Last Friday, I loaded up Mitch and Winter and drove down to Emmett. I dropped the critters off at my in-laws and drove to Hagerman Saturday morning to see Randy. Randy's birthday was that day and we celebrated by eating our way through Twin Falls and window shopping. One of the places was called Sips & Desserts. They have a variety of drinks (sodas, coffees, hot chocolate) that you can mix and cookies. I had a hot chocolate with French vanilla, caramel, and toffee bits and a frosted lemon sugar cookie with raspberry drizzle.
For as long as I've know Randy, he has wanted a nice camera and this year with the help of our parents, I was able to get Randy his camera. With some luck and an honest mistake, we were able to purchase the camera he wanted for $300 dollars off the retail price. Thank you Target for being awesome!
Sunday morning, after breakfast, we were getting ready for church when Randy got called in to work. Fish and Game has recently finished trapping/collaring deer and elk. If they receive a mortality signal from any of the collars someone needs to go out as soon as possible to determine cause of death. Randy is that lucky person. We were able to go to church for sacrament, but then had to leave. On our way out, we met an incredible woman- Melinda.
After we loaded up the car with lots of warm clothes, food, and gear we drove the office to pick up more supplies, change vehicles, and load up the ATV. We had an hour and half drive followed by a 15 minute ATV ride up to the deer. On the ATV ride we must have seen at least 100 + deer. It was just us and the deer out there. It was a beautiful day, not too cold, and bearable windy. There wasn't much left of the fawn and Randy determined that it was most likely coyotes that got him based on the condition of the carcass. While we were out, Randy got another call that another deer had died in the nearby area. After driving around and tracking the collar, it was determined that deer was on top on a butte probably at the bottom of a cliff. As it was an hour away from getting dark, no know roads to the location, likely a cougar kill, and we needed to drive to Pocatello that night, we did not go get that deer.
That evening we made the 2 hour drive to Pocatello. The practice I interviewed with kindly paid for a hotel (which is an improvement over the air mattress we slept on at Randy's place). The next morning at 8:45 we arrived at the practice. The doctor had arranged for a shelter cat to come in for me to spay. Before anything else, I did a physical exam and premeded the cat. Then she gave us a tour of the hospital and Randy left to explore Pocatello until lunch. That morning, I spayed the cat (and learned some time saving tricks), watched her neuter a dog, went in on an appointment, and watched two dentals. Randy and I had a quick lunch at Firehouse Subs (a favorite of mine). The afternoon was filled with wellness exam appointments. The office manager had called some of the their best clients to come in for a wellness visit. I would then do my exam and afterwards the doctor would visit with the client about me. It was quite an experience. I was told to introduce myself as Dr. McBride (crazy! I'm not a doctor quite yet). I became more confident as the day went out. There were several moments that I went from panic (AHH I don't know what to do) to hold on (I know stuff) to making a reasonable/appropriate treatment plan for a patient. It was in those moments that maybe I can do this. Maybe I really can be a veterinarian.
That evening we went out to dinner with the office manager and her husband, as well as the doctor and her husband. We had a good time getting to know each other. Near the close of the evening, the doctor shared with me the feedback she had received from the clients and the staff. All of it was positive and she asked that I strongly consider her practice. That night we had the long drive back to Hagerman. Tuesday morning I made the long trek back to Pullman.
I don't know the next time I'll see Randy, but hopefully it will be soon!
