Hurricane Irene

Alex:
So I've had some questions about how things are around here in the wake of the recent hurricane, and basically the answer is Just Fine. We're pretty far west and inland, so we really didn't get any rain at all. On Sunday we had some high winds and very gloomy overcast skies, but it wasn't bad at all (we even went out shopping and to a Greek festival). The odd part was that it was very cold -- temperatures down to the 50s. I guess the spiraling winds were bringing cold air down out of the north for us.


5 million people were STILL without power last I heard! I don't think we ever lost power, despite the fears of high winds blowing trees into power lines.

One last interesting bit: Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall on continental US since 2008 - Hurricane Ike.

Laura:
Yep...we're doing just fine here in Rochester. A number of my med school classmates who have family and friends living in NYC and other coastal cities had some horror stories to tell about the storm....no power for 12 hours.....towns completely flooded....bridges washed out....etc. Hopefully things will get back to normal for all those people!

Thanks for being concerned about our safety during this crazy hurricane.

-The Lorax-

Water, Water Everywhere

Laura:
Alex, myself, and two of my med school classmates attempted to go on a glorious sailing adventure on the Sunday of White Coat Weekend. Background.....my Advisory Dean, Dr. G, owns a sailboat and during our first Advisory Dean lunch he offered all of us spots on his crew (no previous sailing experience required!) any time he went sailing on Lake Ontario in the next few months. Super excited about the chance to go on a real sailboat, I signed us up right away!

That Sunday we picked up my classmates and headed up to Lake Ontario. Now the weather was not the nicest....gloomy, overcast, imminent rain....but we decided to go for it anyway. When we arrived at the marina, Dr. G was already preparing the boat for a trip out on the water. Yeah! We all climbed aboard and were shortly underway. We used the motor to get chug up the Genesee River a bit and then out into Lake Ontario. Once out in open waters, Dr. G cut the engine and we started sailing....sort of. There wasn't much wind that day despite the impending storms, so we very slowly sailed along the shore.

That column sticking up in the center of the picture is the red/white striped beacon at the end of the pier in the "Beach Break" post. The right side of the picture is the Ontario Beach Park.

 
We did get some brief lessons in steering and sail management, but with so little wind there wasn't much for us crew to do. Despite the lack of super sailing, we did have a great time sitting around and chatting on the boat for a couple hours. Eventually we decided to head back in since the wind was drying up and the storm clouds were getting darker. We made it back to the car just as the rain started, and the four of us have an official "Wind Check" from Dr. G so we can come back anytime to experience "real" sailing. All-in-all it was a pretty good time.

Once we got home, I decided to take a rainy Sunday nap to escape the gloom outside.......meanwhile.......


Alex:
I took a short nap as well, but as I drifted in and out of sleep I heard the rain ebbing and flowing.  At one point when I woke up it occurred to me that it had been going real hard for a while, so I thought I'd take a look out the window.  What I saw surprised me, so I grabbed my camera.

It was absolutely pouring outside.  Our driveway had turned into a little stream and our high-curbed streets were like canals.  Cars driving through would push the water in front of them creating huge waves that would flow right over the mall.

Other people down the street had noticed the flooded streets and were out playing.

We had roofers working on our house and their equipment had been filling up our parking lot out back, so my car was parked across the street.

I worried about damage to my wheels and breaks from all the water.

After a few cars drove by and kicked up the water level I started to worry about water actually getting into the floorboard and engine of my car!

Motion blur shot - you can see the wave kicked up in front of the car, and to the side and behind the car the water is flowing right over the mall

It was pretty incredible!  I walked through the water myself briefly, and when I went back inside Laura woke up...  Sorry I didn't wake you up, but you looked so cozy!

Laura:
I missed everything!  :0(  At least there was this video to watch.......

-THE LORAX-

Showing off Rochester

Laura:
As mentioned in the White Coat Ceremony post my parents were in town for a few days to attend the ceremony and hang out, so we took them for a tour all over Rochester in our free time.

They actually arrived Thursday afternoon, so that evening we went out to eat at Sticky Lips BBQ. It was delicious!!! Sorry we don't have any pictures, but I'm sure we'll post about it again sometime. We'll definitely be going back.

Friday was the White Coat Ceremony....you can read all about that in the White Coat Ceremony post....der.

Saturday we really hit the town! First we took my parents to experience the awesomeness that is the Rochester Public Market. We even stopped at the empanada stand for a late breakfast. Then we headed to High Falls in downtown Rochester.

High Falls is a ~100 ft waterfall along the Genesee River and is located very near downtown Rochester. In the olden days (late 1800's - early 1900's), water was redirected off the Genesee River just before the falls into a canal called "Brown's Race" after the guy who built it. The race channeled water to waterwheels that helped power various factories and businesses along the river - some of which are still visitable today.

After touring the falls we went up to Lake Ontario. That Saturday the water was not roped off due to bacteria or algae, so I took a quick dip....water was pretty warm and gunky but that's probably because it was so shallow. Will definitely have to try wading out further next time. We also stopped to check out the Dentzel Carousel at Ontario Beack Park.

Coastguard Station where Lake Ontario and Genesee River meet

Once our tour of the beach was complete, we decided to get tickets to a Rochester Red Wings game! The Red Wings are the minor league baseball team in Rochester, and according to a sign inside the stadium they are a feeder team for the Minnesota Twins. The stadium is actually pretty big, very nicely built, and the prices for tickets and food are very reasonable....especially compared to any major league stadium.

The only bad part about our visit to Frontier Stadium (named after a local tele-com company) was the rain! We arrived about an hour before game time and it was raining cats and dogs! It stopped long enough for us to run to the box office to get tickets, but started up again just as my dad was walking back to us, tickets in hand.

The horrible rain clouds lurked around for a while and caused a 2 hour rain delay. We decided to stick it out though, and once they got the field dried off a little it was finally time to play ball!

Fun things about the stadium:

1) A horse made of old baseball gloves

2) Sweet view of the Kodak building from our seats

3) The Zooper Stars!!!! I don't have any pics of their between inning skits, but here is a link to their website and one YouTube video. They're hilarious!!!

4) Decently priced team merchandise

A great time was had by all at the ball park and we will definitely be going back again!!!

Thanks again to my parents for making the journey all the way up to Rochester! We really enjoyed showing you around town and hope you (and others) will visit again soon. 

~The Lorax~

White Coat Weekend

Laura:
IT'S OFFICIAL!!!! I successfully completed Orientation Week at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and to top everything off I am now the proud, bewildered, ecstatic, overwhelmed, grateful, humbled owner of a short WHITE COAT! Whoa.....things are getting real now.

On the gloriously sunny morning of August 12, my classmates and I received our white coats during a beautiful ceremony at the Interfaith Chapel on the U of R "River Campus" - aka the undergraduate campus nestled along the Genesee River (which runs through the heart of Rochester). In attendance were my mom, my dad, and Alex. It was really great to have you all there for this incredible occasion. THANKS FOR COMING!!!!

Interfaith Chapel along the Genesee River (Image from UR Computer Science Website)

The chapel is located in the upper portion of the building (the area encased in brick). The arches on the roof are filled with beautifully colored glass. Here are a couple pictures Alex took of the inside:

During the ceremony a number of doctors and medical students gave speeches about the honor, power, and sacrifice that come along with the white coat as well as many reminders to try to maintain a balanced life during our medical careers....good doctors are also good, well-rounded, happy people.

After all the speeches it was finally time to receive our white coats. They called us up one-by-one to the altar area where our Advisory Deans helped us put our coats on (we received a number of warnings to just hold your arms straight back while the deans shimmied the coats up your arms."DON'T TRY TO HELP", they said. The more you struggle and squirm the sillier you're going to look!)

Luckily I got my coat on without a hitch and I managed to make it back to my seat without a struggle or my legs buckling from excitement and terror! I was so nervous, so honored, so incredibly grateful and happy to be there in that moment.

I FINALLY MADE IT TO MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!

Once everyone had received their white coats, the ceremony culminated in a giant class picture on the River Campus Quad.

I'm over on the right-side of the group, second row from the front.

My friend Rachel. We went to undergrad at Mizzou together. She is currently a 4th year medical student at U of R. She was the first one to tell me about the school and has been SOOOOOO helpful on my journey to medical school.

Me and my parents

Me and Alex

Me and fellow classmates who also took the pre-matriculation course. Really great people!!!

A delicious lunch was provided for all in attendance - really great cheese tortellini, chicken, salad, desserts, and more. In the afternoon, the parents/guests were invited to attend a presentation about the UR School of Medicine, the biopsychosocial, Double Helix curriculum we would be following during medical school, and other interesting tid-bits about U of R. Meanwhile, my classmates and I attended our first "Biopsychosocial Integration Conference". During this conference we were re-introduced to the biopsychosocial model, how it can be integrated into the medical profession, and learned a little bit about the field of geriatric medicine. The best part was the patient presentation - a geriatric patient volunteered to come speak to us, tell us their medical/life story, and answer our questions about the medical profession from the patients' perspective. It was really neat! These conferences will continue through out the school year and we'll be learning about how to practice medicine with a holistic approach....not just through scientific questioning but by getting to know our patients personally and truly caring about them from every angle (Every school does not teach this approach, so I'm very lucky and excited to be at the U of R).

For celebratory dinner we went out to Dorado's on Park Avenue. Park Avenue is a big street just north of our apartment with tons of little restaurants, bars, and shops. If you ever come to visit, we would definitely take you there! Dorado's is a "Latin fusion cafe"....fancy talk for Mexican food. The food was really great, but the best part of the night was the drink I ordered - THE MEXICAN CAR CRASH. According to the menu this beverage is a "margarita plus a corona....LITERALLY". They weren't kidding:

My parents didn't have to fly back to St. Louis until Sunday morning, so we hung out with them all day Saturday......which will be described in a separate post. :0) Stay tuned!!!

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Many, many, many thanks to Alex for being my official photographer throughout the day. It's so nice to have so many incredible pictures from this very important moment in my life.

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Alex:
I was just glad I was able to take off the morning of work with things so busy and only 24 hours notice.  Laura has been so busy with all her schooling and orientation that she didn't realize she needed to let me know that the ceremony took place on a Friday morning!  Some people gotta work!  So I was able to make it for half the day and see the ceremony, have some lunch, and attend an hour lecture / family & friends orientation.  I left when they started giving tours of the medical school, so Laura will have to give me the full tour someday.  I'm so happy for Laura that her dream of being a doctor is slowly but surely coming true.  She looks so official in her white coat!

We're ALL very proud of her...  as you can see!

Niagara Falls

Alex:
On July 30, as part of our last weekend before Laura started her pre-matriculation course (or preschool, as I liked to tease her) we went to visit Niagara Falls. It is about 1.5 to 2 hours away from here, depending on the route. On the way over, we took the scenic route along the lake, stopping at a little hot dog / burger / ice cream place in a tiny town for lunch called Brownies.

View of Lake Ontario from our car.

As we approached the Canadian border, we crossed over a dam and under an interesting looking building going over the highway. It looked like a neat place and a nice view, so we circled back and checked it out.


It was a little museum dedicated to the Niagara power station (full name: New York Power Authority Niagara Power Project Power Vista - what a mouthful!). Inside were a bunch of exhibits teaching kids about electricity and a diorama of the town. Outside was a nice view of the river and the dams on both the US and Canadian side.





































Laura:
After our stop at the Power Vista we continued up river to Whirlpool State Park. At this particular bend in the Niagara River the water gets very turbulent and generates a whirlpool.....hence the name of the park. We walked around the visitor center for a bit and looked at the whirlpool from the top of the cliffs.

WHIRLPOOL!!!!

Aero Car you can ride over the whirlpool (on the to-do list for next visit)

We also saw this interesting diagram showing how the falls have moved  up river over thousands of years due to erosion of the underlying rocks.

Click to Enlarge....far right = falls thousands of years ago....far left = falls current location. Pretty cool!

After viewing the whirlpool from the cliffs, we decided to follow the trail signs for a path that led down to the river's edge. These signs lured us in with promises of "easy skill level" and short distances.....this was a lie!!! The easy part was the path leading to the treacherous stone staircase that wound back and forth while descending 300 ft down to the river. CRIKEY!!!! Here we are walking down the stairs......

The further and further we went down the stairs, the more and more worried we were that we wouldn't be able to make it back to the top. There were so many steps and everyone hiking back up was  in incredibly good shape, wearing Camel Back water bags, and surprisingly out of breath! Not good.....despite these bad omens we carried on and finally made it to the bottom!!!

After a short rest at the bottom of the stairs (during which we consumed the last of our water supply), we started to head back up the stairs....slowly but surely.....

 

Despite our exhaustion, we finally made it back to the top! We went back to our cars to grab a snack and then take some time to recover from our epic hike. Next time we will definitely bring more water!!!!

Fully revived thanks to clementines and Cheez-its we continued on our journey to actually see the falls and crossed over into CANADA!!!!! The board crossing was an interesting experience because 1) I had to dig my passport out of the trunk right in front of the border patrol officer because I had forgotten to get it out and 2) the officer asked a suprising number of questions before letting us into Canada....do you have an items to declare....where are you from.....why does your passport say Missouri.....what do you do for a living....sir....ma'am.....why are you going to Canada.....how do you know each other....yada yada YADA!!!! Luckily we passed the test and were allowed to enter the country in one piece.

We drove around for a bit trying to find parking and finally settled on a state park lot that had a free shuttle to take you up and down the main drag near the falls....also the shuttles were called "People Movers" so we had to do it! LOL. After hitching a ride on the people mover we saw our first glimpses of the falls......

Alex:
There are a lot of rapids leading up to the falls, and then from behind the falls all you can see is the water disappearing into a giant cloud of mist.

All kinds of crazy rapids

Approaching the falls

Because we took the scenic route and stopped several times for various activities, we arrived in the evening as the sun was starting to dip lower in the sky.  So once we got in front of the falls there was a sweet rainbow from the sun setting behind us.

Sweet panoramic view

Alex took lots of really great pictures! If you want to see the rest, just come visit it us in Rochester. We can give you a slide show presentation or actually take you to see Niagara in person!!!!!

Someone was nice enough to take a picture for us!

This particular green water bottle has now been photographed in Belize, Mexico, Florida, and now at Niagara Falls!

Laura:
We walked around the edge of the falls for a little while, but the immense crowds and sweltering heat (86*F....pretty hot for this region, and the mist/humidity made it even balmier) kept our visit pretty brief. Just enough time to enjoy the falls and plan out what we want to do the next time we visit: ride the Maiden of the Mist, go during a less crowded weekend (Alex: it was a Canadian holiday so everyone in all of Canada was out visiting the falls during their extended weekend), visit during the fall to see the leaves change (per the suggestion of a park ranger), wear appropriate hiking gear for paths along river, possibly park in America and walk over to Canadian side to save time & money on parking in Canada, ride the AeroCar over the Whirlpool.

After driving around on the Canadian side searching for food (EPIC FAILURE due to non-updated GPS, lack of parking at existing restaurants, and very crowded streets), we headed back to the United States and had a tasty meal at a little Indian restaurant. We left Niagara pretty late, so we decided to take the quick way home to Rochester, i.e. driving on more direct toll roads instead of taking the backwoods scenic route. See map below....

All-in-all, we had an excellent time! It was really great to see this natural wonder in person and we definitely plan on going back....especially if we have out-of-town friends who want to go while they're visiting....hint....hint!


Finally, for your viewing pleasure.....

~THE LORAX~