6th of Elul

Came back from a week-long vacation in Montana late Tuesday night. The internet connection at the hotel was awful, so I didn't post while I was gone. It's been a while. I was hoping to get back on track with blogging...Hopefully I will now. 

There was a lot more to Montana than I realized. I did go through a very small portion of the state when I was 5. We were moving from Kentucky to Washington by car. I don't remember much of what I saw of MT back then. 

It was unusually hot over there, and the smoke had made it's way to it, too. Perfect for vacationing there, right? Well, we would have gone through similar weather back home, so that part wouldn't have mattered. Actually, the air quality and smoke were much worse at home, so we were lucky that way. The smoke was from all the wildfires in Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and Montana. We're all on fire here and there's no escape. It's much better today, and the air quality is finally in the 'good' category, but this may change on Monday. 

The cats went to their own 'hotel' called Alder Creek Pet Lodge. We had the most trouble with getting Rosie in the carrier. She has to have gone through some sort of trauma in the past with them, because she has such a visceral reaction. She struggles, cuts up the person who's trying to get her in, poops and pees, makes herself heavier, etc. I actually feel sorry for her. It shouldn't be such a scary and panic-inducing thing. I think she thinks that we'll abandon her if she's in it, too. Tasha was the most vocal on the way to and from it. She doesn't have such an issue with the carrier, but not knowing where she's going gets to her, I think. 

Tasha has joint problems, so she ended up in a 'cat condo' that's level and at the top, so she probably could watch the birds and lord over the other cats. It had a little cubbyhole for a bed, a partition separating the bed area and food/water/litter box area. Seemed actually pretty nice. She didn't have to jump. 

Rosie had a condo that was like a cage on wheels. There were a couple of platforms to jump onto. She doesn't like to jump often. I noticed they added another one to help her get around. Her litter box and a bed were on the bottom level. Her food and water were on the first platform. She was on the top platform when we came to pick them up. She kept rubbing me, too. I brought 4 toys for them. (2 for each.) They both got their stuffed carrot toys. Rosie's is a lot more beat up, and most of the leaves are gone. Tasha's just has bite marks. They both love their own carrot. It's cute. Anyways, Rosie had hid her carrot in her bed. She really didn't want anyone else to have it. Tasha didn't hide her toys...

They're so happy to be home now. I think the staff at their hotel treated them well, but they really just wanted to be home with their humans. At our hotel in Butte, MT, the housekeepers were weird. They asked if we wanted them to clean our room while we were away a couple of times. They didn't seem to do this to other people. 

Perkin's was in the same building as the hotel. That was somewhat dangerous. Perkin's is like a Shari's. They're also known for their pies and other baked goods. Their cookies, 'mammoth' muffins (they weren't as big as the muffins we get at home), and pies were very good. Pancakes were weird. Too salty and not cooked enough. So, I ended up having a muffin and melon for breakfast for a couple of the days. You could make your own breakfast, where in addition to eggs, you can choose what you want from the choices. I did this once. I chose a muffin, hash browns, turkey sausage, and melon. Seemed pretty decent, but a little too big. They apparently eat their muffins with butter, which was interesting. Also, they seemed to eat pies with a spoon. A little odd, but makes sense. There were subtle differences like that. Everyone said 'guys' a lot more often. It's considered neutral over there, too. I was surprised by how often they used it. 

We went to the World Museum of Mining. They had an interesting exhibit on dollhouses. There was also one on minerals. There's an area just outside the main building of the museum called Hell Roarin' Gulch. It's a recreation of an 1890s mining town. 

We also went on an underground mine tour. (It's also connected to the museum.) It was in the Orphan Girl mine going down to the 100 ft level. Apparently, we were the last ones to go down that far. It was starting to flood there. They can't stop it from flooding like that. I think the guide even said they don't really know the exact cause, but the water has been coming in gradually over time. It was fascinating down there. The only issues I had were how slippery it was at a certain point, the water dripping into my hair and down my arm, and feeling like I almost fell out of the 'cage' (it's like an old version of a lift) while looking up at the sunlight coming down from the surface. We had to wear hardhats with lights. We were given dog tags as souvenirs. 

Went to a pasty place after that. Miners used to grab them before or after they worked in the mines. The one I had had a filling of beef, potatoes, and onions. I liked the crust a lot. Just not the filling so much. The meat had turned into a block, there wasn't much seasoning, and it just wasn't that great. I ate about 2/3 of mine. Some people get it with gravy or chili, but it should be able to stand on its own. I have a feeling it was just that place's version of it that wasn't that good. I've had hand pies locally before, and they're amazing! 

We went to the Copper King (aka W.A. Clark) Mansion after that for a tour. That was definitely a highlight of the trip. There were a lot of cool and fancy things to see. It's apparently a bed and breakfast, too. I don't think they showed the entire house. We met the current owner, and had quite a conversation with her before the tour started. The tour guide was actually only 13 years old. Quite young for something like that, but she did well. She has 14 siblings, and is number 7. That's a lot of kids! Clark was a great great great grandfather of hers. (If I remember correctly...) So, it's been kept in the family. He also had many more mansions in places like Paris, New York, and California. Some have been destroyed. I wanted to tour the Clark Chateau, which was his eldest son's place. Just didn't have time right after the mansion, and it wasn't open when we were more free. Oh well. 

We went to the Berkley Pit after the mansion. The water in the pit is toxic. It's been mined too much in the past. If nothing's done about it by 2020, the water will overflow into Butte's water supply. So, they're trying to solve that. The color of the water was kind of eerie. A very light green-ish blue. There were birds flying near it, by they didn't venture too far over the water. It's killed off nearby wildlife, and the only creatures that seem to be able to live in it is a certain bacteria. 

The next day we went to Bannack. It's a ghost town. Only a few buildings actually impressed me. Most places were cleared out, and seemed almost identical to each other. The hotel, saloon, school, and a doctor's house were the most interesting. 

The Beaverhead County Museum in Dillon was cool. I liked the bear, pianos, old camera, mammoth fossils, and a horse and buggy display. There was supposedly a lot more to the museum than that main building, but we only saw another old school. 

Sparky's Garage was one of the best restaurants we went to. It's garage/car themed with some quirky decor. It's mainly a BBQ place. I got the BBQ brisket sandwich. Some of the meat was a little too tough to be in a sandwich, but it was great. The sauce was good. While we were there, a lightning storm started. There was a lot of wind, too. Most of it had stopped by the time we left. Made for a little show. 

We went to Virginia City. It's a ghost town, but also a 'living' one. It's considered an open-air museum. The town was founded in the 1860s, and in the 1950s restoration started for tourists. There are 200 actual residents now. I liked what they did with that ghost town. Also, apparently it's extremely haunted. Didn't see any ghosts, but the mannequins were a bit creepy. They have things like restaurants, shops, and a still in use opera house in addition to the 'museum' stuff. The candy shop was huge, and people, young and old alike, were going nuts with the candy. The fudge and 'chocoholic' sections did look awfully good. In a different shop, I got prickly pear taffy. I hadn't had prickly pear anything yet, even though I've seen a few candies made with it. It tastes kind of like watermelon.

We watched a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde play at the opera house. Afterwards, they did a Vaudeville show. I love Vaudeville stuff. They really played off of the traditional old Vaudeville tropes, yet put modern spins on them. Most of it was silly, but nice. The last couple of skits were sad and emotional. 

On the last day, we went to Helena. We first went the Montana Historical Society museum. That was really great. I like that they put some emphasis on the Native American tribes of the area, their history, and more. Many places just gloss over that stuff. I got wild huckleberry taffy at the museum store. It's strong, but good. After the museum, we saw the capitol building. That was very impressive. More so than I thought it would be. 

We also went to a place for lunch called Benny's Bistro. It was jazz themed. There were portraits of some of the greats in jazz, including Benny Goodman. We sat in front of his portrait. He was one of the most famous jazz clarinetists. I tried using him as an example to get into jazz band, both in junior high and high school. Both directors told me that clarinets don't belong in jazz band. I could see if it was a brass jazz band, but it wasn't. It pissed me off back then. We wondered if the restaurant was named after him, but the waitress didn't know. There were instruments strewn about the walls, too. I got the Montana Rancher. It's a roast beef, pickled onions, horseradish sauce, colby jack, and lettuce sandwich. Very hearty. I ordered a half serving, and I can't imagine how big the full would have been. It came with a thick rosemary tomato soup, tortilla chips, and a madeleine. We shared a peach cobbler, which was one of their specials. It was good except for the bits of pit in every other bite. They didn't pit it well. 

Dad managed to drive us all the way back home from the hotel in Butte in one day. Impressive. We started at around 9:30am. Got home at about 10pm locally. It felt like 11pm, because we started the day in Mountain Time. Locally, we're Pacific Standard Time. An hour difference, but I think I felt it. We only stopped for gas, rest areas, a really late lunch, and a ferry. We had pretzels from the ferry's galley for dinner. I had lemon pound cake for dessert. 

While in Montana, at the beginning I thought I'd stick to my 'diet'. Ended up being too hard to stick to. I just tried not to eat everything on my plate instead. 

I loosely followed it yesterday, and today I'm back to being strict about it. I feel better when I follow it. Again, it's sticking to a 1200-1600 calorie range (up to roughly 1800 for treat days), and keeping track of protein and other nutrients. Splitting the day into 5 meals, too. 

My phone has been getting worse with its battery power. It goes way too quickly. Much quicker than it did just a few months ago. Made it frustrating in MT, since I wanted to at least take pics. Might next month look into upgrading. Apple doesn't even support updates to it, and I've heard it's hard to get any repairs or support for it as well. It's an iPhone 5c. I love my phone, except for this new battery issue and occasionally glitching out on me. 

I spent a week away from studying Chinese. HelloChinese, the app I use for it, has a plant that you refresh with reviews and lessons. My plant was all shriveled up and dark brown when I finally got back to it. It looked sad. It's back now, but still sickly looking after the 2nd day back to it. I had a slightly harder time with pronunciation when I got back into it. Remembered a surprising amount, though. 

I played my clarinet today. I think I might finally get back to practicing it on a regular basis. Managed to practice for an hour this time. It really was just the cork and pads falling off that kept me from playing that long before. I thought I just had to work myself up to it. It feels great to play it again. I played some klezmer, Mozart, a generalized solo book (lots of classical, but also other types of pieces), and a Duke Ellington song. Quite a bit. I played much better than I expected to at this point. I might not play again until Monday. I used to not play during the weekend, or at least not on Shabbat (Saturday). I might go back to that. 

I'm Back!

Mood:

Yay!I'm finally back home from our trip to Scottsdale, Arizona. We were gone from the 6th until really early in the morning on the 17th. It was so Dad could have surgery during her summer break.Kind of not the best time weather-wise to be there, though.The whole trip tired me out.

The main thing that got me was the weather. The high temps ranged from 100 to around 110 degrees.The lows only made it to the low 90s, and rarely made it to the high 80s. So, it felt like there wasn't really a break. It was just constant. Now, I was told many times that it was ok because it was a 'dry' heat, before we left.Well, it was during their 'monsoon' season, so it was pretty humid. So, that in itself felt suffocating and oppressing every time I walked outside.Very interesting storms, though. Many of them happened at night while I was inside the hotel room. It really down poured, had lots of lightning, really windy, and thunder that all lasted, at most, for 10 minutes. Then, it was like nothing happened.I think the rain evaporated really quickly because of the heat, too. It really felt like another planet.

Our hotel room was really nice. (I spent the most time there. Dad only stayed there for 1 or 2 nights, the rest at the hospital.) It had 2 beds, 2 TVs, a 'theater' room (that was separated by doors that led to the bedroom), a mini refrigerator, a microwave, 2 closets, lots of other storage space in things like dressers, a nice desk, a couch in the theater room, that area also had mini tables that pulled out so you could eat on the couch while watching TV, hair dryer, an air conditioner, coffee maker, complimentary tea and coffee, etc. The ac was a lifesaver.One morning it stopped working, though.It was hellish in there until I asked for someone to repair it. They treat it like it's a life or death situation, and I can understand why in a place like that during the summer. They say a lot of the time the ac freezes over, and the repair guy just chips it away. It's a common problem for people. Especially if you're running it all the time, like most people do this time of year. The bathroom didn't have ac, though. So, that got to be a bit stuffy. The shower head was a little low, but not bad. 

There was a pool outside, but I didn't find a swimsuit before we left. Although, I'm not sure if I would have gone in.It probably was heated up a lot by the surrounding temp. They also had an outdoor hot tub. Why would you use a hot tub in that weather?They had a fitness center that looked great, but I just didn't feel like using it...

The complimentary breakfast was really good. They actually had turkey sausage!Actually had that part labeled! Like they knew there were people who didn't eat pork. Nice. They had a make your own pancakes section. You press a button, and within a minute it spits out 2 pancakes one at a time onto your plate. And, those were good, too.They had sugar free syrup options, as well. (Which luckily didn't have aspartame! I try to stay away from that stuff.) They had hard boiled and scrambled eggs. Occasionally there was this weird omelet option with fake cheese stuffed into it. That wasn't so great. The biscuits, blueberry muffins, bagels, and cinnamon buns were good.There were several different cereal and oatmeal options. A variety of juices, teas, milk, water, coffee, etc. The only fruit options were bananas, apples, and oranges. They weren't bad, though. Lots of different condiments to choose from too. 

I took advantage of their complimentary shuttle service. They drove us from the airport to the hotel. And, they took me to and from the hospital. I mostly walked to restaurants. I tried walking a couple of times from the hospital back to the hotel, and vice versa. Ended up melting the soles of my shoes.Smart. They told me it was pretty silly to walk around like that this time of year. I'm very grateful for the shuttle.Met some interesting people at the front desk and the ones driving the shuttle. 

I went to a few restaurants, and the only pics I took were of the food.It felt too hot for me to focus enough outside. I'll post the pics soon on fb and dA. Went to a place called US Egg. Odd name, but the food was great. I got their egg salad sandwich. I decided to get it with fries, and it came with an orange and grapefruit slice. (I can't eat grapefruit, and the slice was touching the orange one. So, to be safe I couldn't eat that either. It's because of my meds.) It's a breakfast/lunch/brunch sort of place. They're only open until about 2pm. It was huge! They add mustard to their egg salad, which is a Southern way of doing it. And, I love it that way! 

Also, went to Rehab Burger because everyone was raving about it. The first time I ate there it didn't live up to the hype.I got a tuna salad sandwich. I know it's a burger place, but their other food should be just as good. I thought you couldn't screw up tuna salad too much, and wanted something light and cool. It was way too peppery, had a huge thing of alfalfa sprouts (when they just listed sprouts, I was thinking bean sprouts which I'm fine with. This was like grass), and the bread was very tough. It was huge and very hard to cut with a fork and knife. There was a pickle on the side (that I almost didn't see), and a huge thing of fries which weren't that great. The 2nd time I went, I was with Dad and it was for an early 'dessert'. I got their 'pot brownie'. It was a huge hot brownie with marshmallow fluff around it, chocolate syrup on top, a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of that, and some more chocolate syrup on top of that all in a very hot cast-iron pan or 'pot'. It was so good!The marshmallow was lightly toasted on the sides. I couldn't eat it all. So, maybe the dessert redeemed them in my eyes. I'm not sure.

Went to Ra Sushi. It was really good!Better than I expected. I got their chicken teriyaki rice bowl. And, like usual got iced tea. Found out later that the flavor of the tea was strawberry and mango. (There may have been orange in there as well, I can't remember.) That was very good. The rice bowl had a layer of rice, a layer of shredded carrots, a layer of sugar snaps and broccoli, a layer of the chicken with the sauce, and a lot of sesame seeds on top of that. I really liked that there were some vegetables in it.With so many places when I get teriyaki chicken there's either no vegetables, or very little like it was an afterthought.Seemed more like a real 'meal' this way. The nurses at the hospital wrinkled their noses up at me when I told them about Ra Sushi. Saying things like: "Uhhh...Sushi?" I guess they think sushi or Asian cuisine in general is strange, high end, or something.They were the ones that could only come up with burger places when I asked if they could recommend a restaurant...

Went to RnR with Dad and one of my cousins' friends. It was pretty good. I got their grilled chicken sandwich. It had cheese, pesto, sun dried tomatoes, a garlic aioli, and maybe one other sauce. It was pretty saucy, but tasty. There are options for what type of fries you want, so I got the parmesan one. So, it wasn't the best, but close.

Went to their Red Lobster with Dad as one of the last restaurants I went to. Ordered from the 4-meal deal again. I got mashed potatoes to replace the soup option (I can't have any of the soups, now that they've taken off the spicy chicken tortilla one), a Caesar salad, Cajun chicken linguine, and replaced the dessert options with strawberry shortcake in a jar. It was all very good. And, it made some more meals for me to put in the fridge. I also had some of the food they had at the gift shop at the hotel. A lot of it was really good. They had one of the things I love at home, so it was a piece of home there, too.

The surgery went well.They told me that there was minimal bloodless. It was about 4 and a half hours long. Halfway through they called me and said everything was going smoothly. When they were done, the surgeon told me how it went and not to see her for another hour. They told me this beforehand, but it felt longer than it was.When I first saw her she was kind of out of it. Totally understandable, though. The nurses were telling her a bunch of things, even though one of them told me they knew she wouldn't remember and they'd have to relay everything again to her later. Why tell her at that time then?For the rest of the time, I'd visit her for a while each day. 

Met one other patient going through the same thing, only she had surgery 2 days later. So, she was 2 days behind compared to Dad. She was very nice, and it was nice to hear her story. Good to have Dad able to tell her what to expect, too. As well as just to see someone going through the same thing.

Dad got 2 bouquets of flowers. One from a coworker, and another from a family she's worked with. Very nice. She had 2 visitors, that I know of anyway. One came by to be with us during Shabbat, and the other used to live somewhat near us and is now a big advocate in Arizona. 

The first one claims to be my 2nd cousin once removed. I'm not entirely sure if she's really related to me.We found out about her when both my parents were into genealogy. I first met her a long time ago while we were visiting family. (Much more closely related family, the ones we know about...) Although, I remembered that she looked a lot different back then. I'm almost wondering if it's someone claiming to be her, but isn't.Anyways, she's a rabbi and wanted to help with Shabbat. She's ok to be around for a couple of hours, but then she gets weird. And not weird in the good sense.I like some 'weird' or unconventional people in general. She decided to stay overnight at the hotel. Which made me grow an even bigger headache.Then, she stayed for a good chunk of the next day. 

She said things like anthropology isn't a hard science.She argued about forensics being an anthro focus. She complimented Dad for me being 'sharp in Torah'. She had nothing to do with that, really. Maybe encouraged me, but that's beside the point. I'm the one who knew apparently more about the Torah than she realized I would, not Dad.She did some weird things with her Shabbat service that I didn't really feel right about, but bit my tongue.She said that there was no way for us to understand the surgery. Ummmm...could it be that you can just look up the info?! Familiarize yourself with it? She argued about my medical conditions. She thought things like trans stuff were beyond her, but she supported their rights and such. She just seemed very ignorant about everything. 

The second person was incredibly nice. Dad knew her a lot more, too. That 2nd person is trans herself, so that was cool. She has 3 daughters, and suggested that I contact them. To get in touch with other 'unicorns'. That'd be awesome!I don't know too many of them. In fact, I don't think I've personally met another one besides myself.

There was another person who works with the surgeon that came in periodically. She was super nice and cool. She apparently was shot in face and lost a finger a while back. Her face was repaired, and she looked amazing. Dressed really well, too. She's from the South, so she had a bit of Southern charm. She helped Dad with what to expect and coaching her on things. We both had some 'girl talk' every so often with her as well. 

All the nurses were great. There was only one that seemed a bit forgetful and flaky, but she seemed cool the rest of the time. The food apparently was good. Dad said the grilled cod was especially good, as well as the apple pie. 

I had a weird thing happen at both security check points at the airports. Dad only had a hard time on the way back. At the first one for our flight going to Arizona, Dad had a fast pass for it. She had it down for me, as well. As we were about to go down that line, the security person there said only Dad could go through that way and I had to go through the regular line. She said unless I was 12 and under I couldn't go down that line. Bizarre.So, we were separated, and it took me a while longer than her. At the one for our flight back, I first was told to go through the full body scanner because the regular scanner wasn't working. And, just as I was about to, another person said that it was being recalibrated and I needed to go through the regular one. The other guy quickly stepped aside so I could go through the regular one.It was odd. Dad was asked a couple of weird questions. She had a hard time with the person who was scanning her carry-on stuff. He wasn't sure about something that she has to use after surgery. Dad even had a letter for it. The supervisor came in calmly, and said it wasn't a big deal and it was ok. She went through after that. 

We were very early for our flight back. So, we had some time to look around and just relax a bit. We grabbed a couple of shakes from a burger place at the airport. Mine was their shake of the month: Snicker's. It was so good!The chunks at the bottom were so big, the only way to have them was with a spoon. I felt like an entire candy bar was left at the bottom. We had dinner at an Asian restaurant there called Pei Wei. We both got their honey chicken combo. It was pretty good. We got some cactus candy before we left at the airport. It was 'different' let's just say.Not sure if I liked it or not...We have more of it to try later, at least.

Dad had let me use her school's laptop. (They give them out to employees every few years, apparently it's time for a new one soon. It's pretty old.) It was a little iffy booting up, but it was pretty smooth with internet stuff. Most places that we were at had a great connection, too. It was pretty handy with keeping people up to date. I don't have a smart phone. At the airport for our last flight, none of the outlets worked and the internet was down. So, it was hard to do much of anything except sit around, read, talk, etc. Our flight back to SeaTac started at 10:40pm and landed at around 2am. Really late, or early however you look at it. 

We might be going back during the wintertime for her 2nd and final stage. Should be a much nicer time weather-wise too.Right now she just has to heal.

We boarded up the cats at a local kennel. We used to take Buster, our beagle, there all the time. (He sadly passed away a while ago, but loved it there.) When we went to pick up the cats, both of them were really happy to see us. Although, they seemed to have just woken up from a nap, so they were drowsy looking. Their 'rooms' had 2 'floors' to them. One higher shelf, and the lower one had their litter box, food, and water. Tasha's was the 'standard' one with a hole on the top shelf that led directly over her litter box. Rosie's didn't have that, and I think her top shelf was slightly shorter. We got Tasha first, and she immediately looked happy when she got home and out of the carrier. Rosie was weary at first, but I think she was unaware of her surroundings. Eventually, she looked really happy too. They seem to be back to normal now.Although, maybe slightly more clingy. On the way home, I think Rosie was really scared and a bit traumatized by the way they shoved her into the carrier. She peed quite a bit in it, and I started to notice it halfway home. It's not her fault, I can see why it'd be scary.I just feel sorry that she felt that way. I want her to feel safe and happy. 

It feels so good to be home now! The weather feels pleasant, especially compared to where we were. It's going to be in the lower to mid 70s this week. Perfect temps to me.The first shower back was great! Got to do all my laundry, as well. I wore a couple of shirts twice, because I didn't have enough to last the entire length of the trip. My jeans were looking pretty messy, too. Clean clothes are always good! I hope to get back to my normal stuff tomorrow. We'll see. The trip really tired me out, mainly because of the weather and the stress. Oh, also made a few more fb friends through all this! Pretty cool.