work in progress

Finally I get a chance to tell you about the fun stuff I've been doing on vacation! Handwork stuff, that is! Even though reading in the car makes me nauseous, I usually am able to knit unless the road is real winding. So I finished the sock on my needles and have started on its mate. It is a pretty tofutsies pastel yarn that I purchase in Maine or New Hampshire on my August vacation. It is a blend of several fibers, the unique one being chitin which is from shellfish and is a natural antibacterial so supposedly keeps your socks from getting stinky from sweaty feet! Haven't tested it personally. Also finished wool applique on a penny rug pattern by Buttermilk Basin--a SNOW design. Have gotten work done on a very large tablerunner, actually called a table rug, by Sue Spargo. It is called Winterberries and Nancy and I decided to do this last winter, using a combination of flannel and wool. It is really looking nice, I have the vine and most of the leaf applique done. We'll see what Nancy has achieved at a later date! Have not visited many shops, but did find a good place Tuesday on Hwy 395 between Mammoth Lakes and Carson City, it is called the Quilt House and was in one of the Top 10 magazines. There is a local shop that I went into, they have a wide variety of fashion and quilting fabrics. Called Fabrics Unlimited. And that is about all for now!

So the saga continues! Now seated safely in the resort in South Lake Tahoe, NV, I am enjoying a day with my daughter, Brita. She drove here yesterday morning from San Francisco and her boyfriend, Ben, is coming tonight after he gets off work. It is about a 4 hour drive from the city. Our son, Dan, is living in Mammoth Lakes, CA, about 3 hours from here to the south. He works for the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort, in fact, you can see video of him on their website http://www.mammothmountain.com as he gives the snow report. He is the one with the Minnesota accent! He is here with us for a couple days, so we are having an early Christmas celebration. Only one missing is Krista and we really wish she could have made it but she was so nice to send us cookies anyway! Bob and I drove from Tahoe to Mammoth on Monday to see where Dan lives and works, plus the guys went skiing and I got to ride the gondola up to the mountaintop for lunch with an amazing view! We also went to Tom's Place, a tiny town near there that was once our home for a short time. When we were college students, we went there to work for the summer at the resort owned by Bob's aunt and uncle. We were wondering what we would find after 31 years absence, but it has been very well preserved in much the same way as it was back then. We really loved our time there, and it was so fun to go back and talk with some of the locals about people we remembered. A trip down memory lane!

On the Road Again

Are you ready for a l ittle travelogue? Or adventure tale? That's what our roadtrip from Minnesota to Lake Tahoe turned into! Bob and I do love a good vacation drive and haven't had the chance for quite awhile. So we have been looking forward to this trip for the drive itself, not just the fact that we would end up at a great destination that was new for us. And close to our kids (young adult kids, that is!). But cross-country travel in the winter is unpredictable at best, and this trip proved that! Thank goodness we have a good 4-wheel drive pickup and Bob is a trooper when it comes to driving. We left home last Thursday AM, made stops in Jackson and Lake Park to say hi to the folks. Good thing, too, since we were rewarded with cinnamon bread and lunch! Then heading towards Omaha we had only a little bit of slippery spot north of Sioux City. Got to Omaha just in time for evening traffic, which combined with darkness, slush, and road construction made for an interesting stretch. Stopped for the night in Grand Island for a good night's sleep and then up early to continue west on I-80. Some light snow, slush on the highway, and heavy clouds which obscured much of our view. Now I realize many of you think "What view?" because the drive across Nebraska has a bad rep. But I personally think that it is undeserved since I like the wide open spaces. Remember the Dixie Chicks song? Fits me perfectly! Things were going pretty well until we crossed into Wyoming. I have one bit of advice for the Wyoming DOT--GET SALT! The interstate turned into packed snow/ice so our speed slowed down considerably. The heavy load of semi trucks made it hard to pass and/or be passed without slipping around. At one point we saw a very serious accident that had closed down the eastbound lanes for quite awhile, resulting in a parking lot of vehicles on the highway. Our path was clear to keep on moving westward, until we got aways further and witnessed a scene that was hard to comprehend. There are 3 large mountain slopes east of Evanston called the Sisters, and there was so much ice, etc., that traffic came to a standstill in both directions. I have never seen so many semi trucks in one spot, and they just happened to be parked every which way on the interstate. Several jack-knifed or off the road. We were able to slowly manuever through the maze with a little convoy of 4WD vehicles, and make it to Evanston safely. Our hopes to make Salt Lake City for the night were dashed, but we were happy to call it a night.
All the time I have for now, I will continue the saga at a later time. With reports on knitting and sewing!