When we arrived in California, our friends who are also traveling nurses picked us up from the airport and we got straight to our task - fingerprints and licensure.
No real hiccups in our travels, thank goodness. A few U-turns and we were at our first destination. I could hardly make out what the man at the UPS store was saying and continuously asked him to repeat himself. I blame the deafness and not the accent, but I better brush up and work on my listening before this move.
We signed into the board of nursing building and felt official... for the five minutes is took to turn in our application for licensure in California. I don't even think the rain had dried off of my pants before we were out the door again, finishing our (very expensive) task in under an hour.
Then began the celebration, exploration and discussions about how-to, when-to, where-to of travel nursing. Megan and Ashley shared some very good information (that made my heart race) over lunch at a little french cafe. The best advice they gave to us after they struggled coming from Presby was "You are here to help the California nurses, not to impose your judgment or usual practices. If you can think of it like that, you will have no problem making it." Cheers to that mantra.
After lunch, we settled into our hotel, freshened up and headed out to explore Sacramento in the rain. I'm sure Sacramento in the sun is equally as fun but jumping cabs and puddles made the night one to remember.
First stop was Dive Bar. Immediately a unique bar as it had a giant aquarium above the bar area and boasted of a mermaid showing every evening. I had to see this! Happy hour just began and they had a free buffet including hot dogs, nachos with cheese and veggies and dip. The bartender was very helpful, mapping out the rest of our night with suggestions that led us around town and back in time for the mermaid show.
We stepped next door to a bar with pizza and murals and a semi hanging out of the wall over the bar. They live on the edge and are very trusting in Sacramento. I don't know if I would want to work my shift with a heavy, life ending massive object above my head.
We waited in the rain for a little bit before our "cash cab" took us to Rio City Cafe, the bar with the great view in Old Sac (heh, I will forever be 12 years old). Once we arrived, the bartender told us that we were 3 months too early so we drank "aged" champagne in celebration of our licenses, our new experiences and our early fan base in Sacramento. There weren't many people there but the few who were there overheard our chatter and were very excited to have new nurses in the area. They clapped overhead and cheered from their seats.
What about this cash cab now? Little did we know... Megan hopped in the front seat and Ashley, Jared and I jumped in back. Immediately, Megan began chatter with the cab driver, entertainment for our ride. She asked him where he was from since he couldn't recommend the "go to place" for newbies to the area. Megan said "Looking at your Kangol beret hat, I would guess France" though we knew this wasn't true. "Middle East but guess where" The back seat was entertained by our front seat representative who said, "I read the NY Times so, I would guess... Israel?" "I would consider Israel our enemy" "....Ohh! Iran!" And suddenly he burst into celebration, as did we. He high fived her and took his hands off the wheel, proceeding to do an Arsenio Hall celebratory fist pump and the cab exploded in celebration of the correct answer. Then we started to hydroplane (not really, just some splash through a large puddle) and our cheers of celebration turned into screams of fear. Unnecessary as it was, we still jumped out quickly and headed through a puddle into the bar with no view.
Our final stop was a cigar/prohibiton type speakeasy kind of place. It was called the Shady Lady Saloon. They mixed up some of the most amazing drinks I've ever tasted. We met and talked to a few locals who bought a few favorite drinks for us to try. We all tried a sip of every one and shared a cigar in the rain.
We crossed a lot off of our to do list in a such a short amount of time. I hope the rest of this goes just as smoothly with less deafness and rain. No turning back now. Here we go!
