Winston-Salem!

Thanks to God, my Prius, and my mother-in-law's GPS, I made it safely to Winston-Salem, NC on Sunday!  I (hopefully) conquered step II on Saturday, then drove up to Gadsden that night.  Early Sunday morning I hit the road for NC!  The drive up was really long (7 hours), but also really pretty.  I've never been to the Carolinas before.  It really seemed like as soon as I crossed the Georgia state line that the scenery changed from flat to hilly with tons of gorgeous trees!

Of course I made the trip alone as Stu has to stay behind and work.  Traveling with him would have been much more enjoyable and entertaining.  I did see some interesting things as I drove, though.  I learned that Greenville, SC is apparently the home of PET milk as I passed their factory.  I also crossed something called the Yadkin Pee-Dee River Basin just outside of Charlotte.  Not sure what that is, but I think I'd like to visit sometime!

When I arrived in Winston-Salem I was warmly greeted by James, Kathryn, Spencer, Cooper and Lizzy Evans (2 of those are dogs).  They are graciously allowing me to stay in their gorgeous home which is a convenient 2 blocks from the hospital!  They are family friends of the Saulters', and I had never met them until I pulled up in front of their house with a car full of stuff!  So they are definitely awesome people to open up their home to me!

Yesterday I started work.  I was a bit nervous and very much lost in a new hospital that has over 1000 patient beds and a confusing layout!  It was a difficult day ... mainly because I failed to be patient with myself and kept getting frustrated about getting lost/not having computer access/etc.  It was kind of like starting third year all over again, but without knowing anyone.  But today was a lot better!  I felt a bit more confident.  I still got lost, though not quite as much!  The people here are really nice and so that definitely helps in the transition.  I've also already gotten to have two really interesting patients, and am reminded by all the posters on the wall that I am working at "one of the US News and World Report's best hospitals in America".  So that's pretty exciting!

That's all for tonight.  Hopefully this weekend I will do some sight-seeing and be able to give you a tour of Winston-Salem!