kicking off the tour

Finally, the day of our shining debut for the HPSS!

We had spent much of the night prior getting prepped and attempting (and eventually succeeding, through many feats of spatial reasoning and ingenuity) to fit all of the equipment and exciting demos into the vehicle. On little sleep, we left East Lansing bright and early this morning, headed eastward, and arrived in Croswell just after 9am to meet with the rest of Team HPSS: Drs. Rode and Steep, Max, and Dr. Rode's daughter, Anna, in tow.

With everyone's help, we got everything- the tent, the tables, the banners, the first pictures- all squared away and were ready for business by noon. Everyone around us was interested in just what exactly we were all about, and we were happy to start talking with those who stopped by.

Throughout the beautiful day until we shut down at around 10pm, we talked with about 200 fairgoers about everything we brought along to show off--- jars of all sorts of parasites, microscope slides, unusual radiographs, and the setup inside the tent (complete with our surgical patient for the weekend, Ryan's stuffed tiger, who was a real crowd-pleaser!).

We also were offered the chance to perform a goat castration on a local caprine (which, being veterinary students without liscences, we had to politely decline), and Ryan got to make use of his exotic medicine books in a discussion about husbandry and nutrition for pet iguanas. In all of the excitement, we forgot about the sunscreen for a few high-sun hours, and had to make an emergency run for SPF when some of the fairer-skinned members of the team started looking well-done. (We heard a lot of "oh my, did you get some sun" and "wow, are you really red"... oops.) During the evening, we were amazed by the genius of our budding veterinary audience in a presentation of radiology rounds with some of the most interesting x-rays in our collection.

After an excellent day at the fair representing the most excellent profession there is, we packed up in the trailer (special thanks to Jeff Butler of the Croswell Fair Board for providing such a great space!), we headed out to our hotel, halfway between Croswell and the lakeside town of Lexington. Max, having been there earlier in the day to check in and pick up the keys, had no trouble, but when Ryan and Lindsey found themselves staring at Lake Huron, decided they had maybe gone too far. A quick call to Max ("It's the only well-lit parking lot on the route"), and all was well. Well, except for not being able to find the actual hotel keys. Dang. After a return trip to the fairground proved unsuccessful, the keys were found in the duffel bag of a certain sunburned invidual (who shall remain nameless). Sleep was nearly instantaneous after an exciting first day on the tour. Can't wait for more.