Day 2

Day 2 certainly has been a whirlwind. I knew it was possible that I would be transferred to Chattanooga but this morning I got the word. While in a meeting this morning with my fellow nurses (with Red Cross all health services are nurses, regardless of background) the chief elected a supervisor to head the condolences in Chattanooga. This supervisor then selected two people to come with her. I was one of those people. And thus began the day's saga.

But first I should introduce my new friends. The supervisor is Nancy from Michigan, a retired career nurse with more Red Cross experience than any one person should have, and Liz, a brand new nurse from Sonoma County California who is on her first DR. They're both great and, needless to say, the drive to Chattanooga offered plenty of bonding time.

Ok, back to the saga. After tying up the few loose ends we had time to create in Greenville and heading back to the hotel to re-pack our bags we headed out for Chattanooga, a 3 1/2 or-so hour drive. We had lunch at a nice little waterfront restaurant in the town of Dandridge (a great southern town, it reminded me somewhat of Boone but without the giant university) and continued on our way. We first went to the local chapter, made some friends, and then were pointed in the direction of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center). By this time it was too late in the day to get started on anything so we headed for the hotel. This was quite an ordeal, with a great deal of confusion about where we were to be staying and, through talking to multiple staffing managers as well as hotel managers we ended up in a Best Western. Here we made another friend, a mental health worker from Philadelphia who goes to where other than Banner Elk for the summer. The 4 of us went to find dinner and ended up downtown at a great restaurant near the water. After dinner I decided to take the scenic route north across the river, west for a bit, and then south back across the river. By some miraculous stroke of luck we came across the river back into town just as the minor league baseball stadium, which is right on the river, was having its fireworks show. So we watched the fireworks as we drove across and quite literally drove right under them. After all of that excitement we got back to the hotel, where I have met my new roommate, Frank, a PR guy.

But anyway, I'm glad to be in bed now and I'll definitely be ready to start working in earnest, and not traveling, tomorrow.