Road Trip 2009: Day 2 Las Vegas to Gallup NM

We did manage to get to Hoover Dam on the second day. Didn’t want to take the time for a tour, so we just goggled at the immensity of it and then headed out. They are building a new bridge that is set to open in 2010 and, even now, is a thing of beauty.

Just to prove we were really there!

Lunch at Kingman AZ at the Roadrunner Cafe. Actually we ordered breakfast at lunchtime, something we do frequently when we’re travelling. Love those eggs and hash browns!

At Kingman we joined I-40 which would take us through the next three states. Somewhere south of Flagstaff we ran into a major hailstorm. The hail was small but there was so much of it that the road was covered at times.

The traffic slowed down to a crawl and we exited at the next rest stop.

Summer Hailstorm

That’s when we discovered that we hadn’t brought any umbrellas. So we sat in the car hoping for the rain to stop; instead it just got stronger. When I finally decided to brave it and run for the bathroom, I was stopped by a lake-sized puddle that I couldn’t get around. So back to the car and north to Flagstaff.

Last year we stopped here at a little coffee shop (can’t remember the name but it was at the Little America exit) and it was really good. This year we managed to find the same exit but the shop was closed for some reason. However, we did find the Mojo Cafe in Winslow AZ – super coffee and free Wi-fi.

We had planned to stay the night at the Best Western in Gallup NM. We stayed there last year and really liked it. This year they were full up, as were several other motels that we tried. Finally found a small, less luxurious motel and were happy with that.

Dinner at the Ranch Kitchen where I had tamales. These New Mexico tamales were quite different from the California tamales I’m used to. The masa wrap was very thin and the filling was definitely spicier. Thank goodness for sour cream.

Road Trip 2009: Day 1 from Home to Las Vegas

We got an early start today and headed south on I-5 towards Las Vegas.  We stopped for lunch in Mojave.  The restaurant was decorated with a collection of children’s cars, so The Husband was happy.

The last time we went to Las Vegas was in 1994 on Day 1 of our first big road trip to the Midwest.  We arrived on a Saturday at about 5pm and found that there were no rooms available in the entire city.   Apparently the Grateful Dead were performing in Vegas, there was a major prize-fight scheduled and the economy was booming – so everything was booked well in advance.  Also, there were a lot fewer hotels fifteen years ago. 

So we kept going, stopping at every motel along I-15, to no avail.  We ended up in St. George UT where we rented the next to last room in that town.  That caused us to visit the Grand Canyon on the North Rim instead of the more popular South Rim.  No problem there because the Grand Canyon is magic from wherever you see it.

This time we didn’t think we would have a problem – we arrived on a Monday, the GD are no more and the economy is also not so good.  In fact, we got a very good price at the Best Western Mardi Gras.

The Monorail was over the street next to our motel, although the station was a few blocks away.  That’s the new moon in the center of the photo.

The weather was fairly cool for Las Vegas – upper nineties instead of over 100 degrees.  I had wanted to see the Strip with all the big glamorous hotels, but it didn’t happen.  By the time we got settled in and had dinner, we were too tired.  The Husband didn’t even do any gambling.  The next morning we were going to drive down the Strip but we took a wrong turn and were past it before we could figure out what to do.  We never backtrack, so that’s it for Vegas.

Lace Shawl Finished! except for blocking…

The 2009 Goddess Anniversary Shawl

This is the farthest I’ve ever gotten on a lace shawl. Everyone says that it will look totally different after blocking. I think I’m also going to add a little crocheted edging at the neckline as it looks a bit fragile. But, all in all, I am really pleased with this shawl. Even before blocking it’s large enough for me.

This is the 2008 Ravelry Block of the Month CAL afghan. I wanted it a little bigger so I crocheted three extra blocks to make it 5x3. I am currently working on a six-row border to finish it off. I was hoping to be able to just use stash yarn but I’ve already had to buy another skein of lavender and just may have to buy one more.

I’ve started a pair of socks for The Husband and am also working on charity hats. I plan to pull out one of the hibernating lace shawls, probably the 2008 Goddess Anniversary Shawl. I am on the final clue but have quite a lot of 500+ stitch rows to do. This is a circular shawl and has a border all around. I haven’t done a border yet but I think I can do it.

I’m also thinking about starting the Half-Square in Trinity Stitch shawl from Victorian Lace Today if I can figure out the directions. Just looking at it, the numbers don’t add up; but there is no errata for this pattern, so I’m probably wrong. I’m going to do a swatch using Paton’s Grace so that I don’t mess up the silk yarn that I really want to use. More about this later.

The yarn I would like to use is the one on the bottom. It is 100% silk and was bought in Arkansas last summer while we were on vacation. It should give this shawl a nice drape. Of course, I will do a swatch before casting on.

Midweek Break

Mom went home to SF Monday and we decided to take a break for a few days. The Cambria area in San Luis Obispo county is one of our favorite places and only a couple of hours’ drive from home. This time we found a hotel in San Simeon, about 4 miles north of Cambria. It is the Best Western Cavalier Resort and is on the west side of Highway One. That means no crossing the road to get to the beach. This is also a dog-friendly hotel. No extra charge for the dog and the only rule is that he mustn’t be left unattended. This is the view from our deck, looking north.

After our morning walk, we had a good soak in the spa,

then went to breakfast in the on-site restaurant. The weather was great, blue skies and no fog, until about 11am; then the fog started rolling in and stayed pretty much all day. But, surprisingly, it rolled back out around 6pm and we had a really gorgeous sunset.

The hotel has three fire pits along the bluff above the beach, each with chairs for the guests to sit and watch the sunset. Tonight it was really windy which blew the smoke every which way, so we moved to a bench closer to the beach and I must have taken 50 photos. It was one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen.

Cambria has a dog park at the north end of town. Master found out about it last time we were here, so this time we stopped yesterday on our way in and again today to take a break from checking out all the neat shops in Cambria. Unfortunately, the yarn shop that I visited in February is closed, hopefully temporarily. I did manage to find a quilt shop and bought some Insulbright for making potholders.

Then we drove up Santa Rosa Creek Road to Linn’s Farm Store to see what they had. We had driven by in February but they weren’t open then. We bought a few tasty items to take home and plan to stop at their town shop tomorrow morning to buy an olallieberry pie to take home.

Then we decided to drive down to Morro Bay for a fish dinner. Needing to work up an appetite, we stopped at the Cloisters Park which seemed to have a lot of walking paths. At one wildlife viewing point, thirteen ducks appeared as soon as we arrived. We didn’t have anything to feed them, so they eventually started wandering back into the reeds. Some of them had blue beaks which I’ve never seen before.

There were lots of folks walking dogs, big and small. This Irish Wolfhound was one of the former. The owner was not a small man despite what it looks like in the photo.

We had a very good dinner at Dorn’s Restaurant in Morro Bay, overlooking Morro Rock which we couldn’t see because of the fog. But by the time we finished the fog was starting to lift.

All in all, a very good day. Tomorrow it's up early for a walk on the beach, a soak in the spa and another yummy breakfast that I don't have to cook. Then it's home through Big Sur on Highway One. I much prefer driving north on this road - it's that much farther from the cliffs along the ocean.

Nightgowns Completed

Ready for the girls to try on next time they come down.

I’ve changed my mind about my next project. I have 5 yards of a crinkly polyester in a splashy “vacation” print – has sort of a Mediterranean look. I bought it back in the late eighties when we were all wearing those windbreakers and pants made out of crinkly nylon. I think my plans were to make a jacket. Not interested in that now but the fabric is so light that I think it might be good for a backpack from Butterick 4147. The pattern calls for interfacing so it should be sturdy enough. That would use up a little over a yard and I could use the rest to make supermarket bags from Butterick 5338.

Suddenly our tomatoes are ripening like crazy. Looks like gazpacho this weekend!

Back to Garment Sewing

for a little while anyway. Yesterday and today I worked on the summer nightgowns for the girls. They are all finished except for a bit of topstitching. I busted 4.5 yards of garment fabric making these. That makes a total of 6.25 yards out of the almost 400 yards in my stash. I think my next project will be a shell-type blouse for myself. I have lots of printed rayon for practicing until I get the fit just right. That should take care of several yards right there.

This is the pattern I used, view 2 for both. The copyright date is 1983 but the style is still a good one. It was originally purchased at Beverly Fabrics in San Jose, but not by me. In 1983 my daughters were well past sizes 7-10 and I don’t think I ever visited that particular fabric store anyway. I must have bought it at a yard sale or a thrift shop sometime after my granddaughters were born. Don’t we wish patterns still were priced like this one?

I’m still knitting on the 2009 Anniversary Shawl. I’m on the Clue 5 which is the final clue and have only about 12 rows to go. Of course each row has over 500 stitches which means I can only do a couple of rows in an evening. That’s if what we are watching on TV isn’t overly exciting, causing me to make a mistake which involves counting, ripping back, or, worst of all, frogging to the lifeline. That’s the white line several rows from the bottom – actually it’s unwaxed dental floss. The little green things are 1/4” lengths of drinking straws being used as stitch markers. We really believe in recycling/reusing around here. I use different colors for marking different sections of the pattern.

There is no border on this shawl, and no grafting to be done. So when the final stitch is in, I can block it and it’s finished! Not to count my chickens before the eggs hatch, but this will be the first lace shawl I’ve ever completed. Then I can start finishing up the other three lace wips.

Where Has the Time Gone?

Summer is almost half over and I don’t feel as if I’ve accomplished even a tenth of what I had planned. I don’t know where the hours go.

This sunflower is one of at least a dozen that popped up as volunteers this spring. I don’t remember ever planting sunflowers in the backyard, so they must have come from birdseed. I hate to pull up volunteers if I know what they are, but next year I’m going to have to get ruthless and yank them out as soon as I see them. Most of the plants are single but this one just keeps putting out the blossoms.

The tomatoes are finally starting to produce. Not enough to make Gazpacho yet but I haven’t had to buy tomatoes for over two weeks now. I’m thinking about Panzanella for dinner tomorrow. We have some leftover Pugliese bread from Costco that should be perfect for it. The amazing zucchini plant has now given us at least 5 dozen fruits, ranging from 4-5 inches to “too big for stuffing even.” I haven’t let many get big because this is the absolutely best zucchini I’ve ever grown. The plant came from a nursery in San Carlos and was part of the batch of plants our son gave me for Mother’s Day. The label said it was an heirloom variety called “Romanesco” but it doesn’t look much like the photos I’ve found online.

I planted a six-pack each of lemon cucumbers and Armenian cucumbers. However, the Armenian must have been mislabeled because we now have twelve lemon cucumber plants, each producing what seems like several fruits a day. I swear, you lift up a branch and the cucumbers are growing in clusters, like grapes only a lot bigger. Thank goodness they are so good – we are eating two or three a day and have been able to find takers for the rest.

I didn’t get any beans planted this year although we do have some volunteers that sprouted from last year’s crop. I think I might try to get a small batch in next week if I can find the space. The moon is waxing which means it’s a good time to plant beans. I’ve never tried planting by the phases of the moon but I’ve always wanted to experiment with it.

The Husband picked our first apple this evening – no photo because he ate it too quickly. It was an Early Summer Red according to the label. There are several more that look ready, so I’ll probably try one tomorrow.

The Blenheim apricots were very small this year. I think we should have thinned them. Also probably should have pruned them last winter. I checked a book on pruning fruit trees out of the library this week. It appears to have a lot of information on the kinds of trees we are growing, so maybe we can improve our harvests.

Our friends brought us a box of their wonderful Blenheim apricots a couple of weeks ago, so I tried making jam for the first time in many years. This is the first batch. A few days later I found a recipe for Apricot Riesling Jam and decided to try it. I didn’t have any Riesling but I did have 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier so I used that. I got 2 small jars and a bit extra from that batch. We had a little of the extra over some vanilla ice cream the other night and it was pure heaven.

I’ve rearranged my sewing room again and now have room for a cutting table. It’s so nice not to have to use the dining room table when I want to cut something. All this is so that I can make GD1 and GD2 summer nightgowns. I’ve been planning this for weeks and was just about to put it off until next year. But when I asked one of them if that was okay, she said she would really like to have it this year and it didn’t matter that summer is half over, she could wear summer pjs all year, no problem. After that, I couldn’t not make them.

Some quilting has been going on this summer. Big Busted and the twin-size POM are ready to baste. I pieced the back of the POM quilt, so that took longer. I’m going to try the Sharon Schamber method of basting. I’ve read some good reviews on my Yahoo quilting groups. I’ll probably try it on a catnapper first.