No Knitting but lots of Pictures

Stupid me, I took my camera on our trip to Oregon to visit family but didn't bring it out until the last day. I missed taking pictures of the girls with their grandparents (my mom and dad) and my aunt.

I did however remember to snap a few pics of the girls with their great granny Ruby.

I snapped a few photos along the way (mostly in the car going down the road). We were wanting to get home and didn't want to make many stops.

This first one cracked me up.

I took it when we stopped at Fairchild AFB, WA to stay the night on the way to Oregon. We stayed in a pet friendly TLF (temporary lodging facility) and they gave use sheets to put on the couch to keep the pet hair, drool etc off the couch. Apparently someone missed the n in friendly.

This is a picture of the tree farm that was along the road near Hermiston, Oregon.

As you can see in the photo the trees (on the right hand side of the photo) go on and on. We estimated that it runs along 5 miles of I-84 and it goes back away from the interstate as far as the eye can see. It's kind of neat to see where new trees have been planted and how small they are compared to the ones that are close to being cut down.

The girls got a kick out of going over the Pioneer Memorial "Blue" bridge that connects Kennewick, WA to Pasco WA.

You can see some better shots on this website.

The girls enjoying their Starbucks.

Well Bree is enjoying a small cup of whipped cream. I don't think she's quite ready to have her own Frapp. She was very proud of her Starbucks. We programmed our Tom-Tom GPS (which is now lovingly called Tom) unit to make a noise whenever we were near a Starbucks. Boy did that thing go crazy when we were in Spokane, WA. I'm beginning to wonder how in the world we have lived with out our Tom. There several places along the way that weren't marked very well and the only reason we stayed on course and didn't get lost was because Tom told us where we needed to go.

We passed a correctional facility in Connell, WA.

The thing that makes this place stick out in my mind was because of the signs posted on the side of the interstate telling you not to pick up hitchhikers. Well duh! Common sense dictates that you should never pick up hitchhikers, specially when they are near a prison. No hitchhikers were seen when we passed through. ;~)

Here's a shot of the girls playing with their goodies after a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop (BABW) when we stopped to stay the night at Fairchild AFB, WA.

We actually made two trips to BABW. The first trip was with my parents and we went to the one in Eugene, OR where they built their bunnies....yes I forgot my damn camera. We stopped at the Spokane Valley Mall on the way back to let them pick out a few things since we made it to Spokane early. They were so excited about getting to go to BABW. Oh man to be able to shop in Spokane, WA. They have a real mall in Spokane....it's huge! The drawback is the state sales tax....ouch, it's over 8%. I've kinda gotten use to no sales tax here in Montana. The huge bonus at Fairchild is that the base has a Starbucks....Yup, I have my priorities straight.

This is the friggin' kitchen in the house we stayed at on Fairchild AFB.

Man I wished I had a kitchen this big. Mine is a lot smaller and has a bunch of cabinets that are completely worthless because you can't reach the shelves. Two people can actually stand in this kitchen without bumping in to each other constantly.

Welcome to Idaho!

Man I can't wait to see this sign when Shawn finally retires from the Air Force. We are actually adding Coeur d'Alene, ID as one of the spots to move back to when Shawn retires. It's only about 30 miles from Spokane so there is big city culture without having to live in the big city. Plus who wouldn't want to live near a lake and be surrounded by trees.

My obligatory Welcome to Montana shot.

We were happy to see this sign since it meant we were getting closer to our destination.

We were merrily driving down I-90 working our way to US Route 12 when we see this big green sign with a bull on it advertising for the Te$tic!e Festival (trying to avoid spam on this post.) I can honestly say I've never heard of this one. I bout spit my soda across the dashboard of the car. Shawn and I had a good laugh over this billboard. I'm still kicking myself in the butt for not getting a picture of that billboard. Seriously, there should be a sign saying "warning for all bloggers funny billboard or sign ahead". If you want to see the billboard they have it out on their website.

A wicked view coming down out of MacDonald Pass on US Route 12...yes that's snow on the ground.

There was still a little bit of snow up on the sides of the pass from the snow storm that came through after we left. MacDonald pass is like 6320 feet and the scenic view is definitely scenic. Wow that is high up. It was high enough that my happy little butt did not want to get out of the car to get a panoramic shot. Just sitting there in the car gave me the heebee jeebees. So I snapped a few shots in the car and told Shawn to keep driving. Yes, I know my fear of heights is irrational but aren't most fears and phobias?

Hope you guys liked my abbreviated tour of four states. I'll be back in a few days to post about my knitting and some goodies I received while I was gone. Sadly I never got to visit the local yarn shops which was a big disappointment but we were pretty busy the whole time we were gone.

A Little Knitting

Dear architects,

Could you please rethink the design of homes and take note that my coat closet size bathroom does not need a heater vent. Nor does my bathroom sized walk in closet for that matter. My clothes could care less if they are hot or cold and I really hate it when I'm taking a shower and the heater/AC kicks on and pushes the shower curtain in....very annoying! Isn't it sad that my walk in closet is almost 3 times bigger then the tiny little room they claim is a master bathroom?

Thanks,

Luvs2knit

I would love to know what the architect was smokin' when he designed this house? There is tons of storage space but the fool couldn't give an extra 2-3 feet in the bathroom? Seriously!

Still no news on what's going on with our orders. Some people are saying that my arthritis is going to stop us from going to Germany. Others are saying it's not going to be a problem. Gotta love it when you can't get a definitive answer. We did find out that if we go to Germany our car insurance is going to shoot through the roof. It's going to be alike $138 per month and that doesn't include renters insurance. I guess you have to have higher coverage over there. It'll be off set by some of the bills we wont have over there. It'll all work out in the end but the price did make choke on my coffee.

I've been making progress on the knitting front and have managed to start a few projects but haven't finished anything major. Although the way I'm going I'll be finished with Kaity's sweater in no time at all.

First up is Kaity's sweater.

The pattern is Luna Trail Pullover (ravelry)(non ravelry) and the yarn is Dream in Color Classy, Punky Fucshia. I absolutely love knitting with Classy but hate, hate, hate winding it up. The yarn is so squishy and springy that it doesn't wind very well....at least not for me. I've wound 4 skeins of this yarn so far and every single one of them has given me fits. That being said it won't stop me from using it again.

New socks for me, yippy!

Oh wait just about every pair of socks are knit for myself. Oh how selfish I am! These are the Mallow Sock pattern (ravelry)(non ravelry). The yarn is Frog Creek Fibers Ebullient in the Raspberries and Chocolate colorway. The yarn is soft and has a nice tight, twist. It's going on my list of yarns I'll buy again. I'd like to try some of their other base yarns.

New on the go socks.

My basic toe up sock pattern with a turkish cast one. I'll probably knit a short row heel and a stockinette leg and to change things up a little I think I'm going to knit a picot cuff. Easy socks, perfect for car knitting.

The 1 Sept Monthly Dishcloth KAL cloth.

Basic ABC cloth done in Red Peaches and Creme. I haven't found the link for this pattern so no link for this one.

Some yummy String Theory Caper sock now lives in my stash.

I placed an order from TLE a few weeks ago to order the Namaste small clutch to match my Laguna bag. I wanted something for quick trips to the store. Since I was ordering I decided to go for free shipping. I couldn't have my Namaste bag all alone in the box now could I. I ordered a skein of String Theory Caper sock in the Black Cherry colorway and a couple of sock patterns.

Look at what Shawn came home with for me.

A drying rack for my socks. He noticed that hanging up all the socks on hangers was a pain in the butt so one night while he was out at Wally World he found this and picked it up. The drying rack is huge. I'm around 5' 8" give or take a smidge and the rack is up to my shoulders. It has all but a few pair of socks on there and without Bree's sweater I could probably have fit ever pair of handknit socks that I have for Kaity and I.

We're on our way to Oregon to visit with my family. I started this post at home but am finishing it up here in Spokane, WA. We're staying the night at Fairchild AFB. TLF (military hotel for families) is a lot nicer here. Big rooms and just way nicer all around. Wished we would have had this much room when we were stuck in TLF in Montana for over a month. We're getting the visiting in now just in case we do go to Germany because chances are once I get over there we won't be able to visit with family. The plane tickets are just to much money. Not to mention passports and visas. As it is it looks like we're going to have to shell out over $400 on passports to be able to travel around while we are there. If we don't pay for the passports we won't be able to leave the country. Well if I'm going to be stuck over there I'm damn sure going to travel to other countries. The government pays for traveling passports for the girls and I to get to Germany but that is all they are good for. Sucks I know! If they're going to send us over there the least they could do is give us full fledged passports to travel with.

I'll be back for another post after we get home from our trip. Till then...Happy Crafting!