Last week in Billings

It's been an unexpectedly fun rotation here in Billings. First of all, the rotation itself was quite good, with great attendings and friendly clinic staff. I don't know if I've felt so welcomed on any of my other rotations. It's been 100% clinic time, with no inpatient, which was just fine with me. I can handle not being in a hospital for four weeks. So I didn't get to see any patients languishing in comas, oh well.

The real treat has been the opportunity to get out and explore Montana. I've put nearly 2000 miles on the Xterra in the past 3 weeks just driving around seeing the sights. I forgot how much I enjoy being on the road. The best trip was the drive through Bozeman and Yellowstone two weekends ago. Many of the roads in the park were still snowed in so there were few other people in the park. I saw only one RV all day. Lots of bison to see, and be chased by. Thank god for quick acceleration.

Unfortunately, my truck broke down the following day in a little town called Roundup. I ended up parked in a local guy's garage where we tried all afternoon to figure out what was wrong. I finally had to get it towed back to the dealership in Billings, where it only took 5 days and nearly $500 to fix. But the afternoon in Roundup was very memorable. The mechanic and his wife even had me stay for dinner while I waited for the tow-truck. Awesome people.
The whole area is very much cowboy country. The big event this last weekend was branding, when the ranch owners have a jolly ol' time jamming red hot brands onto baby cows' flesh. Oh what fun!
I think I got enough of the cowboy thing my first weekend here when I went to see the PBR. That's Professional Bull Riders for those of you who don't keep up with high-testosterone sports. I was expecting nothing more than a bit of bull-riding and a whole lot of beer-drinking. But no, PBR is a huge deal. The show began with the requisite prayer and then jumped straight into an elaborate opening ceremony complete with smoke and pyrotechnics. The bull-riders come from around the world and are, apparently, the best at their craft. Pretty damn exciting. I felt a bit out of place without wranglers, a cowboy hat and a belt buckle the size of the International Space Station but I still had a good time.
Well, three more days `til I hit the road, probably never to return to big sky country.