L'aventure américaine

October is coming and not a moment too soon. While it has been a good summer and many good things are in the works, it has been a long stretch as well. Firstly, the weather. It's so hot and I have been tired of it since mid-June. I sighed as my seatbelt burned me today and look forward to a trip home to Indiana where I can bring out the scarves and feel goosebumps on my skin outdoors. Secondly, our BMT unit. I have been working on the bone marrow transplant unit since January, which is really such a short time compared to most of my coworkers. But, in these last few months, I have fallen in love with the patients and the nurse practitioners, the style of work, the coworkers, and the passion that everyone brings to the unit. Banner Health (the company that Good Sam, my hospital, belongs to) is opening a new cancer center outside of the city and their BMT program is not open yet. This means that our patients have to transfer to the Mayo Clinic, our doctors and NPs and nurses a

VA.CA.TION... I believe that an extended period of time can consist of just one weekend and thus, I packed up again and headed north with my dog and new buddy, Sterling Engine (hereafter: Sterling). Tick, tick, tick went the thermostat as we drove away from Phoenix and yip, yip, yip went Odie in the backseat as he realized where we were headed. And a grin settled on my face as sweat stopped rolling down my back. 80 degrees is goooood. Top 5 Moments: 1. A harvest moon lent an air of daytime to the night... Pre-fantastic thunderstorm, that is. (Thank you, tent, for keeping us dry.) 2. Hobo dinner of vegetables and sausage and bacon and eggs in the morning... Oh so delicious. 3. Eating nectarines with Humphrey's Peak in the background and the distant Grand Canyon in the foreground in the middle of The Abineau/Bear Jaw Trail. 4. Not having cell phone service for 36 hours. 5. Signing the date, "9/11" in the hiking log yesterday and paying homage to the event, through me

Now, I would have thought that that was fuzzy math before I spent a weekend camping in Flagstaff, but when I woke up one morning, it was 46 degrees. It has often been 96 degrees in the early morning when I walk before work. I could see my breath in Flagstaff. It was glorious. Flagstaff highlights: Odie and I hiked to the top of Humphrey's Peak: the highest point in Arizona at 12,600-ish feet. It started to get a bit stormy as we descended from the peak and note that my hair is starting to stand on end due to the electricity in the air. We booked it to tree line, obviously. Julia, Rich (friends from Phoenix and Odie's surrogate parents during my vacations), and Amigo (Odie's best friend), Odie and I hiked in a mile long lava tube near Flagstaff. We sat in the darkness and enjoyed the cool temperatures (32-42 degrees). We had to crouch in some places, but there were 30 foot high cathedral ceilings in others. Pretty fantastic! (Especially since I had just learned abo