So after our fond fair well to our first home away from home, Olney, IL it was time to set forth into unknown territory, heading northwest to Omaha, Nebraska. Like Lewis and Clark, we headed toward the Missouri River, following it north on the Iowa side until we crossed into Nebraska where we were greeted by my long time friend Ian Aeillo. He has lived in Nebraska since college, but now has an amazing family of his own and they went out of their way to welcome us into their home and show us what Omaha has to offer.
Ian (nothing has changed, but he's a dad!), Mary Clare Sweet (yoga extraordinaire - look her up!) & Tallullah (the most well articulated 4 year old I've come across)
In the short amount of time we had (Saturday night & Sunday) we fit a lot in: fine dining at a sushi restaurant in downtown Omaha, entertained by a Nashville musician flown into Omaha for a very impressive house party, a drive-by of Warren Buffet's neighborhood, monkeying around at the Henry Doorly Zoo, Yoga Rocks the Park (see video below), and fun with friends at Ian and M.C.'s Sunday night family dinner.
Quite the warm welcome
Desert Dome at the zoo. At 13 stories tall it's the largest geodesic dome in the world!
We left the comforts of Omaha Sunday morning and were ready to see the wild west. Day 6 & 7 of our trip were designated to South Dakota's Badlands National Park and the infamous Mount Rushmore. We heard praises about a "corn palace" in South Dakota so we kept a lookout for such a thing and turns out it was conveniently en route!
Interesting concept, but we were slightly under impressed.
We kept moving and were entering the Badlands before we knew it. Before I continue, I need to note that one of the best parts of this trip was doing it in a car because it is unbelievable to look out the window and see so many varieties of landscape, geology, and topography unfold. This is unfortunately also one of the most challenging things to describe. Luckily we took a lot of pictures, which helps, but doesn't do it justice.
So we went from rolling hills and hay bails to the prairie where you suddenly see an enormous wall of eroding spires, which is Badlands National Park. We entered the park, found the visitors center to gather some information and then reserved a camp site for the night. We were both in awe, jaws dropped at this place. The best I can describe the land is like drip sand castles you make in the wet sand at the beach, but with magnificently colored sand. There is a large loop that you can drive to see the park from various perspectives and make stops along the way to explore. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw bison in the distance. Then we realized we were standing in a field of burrows, which is a prairie dog town! Incredible. We were excited to find that the parks offer free education programs led by park rangers. We attended a short afternoon session about fossils and archeology within the park and were really excited for an evening program on astronomy held under the stars where they end by giving a tour of the amazing night sky. Unfortunately, as the sky darkened clouds rolled in and lightening was striking in every direction. Due to the inclement weather, the session was cancelled and we headed back to our wind tossed $20 Walmart tent which was now only attached by 2 of our 4 stakes. I was slightly concerned at the "shelter" we had as the wind picked up and the thunder roared. I held down the tent with my body as Charlie was out in the elements being a good neighbor to the family camped beside us that had all sort of gear blowing away. I made sure to ground myself with my sneakers and prayed. Somehow we made it through the night with only minor leakage into our tent (we now have adhesive along the tent seams - live and learn!). We were up early to catch a sunrise and to go on an early morning hike before the temperature rose (it was 106 degrees the day before) and before it was time to continue west to Mount Rushmore and Cody, WY.
Welcome to the Wild West!
Layer upon layer of different sediments deposited 34 to 67 million yrs ago. They are now eroding sedimentary rocks.
He's got his eye on us.
They just make you smile.
With that, I must say goodnight! I'm out of blogging shape (not sure if I've ever really been in it, thanks to my overzealous husband). Stay tuned for part 3...
And so begins the tale of the O'Malley's attempt to be like Lewis and Clark...minus the dystentery of course.
After we said our goodbyes and loaded up our gear, Amanda and I headed out on the road again Wednesday, July 11th. Our goal was to head back to Olney to pick up the rest of our belongings, which we left in the apartment there. Along the way, we planned to make a detour to Louisville, KY to see the Louisville Slugger Museum. Wednesday night we camped on the outskirts of Louisville in Jefferson Memorial Forest. While there we stumbled across a disc golf course, and we felt obligated to play. Little did we know it was league night (really? disc golf league night?) so we accidentally got mixed up in tons of hardcore disc golfers. We clearly did not belong, but we stuck with it, had a good time, and managed not to embarrass ourselves too badly.
Advice: Avoid disc golf in KY,
those guys mean business.
Following disc golf we retreated back to our campsite where I proceeded to build an oversized campfire. The campground dropped off way to much firewood for us and I felt obligated to use as much as possible, hence the barely controllable blaze.
Only YOU can prevent forest fires!
The next morning we headed out to the Slugger Museum downtown. I highly recommend going there and taking the factory tour. First, they demonstrate how bats used to be made back in the late 1800's (and it was actually a guy originally from Philly who did this) and then they take you around the factory to show you the modern ways used to make bats for current Major League players. It's a must see for any baseball fan. There's also some really great exhibits there too, including one where I got to hold a bat owned and used by Babe Ruth, and then take a replica Babe Ruth bat into the batting cages. I have a whole new respect for the Great Bambino now, his bat is like a cave man club. It's enormous and incredibly heavy. I was exhausted after just 10 swings.
After Louisville, it was time for our last hurrah (for now anyway) in Olney. Luckily, we got to see all of our new found friends from Richland Memorial Hospital again because they were nice enough to meet us for lunch on Friday. It was so good to spend time everyone again, but at the same time, we were excited for the next leg of our adventure. It was definitely bittersweet.
Team RMH: We'll miss you guys!
Before we officially left Olney, I compiled a list of observations and random thoughts from our time there:
I miss Wawa. I knew I would, but I really do. The closest thing to it is called Casey's, but it's really more like a 7-11 than anything. And we all know that 7-11 has got nothing on Wawa.
Casey's best quality is their amazing windshield squeegees. Now, you wouldn't think that would be a big deal, but Southern Illinois is one of the buggiest areas I have ever seen. There were times while driving where you are hitting so many bugs that it literally sounds like rain. So a good squeegee goes a long way.
Another thing I missed from home were Tastykakes. You will not find a better snack cake. It's impossible.
There are some interesting street signs around here, such as this one:
Gotta love the
white squirrel
The streets are also uniquely organized. Every road has both a number (eg. 1250 Ave.) and a name (eg. Walnut Street). However, the name is written so small under the number that it is impossible for any mere mortal to see it at normal driving speeds, thus rendering a GPS useless.
Then there's the ridiculous occurrences where two roads intersect without a traffic light or stop sign to be found. Now generally this occurs on very rural roads so there is rarely an incident of two car crossing paths at the same time, but it is still kind of scary.
Do you see any stop signs?
The pastor at St. Joseph's Church in Olney looks exactly like Carter Pewterschmidt from Family Guy. I tried to get a picture but was unsuccessful, so you'll have to take my word for it.
If you have any desire to live to be 90+ years old, move to Olney. I have never seen so many people over the age of 90 who are still in relatively good shape. They must be putting something in the water.
Olney, IL has got to be the per capita vanity license plate capital of the U.S. Seriously, everyone's got them.
People over the age of 60 here refer to Walmart as: "The Wall Marts". It just sounds awkward and wrong when they say it like that.
There's a lot of love for Abe Lincoln around here. Illinois calls itself "The land of Lincoln", Indiana is "Lincoln's boyhood home", and Kentucky is "The birthplace of Lincoln". You'd think he wouldn't be that popular in the South, what with the Civil War and all.
Pork burgers are one of my new favorite meals. Envision a sausage patty crossed with a hamburger and cover it in BBQ sauce. I dare you tell me that doesn't sound amazing.
Finally, I'd like to leave you with a little slideshow recap of the highlights from our time in Olney, IL. Amanda will be bringing Part 2 of our westward journey to you shortly, so be on the lookout.
The fact that we have been on the road for so long, unable to update the
blog about our overall situation has been absolutely killing me.
However, after an arduous road trip which totaled almost 4,000 miles, Amanda
and I have safely arrived in southeast Washington! We will be detailing the
events of our cross-country journey in a future series of blogs, but for right
now let me get you up to speed on our current situation.
As has been the case with us, things did not go smoothly with our job search.
Washington took their sweet old time issuing us licenses, and as a result, the
company Amanda had a job lined up with (an outpatient facility in Pasco, WA)
backed out over fears that she wouldn't have her license by July 30th. It turns
out we got our licenses issued on July 20th, but by that time Amanda's position
had already been filled by someone else. I had a home care job set up in the neighboring
town of Richland, WA, but since Amanda's job fell through, we didn't think I'd
be able to continue with that plan. Long story short, we had to start from
scratch and find new placements. Keep in mind though, as all of this is going
on, we are travelling through areas such as the Badlands and Yellowstone
National Park where cell service is all but impossible. We did everything we
could to keep in contact with our recruiter, but most of the time we were in
the dark. Also, as we got closer to Washington, we had to stall our trip
because we didn't know what part of the state we should drive to. We ended up
staying extra days in Missoula, MT and Spokane, WA just to buy time. The extra
time in Missoula was worth it, Spokane…not so much.
We had some options in the Seattle area, but unfortunately none of them
panned out the way we hoped. As a last ditch effort, our travel company, Delta
Flex, decided to bite the bullet and pay for Amanda to have a rental car so we
could both do home care for the company I was originally scheduled to work for
in Richland, WA. They had offered us both jobs a while back when we first interviewed,
but since under normal circumstances we only have one vehicle, we can’t both do
home care. Now that we have a rental car though, we were able to take the
positions.
So after a multitude of phone calls, a few days of stalling our road trip,
and lots of awful stress/frustration we finally knew where we were going.
Richland, WA. This is part of an area known as the Tri-Cities. There are the
three cities of Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco all in one area around the Columbia
River. Again, we'll give you more information about it later, but it's a very
successful business area and it's apparently the heart wine country in
Washington. Who knew there even was wine country in Washington?
Richland, WA: Current home
of the Adventurers
Turns out the only thing harder than locking down this job was finding a
place to live. Because the Tri-Cities are so successful, apartment prices are
relatively high and vacancies are extremely limited. We looked all over the
place and 9 times out of 10 we were told we would end up on a waiting list and
couldn't get in to an apartment until the end of the first week in August, at
the earliest. We were sick of bouncing between camp grounds and hotels. All I
wanted to do was cook my own meal for a change. At the end of our search, we
stumbled across a brand new apartment complex that is still partially under
construction. We were told that tenants weren't supposed to move in until
August 1st, but when we pleaded our case they agreed to let us move in early,
on Friday (the 27th). This place is amazing. Everything is brand-spanking-new.
We have access to a pool, a club house, fitness center, and most importantly,
tanning beds.
As a side note, most of the apartment complexes we visited offer
complimentary tanning rooms. Apparently that's a big deal around here. I don't
get it at all. See, Richland is in a desert. It's 90+ degrees every day and
there are never clouds in the sky. Why do people need to tan? Just walk
outside!
Anyway, back to the point. Since they were desperate for tenants in this new
complex, not only did they let us move in early, but it ended up being the best
deal of any place we looked at too. It's not quite as sweet as the deal we had
in Olney, but I don't think we'll ever find a set up that good and cheap again.
Also, since we moved in early, we are literally the only people living in this
entire complex right now. We have the whole place to ourselves. Now it's just a
matter of getting unpacked, organized, and ready for work on Monday.
Oh, but did I mention that the apartment doesn't have furniture? Yeah,
that's a slight issue. I'm actually laying on the floor writing this on my
laptop since I don't have a chair to sit in or a table to put the computer on.
Minor details though. Furniture is overrated anyway. Well, I'm going to go to
bed now, on our luxurious air mattress. We will worry about trivial things such
as chairs and tables on another day.
Please check back regularly over the next week as we will be adding tons of
pictures and stories from our cross country road trip. Thanks for being patient
while we were travelling and again I apologize for not updating everyone
sooner.
I know you all will be shocked to hear that we still don't have a definite job hammered down, but at least we know what state we are going to: Washington!
We are officially headed to the Pacific Northwest. Now it's just a matter of who we will be working for and where that will be. Minor details. We have interviewed with a few companies, but have one more interview to go before we officially decide. We are very excited though. Washington was our second choice of where to go (behind Montana) so we are happy with how this is working out.
It was definitely sad to finish up in Olney, especially because of how well everyone treated us and how many friends we made there in just a few short months. Our co-workers threw Amanda and I an awesome going away party, complete with tons of food, multiple yard games, and HOURS of volleyball. I don't think I've ever played so much volleyball at one time in my life. Between that, and having done our Insanity work out earlier that day, Amanda and I were sore and out of commission for a good day and a half.
Some intense volleyball action
I truly cannot express how thankful I am to have met everyone in Olney. They took us in and really made us feel like family. They even put together a scrap book of pictures and items from around town which they presented to us on our last day. It is something we will always keep with us, and they left plenty of blank pages so we can continue to add to it as we go along. But of course, Olney will always be at the front of the book, first in line of all the great memories we are making along this journey.
After we finished our final day of work last Thursday, it was a mad dash to get things packed up and ready to drive home Friday morning. Early Friday morning. 4 A.M. Friday morning. Ugh. It was a necessary evil though as we had to get back in time for the Emily Martin-Dave Brown wedding extravaganza, which was to be held on Saturday. It was a great wedding, with a beautiful ceremony. It was well worth the long drive home. We are so happy for the both of them.
My body didn't handle all the action so well though. Between the late nights of organizing and packing in the days before our drive home, the ridiculously early rise on Friday, and the excitement of Saturday's wedding festivities, my body just shut down on Sunday. I was completely useless. I was lethargic, congested, sick to my stomach, you name it. I guess I just ran myself completely into the ground and couldn't get back up. So I slept basically the entire day on Sunday to recuperate. I really didn't start feeling back to normal until Tuesday, but thankfully I'm doing fine now.
Now that we are back in PA for a little while, and I can function again, we've been taking time to catch up with family and friends. We have a full slate of events, with minimal down time, taking us right up until we leave again. We wouldn't have it any other way though.
Actually, right now Amanda and I have split up to cover even more ground. She is with her family and friends for a few days and I am with mine to allow us to see as many people as possible. It's kind of wild though because we have spent just about every waking hour with each other over the last 3 months, and now going from yesterday (Wednesday) until Saturday without seeing each other seems like an incredible feat. I guess that's a good sign though that we haven't gotten sick of each other yet. If that were to happen, it could put a quick end to our adventure.
Even though we are busy seeing people, we are still working to plan our trip from PA to WA. Here is a map (thanks Google!) of how we want to conduct our 10 day cross-country road trip:
A: Leaving PA - Bye-bye B: Louisville, KY - Just because C: Olney, IL - All of our stuff is still in southern IL D: Omaha, NE - For Yoga in the Park with Ian E: Mount Rushmore, SD - I am very intrigued by this F: Yellowstone Park - I hope we don't get eaten by bears G: Somewhere in WA - Apparently the journey is more important than the destination
So there you have it, our master plan for getting alllllllll the way out west. We will be leaving on Wednesday, July 11th, and barring any setbacks we should be in WA a week and a half after that. Kinda crazy. That's where the second leg of this adventure will take place. We can only hope it will be a great as the first one. We still have one more stop in Olney though, so that chapter of the book isn't quite finished yet.
Don't worry, we didn't forget about our weekly update. The problem is, we don't have much of an update. We were hoping that we'd know sometime this week where we were going for our next travel stop and could post about that. Unfortunately, various factors have prevented that. Surprise, surprise, we are having issues finding a place to go work. That sounds like a familiar story.
It's actually not that bad. The main issue is that even though we are currently applying for our licenses in Washington, we have no idea when we will get them. As a result, our company can't promise a start date for us, which prospective employers obviously don't like. So we may not even end up working in Washington. If we can get a position in a state that is easier to get licensed in, then we might go for that. It's all up in the air right now.
Washington is a horrible state to get licensed in because they have so many extra hoops you have to jump through. It's quite ridiculous, and is seriously cramping our style. For instance, this past weekend we thought we had planned some fun in Chicago. We were going to hang out with my friend Pat, and it also worked out that our friend Michelle from PT school was going to be in Chicago that weekend, so we were excited to see her (she lives in California so we don't see her a lot). However, it was not meant to be. The great state of Washington requires seven, I repeat SEVEN hours of AIDS and HIV training. Are you kidding me? So instead of having a great weekend in Chicago, we had to cancel it so we could sit in front of our computers and learn every nuance about AIDS and HIV. It was incredibly lame. Why I need that much training on AIDS/HIV to be a PT there is beyond me. I don't get it. It was not an enjoyable experience. Thank you Washington for ruining our weekend.
The only positive that came out of last weekend was that on Friday night we got to hang out with Angie (our co-worker) and her husband John (the only other Philly sports fan in a 100 mile radius). First, we went out for tacos at Syd's, which were amazing as always. Man I love that place.
People take their tacos seriously at Syd's, and for good reason
After that, John took us to his friends' house party. They were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. But this wasn't just any house party. He is in the entertainment business, so he went all out. It was a backyard luau (tragically neither of us had packed any Hawaiian clothes) complete with two live bands on a full stage with a sound board and the whole works. It was impressive. Even more impressive was that his neighbors were cool with it. He lives in the main part of Olney in a normal housing development with houses all around him. It's not like we were out in the woods somewhere. However, as you will see in the picture below, it is "normal" for housing developments to have corn fields in them. They will put corn anywhere they can grow it around here.
In this single picture you can see an Alabama tribute band, a kid's
playhouse, and a corn field. Welcome to Southern Illinois.
During the party there was an Alabama tribute band and a Johnny Cash tribute band. The Johnny Cash guy was really good. I don't know how he did it, but he sounded exactly like him. Overall we had an awesome time, but it was painful knowing that the dreaded AIDS/HIV training mentioned above was awaiting us the next morning.
Oh well, what can you do. We just roll with it and whatever happens, happens. I really don't think we have a choice but to view it that way. I mean we didn't plan to come to Olney, but that has worked out pretty darn well. So no matter where we end up next we'll make the best out of it. I just hope wherever that is doesn't require any more training on AIDS, my brain just can't handle that.
I think one of the most pleasant surprises in this whole Olney experience has been how hospitable everyone has been to us. I mean, if we were two travelling PTs from the Philadelphia area going to somewhere like New York, Boston, or LA, people probably wouldn't even think twice about us. I don't believe everyone would act that way, but I'm sure a good deal would. They would probably just have us work our 3 months and then kick us to the curb. Here though, it's totally different. People have welcomed us in with open arms. From day one they have been telling us where to go, what to do for fun, inviting us into their homes, taking us out to dinner, and even letting us borrow their guns (I'll get to that later). I really can't say enough nice things about everyone we have encountered here. They've gone out of their way to make us feel at home, even though at the end of June we are leaving, and might not ever see them again. It has definitely made this transition a whole lot easier, and we are so grateful for it.
One of the recommendations we were given was to check out Bloomington, IN. It's the home of Indiana University and is more of a low key city with great places to eat and hang out. Also, at this time of year school is out and we won't have to feel like we are surrounded by a bunch of kids if we try to go out somewhere. As we were researching Bloomington, we found out that this weekend was the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival. We figured this would be a great way to sample what the Midwest brewers have to offer. I understand that Budweiser is a big deal around here, but let's try some of the real good stuff. So off we went to Bloomington, one of our shorter drives at only 2.5 hours. After checking into the hotel we did what all responsible adults should do and called a cab to take us over to the festival. All we knew was that it was at a place called the Historic Woolery Stone Mill, whatever that meant. Turns out, this was an old limestone mill that has since been shut down, but remains as a setting for festivals, theatre, and other events throughout the year. As you can see in the pictures below, it is basically just an open warehouse with a dirt floor. Luckily it had a roof so that kept the sun off of us, but since it was open-air, it felt like you were outside. This gave the festival a very laid back, blue collar kind of vibe.
Not exactly what we were expecting
But we enjoyed this unique setting
There were 45 different breweries in all, with a number of interesting brews and types of beer I didn't even know existed. There were also a lot of free goodies to be had, so I filled my pockets up with as much stuff as I could get my hands on. Not a bad way to spend a beautiful afternoon. Thankfully we didn't overly enjoy it, because we were able to successfully go back to the hotel pool for some relaxation before we headed out on the town that night. We ended up walking from the hotel into Bloomington, but since we were starving and didn't really know where we were going, we pretty much just stopped at the first place we found. We parked ourselves there for the night, refueled with some great food, and watched the joke that was the Pacquiao-Bradley boxing match. Everyone at the bar was freaking out when Bradley was announced as the winner. Even Amanda, who knows nothing about boxing couldn't believe the decision. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it. Ridiculous.
Moving on...
The next day we took a tour of Indiana University's campus, which is beautiful, it puts Drexel to shame. But then again most college campuses do anyway. After that, we headed back to Olney to meet up with our co-worker Erin who invited us to her parents' house for lunch and then an afternoon of sporting clay shooting. Now, keep in mind that neither Amanda nor I have ever fired a shotgun, and we don't even know what sporting clays are (we assumed it was like skeet shooting, but we were corrected and thoroughly educated on the differences).
Duck Hunt, Amanda's only frame of reference for what is to come
But what the heck. We'll give it a try. What could possibly go wrong when you give two people, who have no idea how to handle firearms, two high powered shotguns? Going into it I said my only goal was to at least hit one target and zero people. When Erin's dad handed me my gun, Amanda asked me, "Do you feel like a man?" To which I emphatically replied, "No, it just makes me nervous." I was so afraid of doing something stupid and/or unsafe. Thankfully, everyone helped us out and we avoided embarrassing ourselves and injuring others.
My biggest fear: Being Elmer Fudd
After getting a crash course in how to use the shotguns, Amanda and I followed Erin, her husband Jason, her father Loren, and their friend Duane to the first of twelve stations. Amanda and I decided to split up the stations, so we each did six. At each station, two circular clay saucers are flung into the air by machines set up in different locations. You repeat this four to five times per station. Sporting clay shooting is based around the idea of unpredictability, much like you would see in nature if you were shooting a bird or a rabbit. By the way, they do have ones that roll across the ground like a rabbit. Amanda got to shoot at those, I was jealous.
Since you have two bullets, or shells as they are really called, in the shot gun and there are two targets flying in the air, you only get one chance at each target. Therefore you have to be fast and accurate. Not a strong point for either one of us. It can be frustrating, which is why they call it "golf with shotguns". We held our own though. Amanda started off hitting 1-2 targets out of 8 for the first few stations while I was somehow managing to get 2-3 per station. By the end though Amanda looked much more comfortable, and she dominated the wobble shot station. This is a station that increases the unpredictability of the targets because you don't really know where it is coming from. The target launcher moves side to side, instead of remaining stationary. Amanda thrived on this, because she didn't over think it, she just reacted and fired. It was a thing of beauty. I also did well on my last station, getting 6 out of 8 targets. I was really getting into it at that point. Anthony, you would have been proud.
We almost look like we know what we're doing
After we were done shooting, but while my ears were still ringing like crazy, Erin's dad took us over to another part of the facility where the "Bang Clang Club" does their shooting. This club consists of men and women who shoot nothing but old time guns and are required to dress up in time period appropriate clothing. That means no matter what the temperature, men are dressed in wool pants, a jacket, vest, etc. and women are wearing corsets and giant dresses. Some people drive from Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin to be a part of this. The reason it's called the "Bang Clang Club" is because when the old style guns fire they make a really loud BANG and when the lead bullet hits the metal targets it makes a CLANG sound. Simple, yet descriptive. No one was there shooting when we walked through, but I can only imagine how crazy it gets. It'd be like stepping back in time to an old western.
A member of the "Bang Clang Club"
All in all another successful weekend. We had some good beer, a nice night on the town, and we got to play with guns. Things are winding down now though. We don't have any trips planned for the next two weekends before we come home and we are anxiously waiting to hear what our options are for our next placement. Right now Washington is the front runner, but who knows. As we learn more we'll keep you all in the loop, but for right now your guess is as good as mine. Anything is possible with this gig.
We were waiting for just the right weather to visit Mammoth Cave National Park. Luckily the stars aligned this weekend and we were on our way to Kentucky! We did our research ahead of time, making tour & camping reservations; additionally, we took ample time to organize our camping gear in an effort to enjoy a smoothly run weekend. We left bright and early Saturday morning, arriving an hour ahead of schedule.
Welcome!
Feeling really good about everything, we bought firewood and decided to set-up our campsite before our tour. We arrived at the beautiful site made for tent camping, opened the back hatch, and then there was silence.
We realized oh-to-quickly that we forgot the ONE thing you truly need to camp...a tent. !#*%@$!
After the initial frustration wore off we abashedly asked the campsite ranger where we could purchase a tent. Never fear...Walmart is near!
Still a bit disgruntled, but laughing at ourselves, we head back to the Visitors Center and get into cave mode. We signed up for a 4 1/2 hour walking tour that covers 4 miles of cave. 78 of us hop onto two eco-friendly buses (fueled by propane) and enter the longest known underground cave, Mammoth Cave (>390 miles long!).
It is hard to describe how impressive these natural caves are. There is a rush of cool air that surrounds all entrances to the cave, which remains a constant 55 degrees. The cave is entirely made of limestone, protected by a roof of sandstone and shale. We spent the majority of our time around 250-260 feet deep. Pictures don't do it justice since it is stinkin' dark down there, but we did our best...
Stalactite = tight to the ceiling; stalagmite = you might trip on it!
You aren't supposed to touch the cave...oops!
Slightly eerie!
"Historic graffiti"
Wad Wallace was a civil war soldier visiting Mammoth Cave during a break from the fighting. Records used one word to describe this fellow, "drunk."
After our cool 4 mile hike through various cave terrains we exited Mammoth Cave intrigued by its history and feeling like geologists. But that didn't last long as we made our trip to Walmart. We almost made a few pit stops for souvenirs since there were rocks and giant roosters for sale along the country Kentucky road leading us to the infamous one stop shop, but we stayed on track and purchased a very affordable 2 person tent that was large enough to fit our air mattress.
Happy camping
We enjoyed a peaceful night in nature with only one raccoon that needed to be scared away.
We arose with the sun and finished the weekend off with two hikes. The first led us to the historic entrance of Mammoth Cave and the other along a forested path, which was also a trail for horse riding. It was a beautiful day and it felt great to be active outdoors.
As we've said before, we couldn't be happier with our decision to become travelling PTs. We feel blessed to have this opportunity and care free in that we have so much to continue looking forward to. We still have no official update on where we're going next, but have started applying for licensure in Washington, which has a high need for travelling therapists, but takes forever to get licensed. So the plan is to make a stop in Washington somewhere along the way!
Stay tuned for upcoming blogs...there could be some good stories associated with the skeet shooting we'll be doing this coming weekend!
Fact: Amanda does a great job of blogging and I love her very much.
Fact: Amanda likes to take her time between posts and needs a healthy dose of encouragement to participate which can put this blog behind schedule.
Fact: I am going to be in big trouble once she reads the above statement (I hope a trip to Dairy Dee will smooth things out).
After a little bit of a hiatus, the O'Malley's American Adventure continues. I've got some catching up to do since we are a week behind. No time to waste, back to the adventure.
Since my last post, things have gone back on the upswing. Work is going really well, no more crazy drivers have tried to crash into me, and we are having a lot of fun. Two weekends ago we made a sort of impromptu trip to Nashville, TN. When we first started looking for places to visit it wasn't on our list, but everyone at work encouraged us to go there. It did not disappoint. After about a 4 hour drive, we arrived at the hotel and quickly set out to explore. We went to the Opryland Hotel, which is unbelievable. It is built like an enclosed football stadium and has a giant rain forest inside. I'm talking trees, rock formations, waterfalls, rivers, you name it. It was impressive. We walked around in there for well over an hour just looking around.
Apparently this is how they build hotels in Nashville
After we picked our jaws up off the floor, we left the hotel and headed downtown. Little did we know Broadway and the adjacent streets are one giant party. Every day of the week from 10am until 2am there are at least 10 live bands playing at any given time. Again, that's EVERY DAY, not just weekends. We went from place to place soaking it all in. Now we aren't country music fans by any stretch of the imagination, but it is easy to get into it in an environment such as this. We spent all night there and really had a blast.
The next day we went back downtown to visit the Ryman Auditorium, which housed the Grand Ole Opry for 31 years (the show has since moved to a new high tech theatre). However, the Ryman still remains home to concerts and shows of all genres from comedy, to rock, classical, and of course, country.
Even we sound good at the Ryman
We took the backstage tour and gathered a lot of history, not only about the theatre, but of Nashville in general. I would recommend that tour to anyone going to Nashville, it was that good. A fun fact we learned is that the Ryman Auditorium has the second best acoustics of any venue, anywhere in the world. To see how good it sounds, check out this performance:
Nashville was a bit of a whirlwind, but we got a good taste of the south and all it has to offer (including more BBQ, which Amanda is growing to love). We couldn't find any moonshine though. Maybe next time.
Not to be outdone, this Memorial Day weekend was even more hectic. First, we drove to St. Louis to watch our Phillies beat up on the Cardinals Friday night. It was a great game, especially because of the outcome. I will say that Cardinals fans are very hospitable, as we had a good group sitting around us. That being said, it still feels really good to go into a stadium as a fan of the visitor and walk out a winner. That alone would have made my weekend.
But we soldiered on from St. Louis to Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday. It only took a paltry 7 hours. No big deal! The reason we went to OK was to visit our good friends Ben and Julie for Julie's birthday. We know them from living in Philly, but both of them are originally from OK. Julie is also pregnant with their first child, so we wanted to see how that all was going. They were nice enough to invite us down, and since we like a good adventure, how could we resist?
Happy Birthday Julie!
It was so good to see them. It's really nice seeing familiar faces because honestly, I feel like we are living a fake lifestyle right now. I mean, look at what we do. We are working our way around the country, meeting fantastic people, learning new things all the time, and going on mini-vacations just about every weekend. Seriously, how absurd is that?
Another reason we had a great time is that Ben and Julie's family knows how to throw a party. There were games, swimming, music, food, drinks, and Big Truck Tacos. Big Truck Tacos is no joke. It was voted the number one food truck in all of America. They literally drove up to the party, opened their truck, and allowed us all to eat our faces off. It was glorious.
The following morning, we packed up our stuff and headed back to white squirrel country. It was a quick turn around, but we wanted to have Monday to relax since we've been going, going, going. 10 hours later we arrived in Olney completely exhausted.
After a good night's sleep, our relaxing Monday quickly turned into another day of action. First, we decided to start our new workout program, Insanity. You may have seen the commercials, well let me tell you, it is equal parts awfulness and amazingness. Just doing the fitness test made us both sore and achy. It's a two month program and apparently each day is worse that the next. What the heck are we thinking?
Eventually we picked ourselves up off the floor and met up with one of the people we work with and her husband. They invited us out to go four-wheeling to a local winery. It was pure hillbilly elegance. Riding ATVs to a classy winery. Unfortunately the winery was closed, so we then proceeded to just take the ATVs through the woods and back roads. The scenery was excellent. And who wants a four-wheeler now...THIS GUY! While it wasn't exactly the relaxing afternoon we planned for, we had a great time nonetheless.
So there you have it. It took a little while, but we are now back up to speed with all of our adventures.
The task for this week is figuring out where our next travel job will be. We are supposed to start setting up interviews in the upcoming days and make a decision as to where we want to go next. We initially asked our recruiter for Montana, but it's not looking promising. I think we'll have some other good options though. Whatever happens, happens. I mean Illinois wasn't on our radar to start and I think it's worked out pretty well so far. Who knows where this crazy life will take us next? But when we know, you'll know (unless Amanda wants to post that information, then it might take a while).
I would like to preface this blog with a few positive statements
since the last post was slightly depressing: 1. The ability to watch The Avenger's on opening weekend and spend only $10.00 for 2 tickets on a Friday night...amazing.
2. Charlie "won" in the case of his car accident as fault was placed on the woman driving the other vehicle!
3. Our Ford Escape now looks beautiful (post body work) and has 1,600 less miles on it. That's right, in 10 days we put 1,600 miles on a rental car. Thank goodness there wasn't a mileage limit.
Moving on... We've continued to keep busy and it seems like there are more and more things we want to add to our "to do" list. Luckily the weather has been beautiful, lending to ease of travel and sightseeing. We spent May 12-13 in St. Louis, Missouri and this past weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. St. Louis seems like ages ago, but I'll do my best to re-cap.
City Museum in St. Louis, MO
We arrived Saturday afternoon and decided to start with the most recommended spot, City Museum. This is a place like no other and is really indescribable. It is a playground for both children and adults housed in a 600,000 square foot former shoe factory. They have transformed the space into an architectural gem using old objects found around the city, i.e. abandoned bridges, school buses, rebar, construction cranes, etc. We were climbing, swinging, sliding and entertained by circus acrobats in training. We had so much fun here and left exhausted and sweaty. Here are some pictures & a video:
On the roof
In a cave
So we continued on foot (walkin', walkin') to a more well known tourist attraction, Gateway Arch. This is another impressive piece of architecture. Charlie kept saying that it didn't look real and I have to agree with him. It looked to be digitally placed on the lawn, like something you would see in Star Trek on a planet in a far away galaxy. The picture below is a good example (nice photography by Charlie).
Unfortunately we didn't get to ride to the top of the Arch because it was sold out! No one we spoke to had ever run into it being sold out, but it was. Oh well. They had a nice museum about westward expansion that we spent some time exploring before heading back to our hotel to clean-up and prepare for phase 2 of the day, dinner! We took the MetroLink to The Loop, which is a hot spot for dining, entertainment, and shopping. We ate at the nationally renowned restaurant and music venue, Blueberry Hill. It was delicious.
The challenge of the weekend was determining what to do on Sunday. There were so many possibilities and so little time...we ended up at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, which originated in St. Louis (where Anheuser met Busch). This place is massive -- 199 acres of efficiency. The grounds are beautiful (weird to say when I'm talking about a brewery, but it is true!) and the large, old brick buildings are filled with ornate character inside. They have free tours that last about an hour and take you from Clydesdale stables to the bottling factory.
Here is a fun fact from the tour as we entered a 55 degree room with aging beer:
As the beer is going through its beechwood aging process it sits in giant containers for 31 days. These containers are so large that it would require 1 human to drink 1 case of beer every day of his life for 127 years to drain this container. The St. Louis brewery houses 66 of these containers. Wow...
The only disappointment about our trip to St. Louis was that we didn't pass a "Welcome to Missouri" sign to add to our photo album. Could be worse.
All smiles. Enjoying 2 free drinks after our free tour :)
It's been a little while since the last post, and I hate to be a downer, but to give you the true story of our adventure a little dose of reality isn't such a bad thing. So after all the great things we've been saying, and with how well our transition to the Midwest has been, we were bound to hit a speed bump eventually. Over the past week or so, that's exactly what has happened. Nothing serious, nothing that makes us want to run back home, but just enough to be annoying.
It all started with everyone's favorite fungus, ringworm. Somehow I developed two very attractive spots of ringworm on my low back. Again, it's nothing compared to tearing your ACL 2 months before your wedding like someone I know, but it's still just enough to get you irritated. But thanks to CVS and their overpriced antifugal cream it's all under control...I hope.
The next unfortunate occurrence was a little more of an issue. Last week I was involved in a car accident. Fortunately no one was hurt, but unfortunately bad drivers live in Olney. Long story short, I am coming up to a traffic light where a woman is in the middle of two lanes with no turn signal on. I pull up on her right as I prepare to make a right turn. The light turns green and she decides to turn right at the same time I do. Since two cars can't fit into one lane, her passenger side crashed into my driver side. Her only defense was that she claimed she never saw me. In case you haven't noticed, I drive a large SUV with a boat sized cargo box on top...HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THAT?!?!? Well apparently in Olney, IL that's a good enough defense for the police because the officer refused to assign fault at the scene and now we are forced to pay the deductible for the repairs. Incredibly lame. Our insurance company says the accident is "pending investigation" so hopefully we'll get our money back, but I'm not holding my breath.
Be careful, Olney drivers don't look when turning
Good as new, thank you Wood's Autobody
All things considered it could have been much worse, but it has been a huge inconvenience. Besides the monetary costs, I was on the phone non-stop for 2 days trying to get everything sorted out. We had to drive about an hour in our busted up car (into another time zone mind you) to get a rental vehicle. The only good thing about the rental car is that in it I've driven to and from the Indianapolis airport and Chicago (which was a great time, thanks Pat), as well as doing home visits for work. In a week I've put over 1200 miles on it, and we are taking it to St. Louis this weekend. So at least those are miles that aren't going on our car. However, I've been sweating bullets every time it storms because we'll have to pay for hail damage to the rental if it occurs. Of course, last weekend it was storming like crazy.
Here comes a storm, run for cover!
Heavy rain, high winds, and the aforementioned hail do occur here during particularly bad storms. With the land being so flat and open, you can see the storms coming from miles away, the lightning and thunder carry unlike anything I've ever experienced before, and the intensity of East Coast storms pales in comparison to these. I love watching a good storm, but the ones here can be intimidating. I can't begin to imagine what it is like in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, etc.
The final insult to this week was the Richland Memorial Hospital Volleyball Tournament. Now a normal person would see this type of tournament as a chance to have fun with co-workers. Unfortunately I'm not normal, clearly. No matter how hard I try, my competitive side always wins out. We made it to the semi-finals on Wednesday night where we lost to a team with questionable tactics. They didn't rotate players, the one doctor on their team yelled and talked trash the ENTIRE game (he would put Katie Matonis' trash talking antics to shame), and they used players who weren't even hospital employees. Ridiculous. Well, we lost, the Flyers also lost their last playoff game that night too, so I was angry. Obviously I'm still not over it yet, as evidenced by my need to blog about it.
So there you go. Nothing life altering, but all those instances back-to-back combined for a pretty annoying week. I'm confident things will turn around as we have an awesome weekend planned in St. Louis. We'll be celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary (how did that happen?) and have lots of good stuff planned.
To close this long post, I just want to wish a happy Mother's Day to all moms who read this blog, especially Mom O'Malley and Mom Funk. We wish we could be there with you, we miss you, but we send our love from the Midwest. Thank you for all that you do for us and always supporting us.
