8/8 – 8/13/2016
Megan is a PA, and along with the regular studying, journal reading, and YouTube toenail removal videos that she watches, she also has a CME requirement to stay on the bleeding edge of PA license holders. She also has a generous CME budget provided by her employer. So when a post card for a Wilderness Medicine Conference in Tahoe showed up in the mail, she signed up.
Using the budget provided by her employer, we booked a fancy hotel in Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics. To start the trip, on Saturday afternoon we left Campbell and drove up to the Tahoe area for a night of camping and stargazing. There was a meteor shower going on, however it was a full moon so we didn’t get to see too much in the way of meteors. It was a nice night though, camping in the woods, and Megan and I both felt that was good to be back in the mountains. Strangely, there was an enormous number of bees everywhere we went and after a breakfast of scrambled egg and bacon and pudgy pies the bees cleaned up the dishes. We found out later that there was a sudden explosion in the number of bees town, partly due to the mild winter previously. I escaped unharmed, but Megan was stung in a vicious attack.
On Sunday morning we drove the rest of the way up to Tahoe and Squaw Valley. Megan’s first conference session began Sunday afternoon so we checked into the hotel around noon. The village at the base of Squaw Valley resort was low-key but there was a festival going on with beer and music. We hung out for a bit before Megan went off to the first session of the conference. Sunday evening I joined her for a more general talk about high altitude cerebral and pulmonary edema which was open to guests of the registrants.
This conference is set up so that sessions occurred in the morning from 7 AM to noon, After which time attendees for free to get outside and enjoy squall Valley. In the evening after dinner, sessions began again with the final session of the day open to the public. So, Monday morning Megan woke up early and headed to class well I went for a short mountain bike ride. We met up just after lunch for a nice hike up to 8,200′ and the top of High Camp where we were able to catch free gondola ride back down to the base for a pizza dinner. The more general talk this evening was about cataract surgeries performed for low cost in developing countries. It was very interesting and seems to reignite Megan’s desire to practice medicine in a developing country.
The following morning, on Tuesday, I had to get back to the S. Bay for work, but Megan stayed for for two more days of conference returning Thursday morning. It was a lot of fun, and made even better by the financial assistance from her CME budget, providing overall a very fun and inexpensive weekend getaway.
