30 Hours: Me, Myself & I

After three years we had got very used to living together, and so it was really tough to pull away in the car and begin the drive back to the Midwest. I had about 30 hours ahead of me in the next two days, with much of that time to be spent with my thoughts – a frightening prospect at the best of times. I had arranged to stay in Montana and thus set off across Oregon, Idaho, the huge state of Montana, South Dakota and finally my destination of Rochester Minnesota. It is amazing how long you can drive without seeing signs of life, with incredible mountains and stretches of highway. I took a quick detour to see Mount Rushmore, which is pretty amazing to see in person, and provided me with my portion of American history for the trip. Despite the best efforts of various books on tape, Spanish lessons, my weight in snack food and a few phonecalls which dropped each time I came within view of a mountain, it was a pretty rough weekend. I was essentially delirious by Sunday evening when I reached Rochester and could have slept on a granite slab. I also had no interest in seeing my car for as long as possible. I spent the following week with a team at the Mayo Clinic, an impressive institution and a great learning experience. Then it was back into the Red Devil and a relatively brief 7 hour trip back to South Bend and school. The next month would be spent resurrecting my life here at school after my trip away, and then in August it is off to a hospital in Texas and to see what all the fuss about the summer heat is all about.

Pictured: The big men on the mountain, Montana…or South Dakota…no idea.

Portland Proud

After a few trips around downtown Portland we were able to find a cute studio apartment just big enough for Jen and Gus. With the help of her family we were able to get it furnished and all setup in no time at all, and before we knew Jen was settled in a brilliant area of the city ready for her program to start. The Northwest area is great, close to parks and grocery stores, cafes and bars, and unfortunately within walking distance of plenty of clothing stores. After a quick weekend trip to Seattle it was time to Jen to start classes. This was going to be quite an adjustment, with a 5.30am wake up call in order to get to class on time. After making sure Gus didn’t cause too much trouble being left alone in the apartment for extended periods, it was time for me to get out of the way and head back across the country. So it is back to our long distance ways, emails and phonecalls aplenty. At least we are on the same continent this time, without a 14 hour flight between us. The next stage in our adventure begins…

Pictured: Jen’s new place, the rose garden nearby, Gus teething? and the famous Seattle Marketplace and first Starbucks.