Highland County Adventure

Hello and Happy Labor Day Weekend!

It's hard to believe that we've been in the valley for six weeks already! Things are going to so well and we are really blessed that God has provided great jobs in a awesome, welcoming and supportive community!

The biggest highlight of my week was driving over to the Highland County Fairgrounds to inspect the animals at check-in. I was very excited to represent Westwood in my first official fair duties. My first interactions with a veterinarian were as young showman, so it thrills me that showing livestock and youth participating in agriculture are a big pastime here. Everyone kept telling me to be careful on the trip from Staunton to Monterey. At first I wasn't sure why, but after about the 12th hairpin turn going across the mountains, I understood why. Just think Grandfather Mountain turns for about a 1/4 of the drive! It was a beautiful drive, but my trip there was blurred by concentrating on the road and a growing dread as I realized I might have to be the bad guy and turn away someone's show animal due to disease. Thankfully, it was a safe trip, and most of the inspections went great. However, I did have to decline two lambs due to sore mouth. One parent was very understanding and knew that it was a strong possibility the lamb would be turned away. The other parent... not so much and bristled up as soon as I even looked at the sore. It made me sad for the children that I had to reject those lambs, but medically I was confident in my decision; especially since sore mouth is contagious to humans! Overall, everyone was grateful for my presence and appreciated my being there. It was a lot of fun crawling in and out of trailers and truck beds looking at animals and meeting the families that raised them.

On the way back I was a bit more relaxed and really got to enjoy the scenery. One particular pull off caught my eye.

I'm not gonna lie, the name intrigued me. Fortunately, there were lots of signs around to educate me on just what the breast works were.

                               

I knew that the area had a lot of Civil War history, but it turned out that exact spot served as Fort Edward Johnson for the Confederate Army and that one of the towns I drove through, McDowell, had been the location of a battle. Apparently, breast work was the term for the actual fortification itself since it was breast high. As you can see, the view was gorgeous and I hope to get back and hike the trail sometime!

On the way back I also noticed a few other things that made me chuckle. On my route I crossed over Bullpasture Mountain, Bullpature River, Cowpasture River, and Calfpasture River. The whole cattle family was covered! I also saw a few deer on the way there and back and was keeping my eyes peeled for bears. Yes, bears! We haven't seen any yet, but they are pretty populous in the valley!

Other great features of the week:
- Watched over 100 ewes be ultrasounded for pregnancy. I was able to do the scanning myself a few times in vet school, but not enough to stage pregnancies and count babies well. I'm really hoping to pick up this skill so that we can offer the service to our clients
- Clark attended the Riverheads Crop and Vegetable Show. That's right, a crop and vegetable show! The students brought in the biggest and best of their summer garden and were rewarded for their efforts!
- MUCH better small animal day Friday
- Great dinner with Erin Friday night while Clark was attending the Riverheads football game with some of the administrators. It was good for Erin and I to be able to chat about work and realize that we're having the same experiences; just another great reminder of how blessed we are to have each other on this new adventure!

This weekend we've relaxed and watched football! After having something to do every weekend, I was ready for one that was more low key. This afternoon I tried a new recipe. We had four VERY ripe bananas on the counter. A little Pinteresting led me to this recipe and it's pretty good! I added a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and about 1/3 cup of raisins for more texture and flavor.

Tonight we're headed to a bonfire with new friends and tomorrow I'm on call for large animal! Thankfully Erin and I are double teaming so we won't be completely solo if a true emergency situation comes up. This week starts my new schedule of working small animal Monday and Tuesday, having Wednesday off, and working large animal Thursday and Friday. I'll have the opportunity to start doing small animal surgeries, so I'm looking forward to that! Hope everyone has a great week and a nice, relaxing Labor Day!