Yosemite National Park

Driving to & into Yosemite

We took the scenic route into Yosemite via highway 120 - there were some beautiful stretches of open land, scenic overlooks and beef cattle grazing.
More road to travel...
This picture and the next were taken at what is labeled in CA with a roadsign "vista point." At this pull off, there was a gentleman (who we mistook for a woman) resting, after biking up the hill. The scenery all around was gorgeous; the pictures do it little justice.
Yosemite views with Half Dome in the far distance.
Views overlooking Yosemite Valley.

Falls

Self portrait - Greg & I with Yosemite Valley in the background. I'm squinty & Greg actually looks normal =-)
El Capitan, the picture doesn't do it justice - it looks much larger in real life.

Bridalveil Falls @ 620 feet. We thought it was more impressive from a distance, up close it was a delicate misting falls.
Rock views

Standing in front of Lower Yosemite Falls.

Sights

Yosemite Falls, they say that it's the tallest waterfall in North America at 2,425 feet. This photo shows both Upper Yosemite Fall @ 1,430 feet and the Lower Yosemite Fall @ 675 feet.
Another view of Yosemite Falls
Yosemite Valley, the large rock to the left is El Capitan @ 7,042 feet.
Bridalveil Falls

Lots & lots of evergreens.

Big Trees

The clouds rolled in along the tree tops at dusk. We arrived at Mariposa Grove (home of the giant redwood trees) at sunset. The road into the grove was closed so we hiked the 2 miles on foot (in sneakers), walking along a packed snow/ice/slush path. By the time we reached the grove, it was dark but the moon was bright and we still could appreciate how overwhelming the trees truly are.
I've never been accused of being "dainty," but I felt like an ant standing next to this giant sequoia. The trees stand around 200 feet tall and are around 30 feet across at the base. The majority of the giant sequoias are over 2,000 years old.

Log Cabin

Friday night we went out to the Log Cabin ,a local dive bar just minutes away from the clinic to enjoy some time away from the clinic building and take in the Turlock nightlife. The bar was small and filled with a handful of regulars; we entertained ourselves with conversation and a review of the collective experiences at Lander. Emilie & Petra flew out on the Saturday and Greg left for Visalia, CA Monday a.m.

Petra & Greg toasting the completion of their 2 week experience with Lander Vet Clinic. Petra was part of the Summer Dairy Institute program that I participated in this past summer. It was great to have a mini-reunion and catch-up with our Canadian SDI-mate.
Petra, Emilie & I - Emilie is a vet student from Purdue who spent a full month externing with Lander Vet Clinic; by the end she was practically an associate.
SDI reunion Greg, Petra & I

Rain..bow

This past Thursday I got back to the clinic early in the afternoon and not too much was going on. So, I decided to take my car to the Honda dealership in Modesto to get its 5,000 mile service. My trip to the dealership was wasted, as I was informed that I must look at the oil lifetime gauge and stick to that as to when the car needs servicing. The gauge still reads 60% oil life, so I must wait until it gets down to 15%, hopefully that will happen before my trek eastward. On the way back to the clinic, I treated myself to some ice cream at Coldstone Creamery and then passed 2 rainbows driving back to Turlock on the freeway. It was the first time it had rained since arriving in CA.

On Saturday, I arrived at Lander Veterinary Clinic in Turlock, California. This was my destination in my trip across the country. Jess had come to Lander last January for an externship and raved about her experience. Once the majority of the “dairy bitches + Greg” worked out that we had A-B distributions off, a 9-week period of time, we planned for our own Lander experience. The clinic is a 14 doctor practice that does dairy production medicine almost exclusively. The practice is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley in central California. The San Joaquin Valley is the center of California's dairy industry, with California being the largest dairy state in the US. From Turlock the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco and the California coast are within easy driving distance. My classmate Alicia completed her rotation with Lander a week ago and has now trekked onto Phoenix, AZ for more job interviews. My roommate Carrie just finished her rotation and was flying back to NY as I was driving in, and Greg is still here at Lander for another week, after a trek across the US interviewing. Another added bonus is that Petra a Summer Dairy cohort from Ontario is also here for the week, so it’s a mini SDI reunion. On Sunday, Greg and I drove to the coast along Highway 1 – it was “beautiful!”

California - Highway 1 - Big Sur

Coastline views
It was a winding trek along the coastline.
Pfeiffer beach

It was VERY windy, but sunny and about 60 degrees. The sands were blowing so hard they exfoilated our faces.

I think my outfit was too dark and I'm blending in with the rock - but here I am.
Greg & I - this is the 3rd ocean we've viewed together - "someday we'll laugh about this!"
I just can't help but take pictures of cows, even if they're beef cows.

Nevada views

I made the drive from Logan to Turlock, California in 1 day, it took about 13 hours with bathroom, lunch and gas breaks. It was a long haul, but parts of Nevada were deserving of pictures snapped through the windshield. The route across Nevada to CA is a bit barren, but there were always signs of civilization. I passed through Reno during the daylight hours, so I didn’t get to see the neon lights. And, as I came across the Donner Pass into California the landscape changed immensely to evergreens and 3 feet of snow, as drove through the Sierra Nevada’s. (I didn’t get any pictures because the crazy Californian drivers were going 80 mph on winding icy roads – good thing I’m from NY =-)

The Great Salt ....

I had previously been to Salt Lake City for an AABP (American Association of Bovine Practitioners) conference. During that visit, we made it out to the Great Salt Lake, but I had never seen what lay beyond – the answer was, lots-o-SALT.

Logan, Utah - Cach Valley

I visited Logan, Utah for 2 days interviewing with Bridgerland-Cache Animal Hospital. The Cache Valley is gorgeous and I could definitely live surrounded by mountains. My time in Logan reminded me of how lucky I am, to have been exposed to influential, progressive faculty at Cornell, that have shaped the veterinarian that I want to become and the type of practice I am seeking for my first associate position.

The criteria that I have laid out for my perfect job include:

1. I desire to work in a multi-doctor large animal clinic, 4-5 doctors minimum. Not only will this provide multiple individuals to pose inquiries to, but it will also help with the on-call emergency schedule.

2. I want to practice in a progressive dairy area, with practitioners that use an evidence based approach for treatment protocols and decision making. I want to have colleagues that strive to remain current with the changing trends within production animal medicine and I want to work with clientele that strive to make money, not just milk.

3. I NEED to work with horses in some capacity. Not just backyard horses, but horses that are used for competing, whether this means 4-H horses, pony club, or hunter/jumpers. I also want get involved more with equine repro and work with broodmares.

4. I want a practice that can provide me mentorship without coddling me.

5. I want to be paid appropriately, as a new graduate, with a varied and broad exposure to the dairy and equine industry.

The practice didn’t fit these criteria, but I enjoyed getting to visit some dairies in the Logan area and take in the surrounding sites.

Forge on!

Wasatch Mountain Range, Logan, UT

I took a scenic drive along Highway 89, it winds through the Bear River Mountain range. I would have had more pictures, had it not been so winding, steep, and at dusk.
Views from the Highway heading west through Utah - bound for California.

Idaho

I only drove through Idaho en route to Logan, Utah for yet another job interview. I found Idaho to be a bit on the unattractive side, flatter land that was brown. My judgment may have also been influenced by the grey, gloomy skies. Along the highway, I passed many potato fields, as well as hay fields. Greg (my classmate), who is also driving across the country in pursuit of a job, visited some practices in Idaho which were further to the west, he claims the surroundings were a bit more ascetically pleasing.
Huge square straw bales staked along the highway, a familiar site.
Lava rocks and scrubby brush - this was featured as a geologic site at one of the rest stops.

Montana - Big Sky

Eastern Montana looks much like the majority of North Dakota and is quite desolate. The rule I developed is, if you can see beef cows in the distance, it means that people were once there. My friend Allison was stationed in Great Falls, MT for 5 years with the Air Force and I never got the opportunity to visit her when she lived in Montana. Ironically, now that she lives in Ohio I had the opportunity to drive through Montana and see some spectacular sites throughout the state. I spent the night in Butte, MT – pronounced bute, not butt. The highway takes you through some amazing twists and turns down the mountain side before dropping you into Butte, a mining town at the base of the mountain range.

On my way to Utah, the following day I had the opportunity to go to the Patagonia outlet in Dillion, MT. I realized after arriving in the small town that it was 50% off the lowest ticketed price sale and there was a line of about 100 people waiting outside the store. I joined in line and made it in the door before they started to restrict people, due to fire code restrictions. I threw some elbows and came out with some great deals. The down side to this experience was waiting in line to check out. A gentleman from Tokyo and 2 older women were in front of me in line. The man purchased $3,800 worth of the merchandise and the women each purchased around ~$1,300 each!

Another experience was being approach at the gas station, by what seemed like a harmless friendly couple originally from Denver. They were curious about a New Yorker all the way out in Montana, we made some idle chit chat and they asked about all the snow New York was getting, etc… In the end, they turned out to be Jehovah’s Witnesses who went back to their car to get me some propaganda. Lesson learned, never trust the overly friendly ones.

Highway views

Descending into Butte, MT.

Train
Beef cows in the distance.