This was my last week before my return to work and as planned I went on a road trip: Vancouver and Seattle to be exact. My plan was to hang out with friends, walk around the respective cities, sample the local cuisine and maybe do a little shopping.
I left Ottawa last Friday afternoon. I had a couple of glasses of wine in the lounge prior to departing with every intent to fall asleep immediately in my seat on the airplane. Once on the plane, I sat down, placed my book in front of me, arranged my bag of candy (in flight necessity) for quick access and put a little Jack Johnson on the iPod. Without fail it was lights out. I woke somewhere over Alberta with my habitual smacking of the lips and a slow revolving look for someone to bring me something to drink. With my drink in hand I reached for the candy and started a rapid fire insertion of sweet morsels into my mouth with little chewing or swallowing. Pure bliss.
It was at that point that I noticed a significant pain in my left upper rib cage. The best way to describe it is a stitch (you know the kind you get when you run too hard). The problem is the stitch didn't go away. I was a little worried because it was making deep breaths somewhat painful. I wasn't too worried because of the explanation the rehab doctor gave me about the fact that they had cracked my chest open and I would experience all kinds of weird sensations for the next 6 months as my muscles and bones moved back into place. The candy probably didn't help either--we're talking a movie theatre size pack of Sour Patch Kids consumed in about 30 minutes.
Unfortunately the stitch didn't go away until Monday and it then graduated into my shoulders. I started on the Advil and Tylenols so that I could enjoy my trip. In Vancouver I visited with my sister and family and I stayed with my friend D. D. lives downtown and walking distance to everything. With D. the first order of business is always food. When I got off the plane we went straight to an all-you-can-eat sushi place. The following day we went to a place called the Banana Leaf. If you go to Vancouver you need to go to this restaurant (http://bananaleaf-vancouver.com/). You will not be disappointed. D. and I also did a little donut comparison: Lee's bakery on Granville Island vs. Honey's in Deep Cove. Each has their distinct style. Lee's is melt in your mouth, light, I could eat 3 dozen in a single sitting style donuts. Honey's is a caky, freshly dipped in honey, sinfully good 2000 calorie pastry, where if you can eat more than one you may end up writing you're own blog about heart surgery. Personally, I decided that Lee's was my favourite.
I was hoping to take some cool boat or hovercraft from Vancouver to Seattle, but poor planning and schedule convenience swayed me towards taking the bus. I had a good book and a pile of music I had ripped at D's. Four hours later I was in Seattle. I hadn't seen my friends F. and M. for almost 2 years and it was great to be at their place just hanging out. While we were having dinner the first night M. mentioned to me that she had not had a poutine in 2 years. I decided then and there that I was going to make poutine in Seattle. All I needed was proper cheese curd. It ain't a poutine without cheese curd. On Thursday I took the bus into downtown Seattle and walked up to Pike Place Market (picture above). If you like food, you this place is a must visit.
While I was walking around I noticed Beechers Handmade Cheese (http://www.beechershandmadecheese.com/). Hmmm... I wonder if they make curd. I didn't any curd on display so I asked. "Do you have plain cheese curd?" The woman behind the counter said "sure do". "Would you mind if I test it?" She looked at me funny. "Taste it, I mean." She handed over a nice piece of curd. It was solid and cool to the touch. So far so good. I put it in my mouth: salt (but not too salty) and squeaky. "Perfect!" I said. She set me up with container and it took all my self control not to mow through the cheese on the bus and make up some story about how the yanks don't make curd cheese. I made the poutine that night along with some pan fried haddock. I think it was a success.
On Friday I made a quick visit with F. to the Seattle Space Needle and then hopped on the bus back to Vancouver. Saturday morning I was back on the plane and headed for home. Sunday I woke to no pain in my shoulders or chest. Funny.
This trip was a great way to transition back to my regular life.
As I re-read the above paragraph's I realize I don't sound too much like a guy that just had heart surgery: donuts, bags of candy and poutine. Aside from some of the pains I feel, being winded when I climb a hill or stairs and remembering to take the medication I don't really feel any different than before. I have to say seeing the scar in the mirror kind of freaks me out occasionally.
