Miss me?

So, it has been awhile! Seems like I start every post out like that these days. Things are such a whirlwind, it's easy for weeks to pass even while I still have the notion in my head that I "just blogged the other day". I know, excuses, excuses...

My last (very long) post was all about our trip out east, and ironically I wrote it while at the hotel on our next little mini-vacation. This post will be written while prepping for our August trip. It is a busy summer, to be sure!

After sitting at home for a few days (actually we were frantically doing laundry and trying to get a little work done), we headed back east, this time in the car. We didn't go nearly as far as the last time and ended up in Kalispell, Montana where Bill had a convention to attend.

On the drive in, I found my new vacation home (yeah, as soon as we win the lottery):



This is Flathead Lake, just south of Kalispell. It is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi (I'll be visiting the largest east of the Mississippi, Lake Superior, very soon). With the mountains in the background, it is absolutely stunning. I wanna live there (other than the fact that I was a bit frightened by the anti-climate change editorials in the local paper - I get spoiled living in Portland with lots of other crazy liberals)!

I got to live vicariously through my designer friend, Janet Szabo, who is lucky enough to call the Flathead Valley home. She had us over for a wonderful grilled-steak dinner the first night we were in town, and the kids were immediately in love with her two charming daughters. Owen just this morning asked about his "friends with the fire truck and the bear scratches on their house". Did I mention they live out in the middle of nowhere? I am so jealous.

On Friday morning, Janet introduced me to the owner of the very lovely yarn shop Camas Creek Yarn in downtown Kalispell. Isn't it pretty?



Here are Janet, Sydney and I in front of the big wall o' Rowan:



And here is Melanie, the shop owner, flanked by two members of her lovely staff, in front of the fabulous wall of beads. Yup, they have beads and yarn!



They also had a great kid area with stickers, crayons, cards to color in and yarn:



Sydney was kept totally entertained, but Owen just about gave us all a heart attack when he disappeared while I was talking to Melanie about patterns back in her office. Bill was in the car on a business call (the car was parked around the corner from the shop, which is on a busy street), and Owen suddenly popped his head through the passenger-side window and said "Hi, Daddy!" Bill assumed that I'd walked Owen out there until he got a panicked voice mail from me telling him that we couldn't find the boy anywhere. Mr. Independent had gotten tired of sitting in the store and decided to take matters into his own hands. My palms still get sweaty thinking about it!

After lunch at IHOP with Janet (Bill went off to play golf with his convention folk), the kids and I headed to Woodland Park to check out the waterslides. We should've just headed back to the hotel and hung out by the pool!

Disaster #1 - the waterslides are run by the parks & rec department, and they only took cash. I never carry cash. In fact, I don't even know the pin for my cash card so I couldn't even go to the ATM and get cash. I had to drag the kids, kicking and screaming, out of the water park entrance and over to the playground where they very grudgingly played while I called Bill to see if I could somehow meet up with him and pick up $20. I managed to catch him while he was playing the holes along the highway, so I threw the kids in the car (literally - by this time they'd decided that the playground wasn't so bad and were reluctant to leave, even with the promise of waterslides in their future) and met Bill by the side of the road to get some cash. We went back to the park, paid our entrance fee and were good to go.

Disaster #2 - The water park consists of a kids' water play area, a pool with some diving boards, two big waterslides and a lazy river. The kids splashed in the kids' area for about two minutes and then decided we needed to go on the lazy river. Sydney got on her own tube and I sat on another with Owen on my lap. All was well until we got to the part where there's a waterfall coming down across the entire width of the river. My kids do not like water on their heads for ANY reason, so there was much screaming and carrying on (plus something was wrong with the heating element for the water and so it was COLD pouring over our heads!). We decided we'd ride around once more and exit at the steps right before the waterfall. No problem, right? Sydney got to the steps just fine, but I waited too long and wasn't having any luck steering the innertube with Owen on my lap or hopping off in order to push the tube over to the steps. The current of the river was also a lot stronger than I expected and it was deeper. Long story short, I flipped our tube trying to get off and dunked poor Owen. He was not pleased. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to run interference between a boy who didn't want to go anywhere near any of the water and a daughter who was desperate to go back on the "Crazy River". Good times!

We all managed to survive somehow (for a little while I was concerned that I was going to end the day in jail for double homicide), and the next day we awoke fresh and ready for adventure. After Bill's morning meetings, we hopped in the car and headed for Glacier National Park.

Obligatory picture-with-park-sign (that only the adults are into):



We got to throw rocks into the lake:



Bill pretended to throw Owen into the stream (which did NOT go over well due to his mother's cruel attempt to drown him the day before):



And the kids had the best time of all running through the big sprinkler on the lawn in front of the lodge:



We didn't have too much time to spend in the park because Bill had to be back at 6:30 for cocktail hour, schmoozing and dinner, but the kids and I headed back to Janet's so we could check out her hubby's fire engine (he's captain of the local volunteer fire dept and NOBODY loves fire engines like Owen). Of course, when we got there, the truck was out at a fire, so the kids got to play with Janet's girls for awhile and Janet and I got to talk knitting. Yay! Nobody was disappointed by that.

The highlight of our trip, from the kids' perspective, was this:



Here's Janet, testing the patience of the neighbors by running the lights and siren for the kids (hey, at least it wasn't 5 am):



And here's Owen, dreaming of his future career:



It was pretty neat to see how excited Janet's daughters got (the 11 year-old a bit more than the 16-year-old, unsurprisingly) when the truck pulled up, and it made me realize how cool it must be to have a firefighter for a dad. Maybe Owen's kids will find that out someday!

Over the course of the weekend, I totally fell in love with the area and was ready to pack up and move. Bill wasn't so keen on that idea (although he likes it there, too), and so we headed back to Portland where we're doing yet more laundry in preparation for our August travels. I can't wait to see my mom!

In the meantime, I continue to take on too much and keep myself completely and totally booked up and busy. I'm also easily distracted - today for some reason I decided I needed to switch my domain name registrar, register a couple new domains and switch web hosts! Not for any particular reason (other than the fact that my current domain registrar is way too expensive), but now that I've decided to do it I end up wasting hours figuring out how...

While working on my last couple designs, I decided that I'm going to get off my duff and actually write a book instead of just talking about it. I'm going to do a toe-up sock book since I already have designs and written material that I use for my sock class, and it just doesn't seem as daunting as my other book ideas. I know there are a gazillion sock books, but there aren't very many dedicated to toe-up socks (and the ones that are don't have very wide distribution). Of course, as soon as I started writing, I discovered this book coming out in April '09, but I'm hoping there's room for both of us. Regardless, the designs will be different!

I'm planning to self-publish since it just seems like a good way to go. After all, why did I go to Cat Bordhi's self-publishing retreat two years in a row if I didn't see some benefit in self-publishing? Besides, this way I will be able to do the book I want to do as opposed to the book an editor thinks will most benefit the bottom line. I'll also get to print my book in the US (or possibly Canada) while all the books from major publishers are printed in China. I'm hoping I can get everything done and release the book next June or sooner, and to that end, I'm looking for people who want to help test knit the socks and add tidbits to the book. If you love toe-up socks, e-mail me your preferred e-mail addy for Yahoo groups along with a little bit about yourself and your knitting and I'll get you set up. It should be a really fun project (I hope)!

I also have a couple of lace projects and two new top-down sock designs that will be coming out in the next month or two. I really want to have them ready for the TKGA fall show since I'll be having a booth there, but we shall see. All work and no play makes Chrissy a dull boy! And now to get back to that mountain of laundry...

Summer Vacation and How!

This is the summer of endless vacations. When going through my calendar at the beginning of July, I realized that we're only spending one weekend day at home between July 1 and Labor Day weekend, and that day is going to be filled by driving the Portland to Coast relay walk route. We're apparently completely nuts.

We recently got back from a two-week trip to upstate New York and Pennsylvania to visit a slew of my in-laws. First we spent the 4th of July at Bill's grandparents' house in Saranac Lake, NY. Saranac Lake is a very picturesque little town just north of Lake Placid (of two-time Winter Olympics hosting fame).

This is my second visit there (it's hard for us to get out there since it's so darn far from the west coast) and both times I've left wondering why we don't go there every summer. It is just beautiful there. We spent the first few days exploring the area, taking the scenic railway train from SL to Lake Placid, watching the olympic hopefuls do their summer training on the ski jumps and driving 10 minutes outside town for Donnelly's ice cream every night. Yes, every night. They feature a different flavor of soft-serve ice cream every day and it is INCREDIBLE. I wasn't expecting to be rabid for it, but it is seriously the best soft-serve I've ever had. It puts Dairy Queen to incredible shame.

Here are a few pics of the ski jumpers doing their thing. First we watched the aerialists jump off their giant plastic kickers (jumps) into the pool. Here's one intrepid lady in mid-air (she's kind of hard to see, but she's upside-down, wearing a red helmet, up in the trees):



Here she is making her water landing:



We all wondered how unpleasant it must be climbing back up the stairs to the top of the jump in wet ski boots. She didn't seem too concerned!

Next we made a quick stop so the kids could pretend they were bobsledders...



And on to watch the crazy ski jumpers make their insane jumps off that huge tower. They were completely unconcerned in their little spandex ski suits with their ridiculously long ski-jumping skis. They've all got a screw loose, I tell you! I'm totally jealous of their skills!









And here's the view from the lip of the jump down the landing area.



It is so steep, the middle of it dips out of view and the skier completely disappears as they're landing. After they land, they shoot out onto the grass after flying past the end of their Astroturf-like landing strip. That little black dot just off the end of the fake-green is the skier.

We only saw one jumper wipe out, after he flew about 10m further than anyone else we'd seen that day. It wasn't very spectacular - he just kind of fell over onto his side and slid on his suit. He held his hands up in the air so they wouldn't get carpet burn and was pretty unconcerned with the whole thing. We were all terribly impressed.

I had my first experience taking the kids on a chairlift. I used to ski all the time when I was a kid and in fact was a ski instructor for a couple years in high school. I haven't skied regularly since high school and not at all since before Syndey was born. I can tell how long it has been by my discomfort level on the chairlift. I'm afraid of heights as it is, but having Sydney on the chair with me just about put me over the edge. She was really good, but every time she'd move an inch I was freaking out and got that shot of adrenaline down my legs. I was terrified of her falling, or the cable snapping, or the chair falling off the cable (even though I KNOW how incredibly unlikely that would be). I'm so glad I didn't have Owen - Bill was wrangling him, and he is totally fearless (Owen, not Bill). He wanted to scoot right up to the edge of the chair seat so he could hold onto the safety bar and put his feet on the little foot rest. I fear for this child, but he'll probably end up turning out great since he's not afraid to try stuff!

I also got to stop into the yarn shop in Lake Placid, Adirondack Yarns. If you're ever in the area, you should definitely check it out. It is an absolutely lovely store. They had the Elizabeth Zimmerman DVDs playing while I was walking around and, best of all, they had a nice selection of that crack-yarn called Seasilk and her sisters from Handmaiden and Fleece Artist. They also have ice cream next door. It's not Donnelly's, but it's Mountain Mist which is the next best thing.

On Saturday, after the previous renters moved out, we headed out to Kiwassa Lake and Bill's grandparents' old cure camp. They rent it out most of the summer in order to be able to afford the ridiculous property taxes, but we were lucky enough to get it the week after the 4th for our family (including me, Bill and the kids, my brother-in-law and his wife, my parent-in-laws, Bill's cousin and his girlfriend and their daughter, and Bill's aunt & uncle and their daughter. It was quite the crowd! We made big family meals, spent the days swimming and boating and rocking on the front porch of the cabin.

This "camp" (which is a rustic house with a giant wrap-around porch and a couple of outbuildings, modeled after but not on the same scale as the Adirondacks' Great Camps) was used for a time as a "cure cottage" for tuberculosis patients. They'd wrap them up and put them out on the porch during the winter to help clear up their lungs. Now it's used for the most lovely, relaxing vacations.

Here's the view down the dock from the front porch (those are the Gardiner boys admiring the view of the lake):



And here's the view across the lake from the boat house:



And here's the "front yard" complete with a glimpse of the front steps which lead up to the rocking porch and the swimming beach.



The swimming area is nice and sandy right near the shore but gets totally gross and weedy about 10 yds out. We got some $1.99 air mattresses at the drugstore and spent the next few days floating blissfully. The kids also lived in the lake most of the week, which got a bit exhausting for their parents. Fortunately there was plenty of family there to help out. Bill managed to injure a rib while tubing behind his cousin's boat, and his aunt managed to rupture a muscle in her leg waterskiing behind that same boat. I tried to waterski but couldn't get my big tush out of the water, and I went tubing once but didn't suffer any injuries besides a raspberry on my elbow from bracing while being flung across the water at a gazillion miles per hour. So fun!

After a relaxing week in NY, we packed up and took a long, windey drive down to Bill's aunt's house in Pennsylvania. There we gathered with even more family to celebrate Bill's grandparents' 70th wedding anniversary. This was the kids' and my first visit to Mast Hope, which is where Bill's grandmother grew up. It's a tiny little community on the bank of the Delaware river where just about everyone in town is related (or has been friends for generations). Here's Bill and his brother Chris on the front porch (Bill's wearing his favorite t-shirt - it has a picture of three boards sitting at a table with some papers and says "Board Meeting" across the top. He's so cool, isn't he?):



Chris is an award-winning graphic designer and he whipped up a t-shirt design in honor of his grandparents' anniversary. Of course we had to get family pictures with everyone wearing the t-shirts. Look vaguely like some kind of cult?



I'm now realizing that I didn't get any good pictures of the t-shirt design, but it's really cool! While all this photography was going on, we had one good child...



...and one child who inspired several Homer Simpson moments in her father.



(Don't worry - that picture was totally staged, although Sydney did have her moments that weekend where we were ready to ship her off on a boat down the river. Notice who's not wearing her t-shirt?)

Here's a picture of the lawn and the house, which is totally gorgeous.



The only thing I didn't like about being here was the oppressive humidity, which just about melted me. We fought the heat with daily float trips down the Delaware on innertubes. The first time we went the water was really low and I spent an inordinate amount of time scuttling over rocks, crab-like, clutching my innertube to my rear. Very dignified. The next day we went they'd let a bunch of water out through the dam and the rocks weren't nearly as much of a problem. Instead we had giant clumps of weeds that would float by and brush our arms, freaking us right out. I've discovered that I love to float on the water, either on an innertube or on an air mattress. I really want to live on a lake someday. Unfortunately, they're not that easy to come by in Oregon.

After a three-hour wait on the runway before taking off out of Newark, we made it home about 1 am and collapsed into bed. I woke up the next day to an inbox full of e-mail (I was pretty much disconnected all week, apart from a few semi-successful e-mail reading attempts on Bill's Blackberry) and a garden completely overgrown with weeds. There were weeds when we left, but I swear they grew 6" while we were gone! The battle against the rampant grass growing on top of our weed barrier continues, and about two dozen volunteer tomato plants had sprung up in various places where they weren't supposed to be. Even though I hate ripping up plants, I pulled them out since we can barely keep up with the tomatoes from a single plant, much less two dozen! I also uncovered the beets and carrots, which were drowning in weeds and could barely be seen. I still have some serious work to do on the poor asparagus patch, but at least the plants that are supposed to be growing in the garden can be seen...

We had to quickly recover and get ready for our next trip, which will be covered in my next post. It'll involve a review of another fabulous yarn store!