Down Under

One of the things Theo had to do this summer was complete his first four week rotation in a clinical setting. Originally, he had been assigned a facility here in Amarillo and was slated to begin in mid-July. As the weeks went by, he didn't hear from the facility as he expected. Just a few weeks before he was supposed to begin, he found out that the doctor he was going to shadow was no longer working for the clinic, and that he would have to be re-assigned. This late in the game, all of the choices in Amarillo were long gone. And so, Theo ended up in the little town of Big Spring, Texas about three hours south of where we live.

Needless to say, this shook up some of the plans we had made, but all-in-all turned out to be OK. Theo was able to live in a dorm room for free, and he really enjoyed the doctor that he worked with over the course of the month he was down there. Most weekends he was able to drive up to visit us, and we all just made it work.

As his rotation was nearing the end, Theo thought it would be fun for us to come down there to see where he had been. We decided to make a whole little mini- family vacation weekend out of it. On Friday, we met up in between Amarillo and Big Spring and headed west to see Carlsbad Caverns. We arrived in town later in the evening and bedded down in a hotel for the night.

The next day we explored the natural wonder of the caves. I must say, I was amazed! I have heard that these caves are big, but holy cow! I was blown away. We trekked down, and down, and down into the earth. It was crazy! Leaving the hot dry surface far above, descending into the dark damp hole was a little surreal. It looked like something you would see on a movie set for another planet. It was much cooler than I expected.

I am so glad that we went out of our way to see this natural wonder.

Later in the day we went out to the Pecos River and frolicked on the beach. Again, it was much nicer than I expected. There was a nice sandy beach and a big dock you could swim out to. There was also a nice shaded eating area with popsicles and snow cones, perfect for a hot summer day.

That evening we drove back to Big Spring and spent the night with Theo in his dorm room. The kids were a little chagrined to see the humble accommodations, but also thrilled to have their own room which adjoined to the one Theo was staying in. Saying goodbye the next day was not as bad as the previous weeks as we knew it was Theo's last week away from home.

One rotation down....