First stop after landing in Portland was to visit old friends, Judy and Bob, and find that Judy's son and his girlfriend were visiting too. We all had fun catching up, then headed downtown to have dinner at the food carts. Portland has quite a few food carts set up in clusters around town, many run by grads from the Culinary Institutes who can't afford a real restaurant. There's almost every ethnic food you can think of: Egyptian, Korean, Northern Thai, etc. I had a big plate of Pad Thai for Five Bucks. The food carts have a reputation for good quality at reasonable prices and appear to be here to stay. Who knew there were regional variations in Thai food? Then we bar-hopped...a happy hour for Margueritas, and Higgins for a gooey chocolate concoction Bob and Judy discovered. Then I headed over to my sister's house for the night. We went to breakfast at my old favorite cafe, Marco's in Multnomah Village, before I headed out to drive to Bend. I was feeling a little sentimental back in my home town...there are memories around every corner.
Everyone recommended route 20 out of Salem as the fastest way over the mountains. The vine maple was bright red, stunning against black lava fields. I was shocked to see there had been a big forest fire near Santiam Pass, and stopped at the roadside interpretive sign to find out more about it. Turns out it happened in 2003 (have I been gone that long?!). Since they'd been suppressing brush fires, there had been a build up in underbrush fuel, so this forest fire had enough fuel to reach the crowns of the older trees. Normally there are naturally occurring pine forest fires every 5-10 years caused by lightening, which keep the underbrush down, and create a natural parkland with widely spaced mature pine trees. Fir forests have natural forest fires much less often. It will take a long time to recover. All the gray and black tree skeletons reminded me of the aftermath of the St. Helen's eruption, except these dead trees were still standing.
In Bend, I found the Stonebriar apartment complex pretty easily, right on route 20, and only had to wait a few minutes for the manager to give me my keys and a tour. The corporate furnishings folks had supplied basic furniture, dishes, and linens. The electricity was hooked up, but cable access had to wait a day, and replacement of a broken modem before I could get online. The apt is very nice, though it's all beige and white with bare walls. I'm going to try to rustle up some colorful posters just to cheer it up a bit. I made a trip to Costco and Safeway for a few groceries, and unpacked my three suitcases. Still, the cupboards are mostly empty. But it's more comfortable than a hotel, and should be a good space for friends and family to come visit, since there's an extra bedroom.
This Monday I had my orientation at St. Charles Hospital, with several hours devoted to learning about their computer system. I've had half the usual number of patients the last two days, but it takes me all day to see them because I'm so slow with the computer system. The first day with patients, there were two I.T. people shadowing me, and the second day, I had to call the Help Desk numerous times. It's going to take awhile to figure out this one. Lots of nonintuitive, idiosyncrasies. There's a steep learning curve, and even the old timers complain about it all the time...it will get better, but only to a point. It's evolving. St. Charles has McKesson, but everyone believes Cerner was/is better.
Overall, I'm enjoying the new hospital, and it's fun to be a hospitalist again. It's modern, with a very friendly welcoming staff, and beautiful views of the mountains. I see Oregonians everywhere...in their blue jeans and plaid shirts. I can see the Three Sisters, Broken Top, Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Bachelor. I think another peak is Mt Washington, and I can also see Black Butte. I bought a snow brush and ice scraper, and suspect I'll need to get some tire chains too. It should be an exciting winter! Soon I'll try out the Juniper Swim Center, and walk some trails along the Deschutes River in downtown Bend, though I'll probably drive to the top of Pilot Butte. Meanwhile, I'm still catching up on sleep from jet lag and stocking the apartment. Suspect I'll need to buy a few more warm clothes. Luckily they don't seem to mind my wearing scrubs to work, and they don't take much suitcase space (though they're not very warm either!)
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