Block Island!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was an amazing day. Laura and I traveled to Block Island, Rhode Island. Amazing. It was amazing. I cannot begin to explain how awesome it was for us. We had a great day. I probably can't explain it- or have anyone understand it unless you were there- but I will not quit trying. I think overall really for both Laura and I it was exactly what we needed. We have both felt the weight that comes with being away from home, family and friends- as well as feeling the stresses of starting a new job/assignment!! We had a great day together- bonding, laughing, and exploring Block Island!!! The following is the best I can do in explaining our day to anyone reading this... Enjoy. :-)

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Block Island is in the Atlantic Ocean 13 miles South of the coast of Rhode Island.

We drove from Middletown to Point Judith, Rhode Island to catch the ferry. The drive was just under 2 hours. Driving through Rhode Island is short, but beautiful...

Driving to the Port to catch the ferry we saw all of these people... we think they were clamming. Laura and I are going to try it- someday. :-)

"Downtown" Point Judith, Rhode Island

There were a lot of fishing boats docked at the Galilee State Pier- where we got on the ferry.

There is a high speed ferry and a slower one- the high speed takes about 30 minutes to get to the island and the slower one is 60 minutes. We chose to do the faster ferry- which was good because it was sort of a rough ride... if any of you know me very well you know how well (NOT WELL AT ALL) I do on boats in the ocean!!!! :-) The ferry was only $35 round trip.

Buying tickets for the ferry.

Before leaving- we were so stinking excited!!!

The ferry ride was fun. The water is beautiful and the houses from the dock to the end of the jetty were beautiful. I can only imagine how much they are worth....

Looks like a postcard.

The ferry was sort of rough- the waves were big.. made us laugh in the beginning...

And not laugh towards the end!!!!...... I was SO glad we only did the 30 minute ride. Makes me feel old- I used to love rough fun wavy rides. Now- I just get sick. Bummer. I did not throw up this time thank goodness..only a headache and that dizzy feeling. It went away after we docked! :-)

Starting to be able to see the island.

Facts about BI... The ferry came into Old Harbor and we explored most of the island.  

 Docking at Block Island, Rhode Island.

The hotels are all old buildings- similar to these. They all had the bed and breakfast feel to them- no chain hotels at all. It's such a beautiful place. The town itself is there right when you get off the fairy- cute little shops and restaurants.

We saw this truck with a big box of mail on the back of it- in case you wondered how mail gets to the people who live on an island....

 

After getting off the ferry we decided to rent some mopeds. The idea of this just makes me laugh- we looked so cool!!  ;-) We paid for the mopeds, signed our lives away if we crashed,  picked out very cool shiny helmets and we were off to get our lessons. Ms Laura has never driven a moped before... I don't even know what to say. Long story short she had a rough time figuring it out and thought she would feel safer if we just rented one and rode together. So... we got a refund for her moped and took one for the day. Bless her heart- we (or maybe I) got some great laughs watching her...

After figuring out the moped situation we rode from the town into the country to the Southeast Lighthouse!! It's amazing.. history.

A view from the side of the lighthouse.

 I thought this window shot was cool. We took the tour to go up into the lighthouse and saw where the light keeper, his family, two light keeper assistants, and their families all lived. I couldn't help but think of how many people have dreamed while looking through that window.. with three families living in the lighthouse throughout all seasons of the year. Can you imagine the light keepers four year old little boy looking out the window during winter wishing he could go out to play? It's a far out there thought-- but things like that intrigue me.

From the bottom level looking up to the tower. Those stairs go all the way up the tower into the actual lighthouse. They are completely original to when the lighthouse was first built.

This shows the erosion that was mentioned in the facts sheet above. This was why they moved the lighthouse in 1993.

The view from in the tower of the lighthouse. You can see the glare through the glass. I didn't actually take pictures of the lighthouse past the first level and I regret that... I was taking video listening to the history. Cool, cool stuff.

After the Lighthouse tour we hopped back on the moped and headed down the road to the Mohegan Bluffs. This could be the most amazing, beautiful, fantastic, marvelous, extraordinary thing I have ever seen. :-)

The Bluffs were my favorite part of the day. They are hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the "town" on the island. You have to ride a bit on the moped to get to them and they would be easy to miss. You have to know where to turn in off the main road to find them. I feel like when we walked through the path to find these stairs we sort of discovered this magnificent scene that God had painted. It spoke to my heart.. in a way I can't even really explain on this blog. But it was amazing. I feel like God used not only this part of the day but the entire day to remind me of how BIG and AWESOME HE is. He created this. It's beautiful. It's untouched by humans..as in not devloped. It's natural and real. Realistically I know we did not "discover" it, there have probably been millions of people there before us and I'm sure millions to come.. but it spoke into my heart as if I was the only person there that day. One on one with the ONE who created it.. the ONE who knows my heart best- who knows the sturggles I've had the last few weeks.... It confirmed to me that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I'm meeting who I'm supposed to meet and becoming friends with many. I have no idea if what I'm writing explains how I felt- and that's OK, but it was an amazing experience I will never forget. I know for a fact that God took me to Block Island and to this bluff for a reason- to speak into my heart. He has a way of doing that- catching me off gaurd. Have you ever had an experience like that? I hope so... it's priceless.

There are several pictures of the bluff because I had a hard time picking one. :-)

Beautiful Ms Laura walking down the stairs to the bluff.

I'm thankful for Laura.

I could stare at it all day... but we had more to explore.

 Thank you GOD for the reminder....



After the bluffs we put our helmets back on and hopped back on the moped. Off to explore the next adventure....



The views while riding the moped were amazing...

We saw several little farms- very cool houses.

This is the Settlers' Rock- placed right before the beachwalk near the refuge. A neat little piece of history.

The Wildlife Refuge walk... you can see the lighthouse at the end of the walk (below).



Willy's Dog Wagon- in case you would like a hot dog before your beach walk. :-)

After walking a little on the Wildlife walk we decided to head back towards the other side of the island to find something to eat. We decided to eat at The Beachead. Great food and an even better view!!!!

The table we sat at had seashells in it... I'm sure any of you that do woodwork would know how that's done.. very cool.

The view from our table.



 I ordered seafood nachos!!! Very good and very filling!! It had lobster, shrimp, and scallops!! Very good!!!

After eating we decided to head back to the beach. We spent a couple hours here just enjoying the water. It's beautiful. The sand was very nice- not too rocky and the water was so clear!! I don't think Laura and I really had expectations because niether of us really knew what it would be like- but we were pleasantly surprised. :-)

Walking over the dune to see the beautiful Atlantic Ocean!!

Do I have to explain this one? :-) Tradition.

Beautiful Ms Laura.

Downtown Block Island- our dock on the
right- the little shops on the left.

We had to leave the beach and return our awesome moped (and sadly our helmets as well). We still had an hour so before our ferry left so we decided to walk out on the jetty...

 Fishing off the Jetty.

A view of how clear and beautiful the water is!!

 We decided to try to be artsy and were using the sun for some fun pictures... I'm sure a professional would not approve but we had fun none-the-less. :-)

I was trying to clean my feet off so I climbed down the side of the jetty- I left my sunglasses in the Atlantic. :-)

Another amazing part of the day- just to top it all off- was watching the sunset both on the jetty and then on the ferry ride home. Beautiful!!!!!

The slow ferry taking off just before we headed to board ours.

 The following explain themselves. Beautiful.

On the ferry heading back to Galilee State Pier in Point Judith. It was a fantastic day.



 I am sure that the words or pictures do not give justice to the day. I cannot explain how much I needed the reminders from God- it's been a tough couple weeks with missing home and trying to readjust to the new assignment. God is so good!! I will never forget this day.





 









Connecticut!! The first post...

 Well, 34 hours of total travel (about 22 of driving) and 1200 miles later, I have arrived in Connecticut!! I did the trip alone this time and it went well! I had a lot of thinking time and singing time... I tried to limit that to and from Vegas to save my passengers ears!! ha! I drove about 850 miles Thursday, stayed in Clearfield, PA at a Hampton Inn, and arrived at my apartment complex at about 4:30 Friday afternoon (6/25).

 I started taking pictures of all of the state signs on my way out to LV... On the way home we stopped at every one of them and I actually took my picture in front of them. I couldn't do that this time obviously because I was by myself but I tried to at least get a picture of them.

Driving into a toll... I hate tolls.
                                                                                                                  Driving through PA is just beautiful. I was driving through the mountains just as the sun was going down and the fog was over the treetops. It looked like a blanket over the trees- different than anything I had ever seen. Amazing. My pictures don't really ever do anything justice- but especially the views I saw on my drive. God did a great job...



PA is beautiful....



I was so shocked to start seeing signs for New York City... I'm not sure why either. I knew I would on the drive but for some reason knowing it in your head and actually physically seeing them was so surreal for me. I have never been to this part o the country so I was very excited to know how close I was to NYC. And to think I'm living here.. for three months- 30 minutes from the ocean- 90 minutes from NYC... about 45 minutes to Boston.. it's amazing. I live in New England. It's surreal. Here are some of the pictures I took

                                                                              of the view..in PA and NY.

This picture is as raw as it gets..and my headband is slipping off my head- but hey- it's my blog, right? Horrible pictures are allowed? The view at this stop was amazing... in New York State.

This sign will explain itself to a lot of you- I was secretly hoping if I took it I
 would end up at my families summer cabin....

A fun sign in PA.

Any Questions?

PA had the best signs.

Finally in CT!!!!

 My apartment is in Middletown and is very nice. It's a one bedroom- plenty big enough for me. Here are some pictures for anyone that's curious...

Living room- the door goes to a patio.

 I feel safer here than I did in Vegas, and not just for the obvious reasons of it being a different city- but it's just a more secure building. You have to buzz in at the main door to get into the building before you can even get to my door. In Las Vegas anyone could have come in... the door or the windows- God was protecting me!!! The pool, hot tub, racquetball courts, gym, and tanning are right in my backyard- it's nice.



Front door- Kitchen on the left- living room to the right.

  

Bedroom.



Having my own washer and dryer is amazing after not
having them for so long- Bedroom to the left bathroom to the right.



Dining room to the kitchen.

The stupid smoke alarm that is driving me crazy.

An impressive walk in closet..Well- plenty impressive for just me. :-)

Closet again.

Bathroom....need I say more?

My pool..the clubhouse with everything else is
to the right....

The hospital I'm working at is right in downtown Hartford, about 20 minutes from my apartment. I spent all last week in orientation- almost 3 full days of sitting at computers trying to learn computer charting and taking tests. LONG days... The first day I was at the hospital for orientation they asked us if any of us had ever worked in an inner city hospital before. I said no (although I do remember some very scary families both in DM and LV).  We were given tips on staying safe- not walking alone outside and staying on hospital grounds. The direct blocks around the hospital are all bad news and I guess they have had some scary things happen even in the parking garages (stabbings, shootings..etc). I'm sure like with all cities it comes down to common sense and when that can't pull me through I know HE will.

        I did get to spend a couple days in the NICU. It's a much smaller unit- only 26-28 beds MAX... This week they averaged using about 7 nurses per shift. It's a whole different feeling working with only 7 other nurses...so small and intimate. It has been so fun and interesting for me to see the differences between DM to LV...and then now CT to both the west and midwest. One big difference here is that they don't staff RT's in the NICU. I'm used to having a RT staffed on the floor there to help with anything I need regarding a vent, resp treatments, etc. They don't have that here- so I'm expected to know how to adjust settings (rate, pressures, alarm limits) and also how to change modes (CPAP-SIMV) on the vent. We draw and run all of our own gases here which is way different. Almost every baby that has been intubated is ordered neb treatments after extubation- and nurses do them all. So nurse friends- be thankful for your friendly RT's!!! Also be thankful for your OT/PT friends. In LV OT/PT worked with the babies but they did not do a good job educating staff or parents at all. Here the developmental care seems to be a little better but still nothing compared to DM. Be thankful for the OT/PT in DM!!! Charting... it's all paperless here. I am still scared of missing an order or something but I LOVE doing my assessments on the computer. It's fast and easy. Those are the big differences so far..... (more than most of you wanted to know but this will be fun for me to read someday so bear with me)!! That is one thing I love most about traveling.  As frustrating as it can be sometimes it is awesome to be able to see how different hospitals, or NICU's more specifically, do things differently.  Hopefully by being able to adapt to different policies and procedures I will continue to grow as a nurse. I know for sure that not one way is the RIGHT way and that is not always an easy lesson to learn!! It's not easy to leave what you know- but I know for sure that I am learning more and more everyday- and I guess that is what matters. Growth is hard.

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I hope you have all had a great 4th of July. I spent the day on Saturday with Laura- a new friend who is also a traveler. She works in Post Partum and is from Georgia. We drove down to a little beach town, about 25 minutes from me, Old Saybrook. I LOVE looking at the old houses and wondering what kind of history has happened behind the walls. The trees are all very tall and beautiful. Fall will be even more gorgeous. (some of these pictures I took off an Old Saybrook website because we didn't stop to take pictures of the houses..but I wanted to show you what I was talking about).





The two pictures above... They have a story to them and I honestly feel a little guilty blogging about it.. but I'm going to because it was far too funny to not share. We spent about an hour trying to find a beach in Old Saybrook. The streets are confusing and it we just had a hard time.. we finally found a good beach and decided we wanted to get something to drink before "setting up" and laying out.. so we drove to this little gas station. Inside of this Henny Penny... we found this guy. Scott Appleton. An author....selling his book "Swords of the Six". He was handing out his card and I took one.  Laura and I walked out of the gas station and both just started laughing.  This guy was being very sincere and really trying to sell his fantasy book for "only $9.99 at the Henny Penny today!!".. and we thought it was so funny. We laughed..hard. I went back in and got my picture with him.. to remember the moment. I hope he makes it big someday- I'll make a lot of money with that picture!!! HA!

We ended up- after driving around for about three hours- at Harvey Beach. The tide was SUPER low so the beach itself wasn't that nice- but there is something about being near the ocean like that. I could stare at it forever. It's amazing. One of my favorite things. I LOVE that I live so close. 



Ms Laura at Harvey Beach







Harvey Beach
You can see how low the tide was...

 

A beach day isn't complete without a feet picture in the sand!! It's tradition. 

That is all for now- this is the second attempt at this post and I am ready to be done with it!

Have a Happy 4th of July!!!!
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This assignment so far has been good. I like the area and I have enjoyed getting to know Laura and some others that I have met. However, I'm going to be honest and say that it has been hard as well.  It was so hard to be alone and away from home, family, and friends during my birthday (although I have received several cards, messages, phone calls, texts, facebook messages, and flowers..and I am very thankful for those things!!!) It has also been hard this weekend to be away from family. I know all of my family is together- enjoying the holiday. It's hard to be away from home. I like to tell everyone that I'm doing great and everything is great- but in reality- it is hard. I have struggled this time. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I know I went through this in Las Vegas, too. It will get easier to be here. But right now, it's hard. So, if you pray, please pray. Pray that the transition will continue to become easier, that I'll feel more and more "at home" here. If you have ever moved away from home, by yourself, you know how I feel. It's bittersweet... it is fun and exciting- but scary and sad, too. I know that I made the decision to travel, to take on this journey, and I do not regret it. But with the fun stuff, comes the hard stuff. I have made new friends, but lost some, too. I have grown as a person... but sometimes it is hard to change. It's hard to walk away from everything you know. I am thankful for this opportunity, for the change that is happening in me. I'm thankful for what God is going to do both IN me and THROUGH me. I know that HE does not make mistakes and because of that I'm here for a reason. I listen to "Never Alone" often.. the first song on my play list below. It's true.  I know that it is OK to miss home, but I also know that I will be OK.  Because the truth is, no matter how I feel sometimes, I know am NEVER alone.