so wonderful how everyone is so outdoorsy and close to the land. :)

I think I've fallen in love with Baker.