Ready to Roll

As of Wednesday, March 20th at 12:50 (CST), Charlie and I entered our new home of Olney, IL, home of the White Squirrel.  After much anticipation, I'm finally ready to make my first post on our already established blog.

Since Charlie and I made the decision to keep a blog I have been excited, but resistant to blogging until I felt our American journey had begun. Charlie being very much in the moment and out of his normal routine was ready to blog his last day of work in February. Looking back, I'm glad he did because we had quite a few mini adventures on the East coast as we waited to receive our first travel PT placement. It is incredible how difficult it is to spend quality time with those who mean the most to you in our hectic everyday lives. We couldn't ask for better friends and family, so despite our prolonged "vacation" from working, it was amazing to spend our time with all of you.

Now onto my version of our "American Adventure" thus far...

It started with a Ford Escape that was packed to the brim and ready for some action.

Followed by 7 hrs of driving (Charlie driving, Amanda sleeping/keeping the driver entertained with music, podcasts, and trivia) to Columbus, Ohio. No matter what Mom Funk says about The Red Roof Inn, I recommend this hotel located in downtown Columbus to anyone looking for affordable, convenient, and comfortable lodging that is within walking distance to various hot spots (e.g. food, sport, history) and includes a nice continental breakfast.

Scioto River & the Santa Maria replica in Columbus, OH

Well rested, we continued our drive from Columbus, OH to Olney, IL which opened our eyes to the Midwest's vast farmland. With no hills in sight I am finally excited to ride my new road bike! We couldn't have asked for better weather to drive the 5 hours to Olney and arrived to this quaint town right on time.

We received a warm welcome from our landlord, a spunky 85-year old woman, who owns the local appliance store we're living above. She and her daughter have been very helpful thus far and pointed us in the right direction as we've begun exploring the surrounding area (state park, lakes, local library, movie theater, coffee shop, etc). We are getting a kick out of the truly small town life we've stumbled upon and are really looking forward to working and playing here. 

One more thing before I sign out for today...

We had the pleasure of meeting our soon to be co-workers yesterday and were informed where to find the best ice cream around. Intrigued, we drove the 20 miles to Sumner, IL where we experienced Dairy Dee's ice cream where they have the slogan, "World famous ice cream (in this part of the world)." The main street of this town had mostly empty store fronts, however, Dairy Dee's is intact, well maintained and appears to be thriving! Charlie enjoyed their staple strawberry cheesecake flavor, whereas I went for a weekly special of vanilla and orange (mmmm...creamsicle!).

Welcome to Illinois!

Wow, lots of updating to be done, but I'll try not to be wordy so this post doesn't drag on and on (though it probably will anyway).

First off, we made it safely to Olney, IL. It was a long, but relatively uneventful drive. Our only stop was in Columbus OH on Tuesday night. I think that Columbus is a very underrated city. I kept hearing that there is nothing in Columbus, but man, that is an incredibly clean city, with a very new feel to it. Great restaurants/breweries. We enjoyed it a lot. And we got to see a life-size replica of Christopher Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria. That alone was worth the trip.

Amanda and her buddy Chris Columbus

The "most accurate" Santa Maria replica in the world

We were back on the road first thing Wednesday morning, where we passed through Indianapolis on our way to Olney. I'm pretty sure I didn't see a single hill in Indiana. It's ridiculous how it's nothing but flat farmland, And Olney is no different. It is surrounded by expansive farmlands, and all of the towns here are spread out anywhere from 35-50 miles apart. You are literally in the middle of nowhere.

I'm pretty sure this is 100% accurate

I don't mean to say this is a bad thing, we really do like how different this is from what we are used to and how everyone knows everyone else in this small town. People are so friendly and we know this is a nice, safe place to be.

Our apartment is perfect for what we need, small but simple. Our landlord, Edith, is fantastic as well. She's this funny and energetic 85 year old woman who would do anything for you and genuinely wants us to feel welcomed. We really couldn't ask for a better living situation. We even met one of our neighbors, Rusty, the other night. His claim to fame is that he owns a gigantic aquarium in his room, which apparently for Olney is a big deal. All in all we are happy where we are and this seems like a great town to experience and explore.

Yesterday, we had lunch with the rehab staff from Richland Memorial Hospital. Again, everyone was very welcoming and we can't wait to get started working with them. However, I get the feeling that they think because we come from the East Coast that we are "fancy" people. They kept trying to give us information about other towns that have "nicer" places to eat. Of course when they say "nicer" they are referring to Applebees. And no, I'm not exaggerating. Little do they know we are looking forward to all the hole in the wall places around here. Even Amanda is excited to go to the local dirt racetrack once the racing season gets started.

Overall, there is a lot to see and explore around here. We are looking forward to going to the the lakes and parks around here in the summer, visiting the nearby cities and towns, and just seeing what the Mid-West has to offer.

And for those of you wondering, we have spotted the elusive white squirrel. Unfortunately we didn't have our camera, so I took a pic with my phone. I promise you more, and better, photos in time.

This little guy put Olney on the map

Finally, here's the white squirrel fun fact of the day. In Olney, the law states that cats are not allowed outside unless they are on a leash. This is to protect the white squirrel from attack. Previously, if cats were outside they had to wear a bell at all times so they could not sneak up on the squirrels. However, they discovered that squirrels were still being killed by cats, thus the leash law was passed. Welcome to Olney, IL.

Correction

In order to decrease the ridiculousness of packing our car with everything we need for the next 2 years and to finish all our pre-employment paperwork, we are now leaving for IL on Tuesday, March 20th. This means we get to spend another day in the pardise that is Ephrata, PA, and experience yet another delay in the travel process. Luckily this is a much shorter delay than our previous ones. Thanks Mom and Pop Funk for the free rent!

It's Official

After weeks and months of planning, we are officially heading out to Illinois. I know you are all thinking it's about time we got back to work, and trust me, we agree with you. We will be leaving on March 19th. It's hard to believe this is finally happening. It's taken a little longer to get going than originally thought, but we enjoyed it. It has given us the opportunity to see a great deal of our friends and family, spend time at the beach, play lots of disc golf, and even spend a day at the spa. I know, a spa trip is incredibly unmanly, but I don't care. It was pure relaxation. Nothing wrong with that.

Before we leave next week, we do have a few more stops to make, most notably to visit our newest niece, Anna. She was born on last Tuesday and both her and Amanda's sister Betsy are doing great. We can't wait to go see them, along with Anthony and Ellie of course. 



Our newest niece, Anna

















Ellie is the proudest big sister EVER.

Now that the finality of this whole process is setting in and we know for sure that we are leaving on the 19th, I would like to take the chance to thank everyone, especially our parents, for their support during this whole process. Amanda and I are so fortunate to be surrounded by a great group of friends and family who have had nothing but a positive response from the moment we started talking about the possibility of travelling. All of you have encouraged us every step of the way and we can't possibly express how much that means to us. It has made some very difficult decisions easier to make and allowed us to fully appreciate this opportunity we have been given.

There is no doubt we will miss you all, but we hope to keep in touch via Skype, text, email, and of course this blog. Skype is my new favorite, I'm pretty much obsessed with that, so feel free to Skype me at any time. Thank you again for all of the support and stay tuned for the next update, which will happen after we arrive in Olney, IL. Hopefully we'll get to meet one of the famous white squirrels we keep telling you all about.

First Placement

WE FINALLY HAVE A JOB!

It's been a long, ridiculous, and frustrating road, but we finally have our first travel placement. Unfortunately our recruiter was unable to find 2 placements in either southern Delaware (near the Funk's beach house) or in the Poconos. We thought we had one in the Poconos, but it fell through due to multiple absurd circumstances. It's too long of a story to post here, but trust me, it was a nightmare dealing with these people and we're glad it didn't work out. With all of our options in PA and DE being exhausted, we settled on what looks to be a great, but unexpected, placement in Illinois.

Yep, Illinois. Olney, Illinois to be exact. It's not very glamorous, but we do feel really good about it. It's a small community hospital where we'll shuffle between outpatient, acute care, and home care. So, if nothing else, we'll always have something new to look forward to. Also, if you look up Olney, IL, you will find out it is the White Squirrel Capital of the World. How could that not be a great place to be?

The famous white squirrel. Don't call them albino though!

True story: In Olney, the white squirrel has the right of way in all intersections and there is a $500 fine for killing one or running one over with your car. The white squirrel is quite a big deal out there. Who knew? You can read all about it HERE.

Olney is in a good location though. Only 2.5 hours from St. Louis, 3 hours from Indianapolis, and 4 hours from Chicago. So we'll get to travel around and see a good bit of the Mid-West. I'm already planning to go watch my Phillies play in St. Louis during Memorial Day weekend. That's my priority. Amanda is worried about trivial issues such as housing and getting a PT license.

The budding metropolis that is Olney, IL.

We don't know when we will be leaving yet for Illinois, because we still have to get licensed there before we can start. We are hoping to leave during the week of March 19th (and start working March 26th), but we'll have to wait and see if our paperwork goes through that quickly. As soon as we know when we are leaving, we will let all of you know. The sooner we can start, the better. We are more than ready to get this adventure going.