After my interview at Granville, I headed to Ithaca before heading south on Superbowl Sunday to Reading, PA (A.K.A. Reading Railroad on the Monopoly Board Game). In Reading, I interviewed with Willowcreek Animal Hospital for 2 days. The interview went well and I stayed at the practice owner's home with her 2 English setters. The large animal practitioners were great and Dr. Meghan Hain let me perform 2 DA surgeries with minimal assistance - they both went well. The practice area is just north of Lancaster, PA which is known for its stable and historic dairy industry. The farms are small in size and there is fair number of Amish and Mennonite farms.

After my 2 days I started my trek west to my best friend Allison's new home in Beavercreek, Ohio. It was a treacherous drive with horrendous road conditions. On my journey across Western, PA and Ohio I only passed 5 snowplows - SHOCKING! I arrived at Allison's around 2:30 a.m. but was able to crash and sleep-in the following morning. In Ohio, I had a lazy day at Allison's and got to partake in her Wednesday night dinner party.

The following day, I departed at 3:00 a.m. for my trip north to Hudson, Michigan to interview with Dr. Greg Crosley at Countryside Veterinary Clinic. Only after arriving, I realized that I once heard Dr. Crosley speak at AABP about completing a DA surgery in only 20 minutes. I got to actually see this firsthand and it's true. I also realized that I had previously toured farms in Hudson, MI with Summer Dairy on our Midwest Farm Tour. In Michigan it was incredibly cold -in the single digits and negative digits, which is even colder when palpating cows for 6 hours in a 6 row freestall barn. Luckily, my toes survived.