Write (a blog)

Pierre and I took a little trip over the weekend. We drove 8 hours to Bryson City, NC where we met up with a small group of New Beetle owners from around the country, with one purpose in common.

To drive US 129 and the Tail of the Dragon.

This relatively short 11 mile stretch of road, beckons drivers from around the world to tame the dragon and experience its 318 curves, yes, three hundred and eighteen curves in 11 miles, while nestled on the side of a mountain. Tight switchbacks, steep hills and sharp drop offs create an exhilarating drive that will lure even the most experienced drivers.

But I was a chicken and had Pierre drive. eh heh heh…

We were in a bug-a-van (that’s a caravan of bugs, get it?) of 12 New Beetles.

The entire loop that we drove totaled more than 100 miles which included the Cherohala Skyway where we reached an elevation of more than 5000 miles. And where we were forced to stop because the fog… no, the clouds were too thick. We were driving IN the clouds and this silver beetle in front of us all but disappeared.

On the flip side of the clouds, we finally made it to the main attraction, the Tail of The Dragon. No, it’s not a roller coaster, or a theme park. It’s a road. A free access public US highway. But its the best driving in the country although it can be dangerous and people have died. The speed limit is 30 MPH, however frequently and very, very easily exceeded.

(no, that’s not a bug!)

What a ride…

That’s just a few of the pix I took while Pierre drove. After the drive, all 12 bugs stopped for a photo op.

And then I bucked up, put the top down and and took the wheel myself.

I drove the Dragon twice. And Pierre didn’t scream once.

See the rest of the pix here.

Me pirate socks be finished! (Actually they be for Sydney.)

I started these socks a year and a half ago. Seriously. I knit the one sock, then suffered a terrible case of Dreaded Second Sock Syndrome (yes, it’s real.. my doctor said so!) Then after the turn of the new year, I got all pumped to finish them and did so in 3 days!

And thar they be in all their glory! Arr!!

I’m hoping that the girl.. the teenage girl, takes care of them. They’re my most complicated socks yet, by far. And mostly made up on the spot. The skull pattern is from Hello Yarn’s We Call Them Pirates hat, everything else just happened as I knit along. I didn’t keep notes. And I used the first sock like a chart when I knit the second. So there’s no official pattern.

But hey, if you wanna make some, just put your sail up and go where the wind takes you.

Yellowstone vacation pix are online! There are 369 photos for your enjoyment. But don’t feel like you have to view them all. I won’t be offended if you skip through, hell, I won’t even know. I hope you enjoy them.

Here’s a teaser…

We had a fantastic time. Yellowstone is so incredibly gorgeous with so many different types of scenery to see. Snowtopped mountains, green plains, canyons, waterfalls, gentle streams and whitewater. Cool rivers next to steaming geothermal features. Boiling mud pots, steaming geysers, and wildlife. Just breathtaking.

While we didn’t have any major incidents, I did save a child’s life. Well, probably. At the Upper Falls, the thin railing is all that keeps you from falling into the raging waters and over the 100 foot drop. As I stood watching the water, a kid next to me ducked under the railing and stood on a rock. One more step and it was a sheer drop to the fast flowing water below and over the falls. I immediately and without hesitation yelled at him, “Get DOWN and get over here!” He jumped back over to the safe side of the railing and stood there looking at me. I just blinked and looked around for his parents. He couldn’t have been more than 5. No one was obviously his parent, everyone was just looking over the falls.

Whoever that child belonged to, I saved your kid. You don’t even know it because you were too interested in watching the water to hold your baby’s hand. I think I scared him, but it was far better than the alternative. You’re welcome.

Oh, yeah… we’re back from Yellowstone. We’ve been back a few days. No one was eaten by a bear. I’m sorry I made you worry.

We’re just tired… and busy. The kids go back to school on Monday! I’ll post pix of the trip ASAP! It’s kinda funny how a “relaxing vacation” can totally wear you out.

But I know when I’ll be back again.

We’re leaving tomorrow morning for a 2 week vacation. We’re flying to Salt Lake City to visit family and friends, then driving to Yellowstone to go camping.  We’ll be back home just in time for the kids to go back to school.

Yes, I thought that was rather conveinent.

I technically can do some mobile blogging while away, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I will, unless I have something fantastic to tell you. Or I’m bored.

But I’ll plurk something at least so you know I didn’t get eaten by a bear. (Watch that space to the right for plurk action! —–>)

I know, I haven’t blogged in a while. Sorry, you know how it goes… been busy.

I have new pix of the pups in the gallery, and a new video for your entertainment. Hex is in his “fort” and apparently, there are no girls allowed. He’s quite a ferocious guard dog, don’tcha think?

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In other news, WE’RE GOING TO YELLOWSTONE!!!

This summer’s vacation is planned out and we’ll be visiting Pierre’s brother in Utah and then driving to Yellowstone National Park to do some camping. I can’t wait! I have been pining to visit Yellowstone ever since we got back from the Grand Canyon. And we’ll be camping there. Is there any place better to camp out under the stars than Yellowstone? Oooo I get chills just thinking about it!

It’s well over 5000 miles round trip. That’s a lot of gas, and at these prices it’ll cost at least $1000 in gas alone. Plus food, hotels and incidentals for 4 to 6 days of travel time, we’d be looking at almost $2000 to drive. Crazy, I know. But get this, with our credit card rewards, we can cash in points for plane tickets. And yes, it will be cheaper to fly. By almost half. Woohoo!

I love flying! This ups the coolness factor of the trip by leaps and bounds!

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Regarding knitting bags, I’ve been on a bit of a sewing hiatus. I have been very busy with graphic and website work so something had to give. But I’ll get back to making new bags soon. I need to because I miss it.. a lot. Hopefully they’ll have some new fancy fabrics for spring…

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The new herbs are growing nicely despite some weirdness with the cilantro. For some reason, it stopped growing, all the new growth died, then new growth started growing again for. Weird. I’m not getting much from the cilantro, epazote or savory yet. The sage and chives are doing fine, and as usual, the basils are NUTSO. I can’t believe how fast and full the basils grow, you can almost see them growing.

Before and after harvesting today:

So much basil, so little time. I just freeze them now!
(the basils are the two on the right)

So that’s all the news for now. See what happens when I don’t pace myself? Its all blogged at one time and turns in to a big jumbled mess. Blah.

Must. Blog. More. Often.

I just got home. Yesterday, my flight was delayed, and delayed, and delayed. Finally after 6 hours of hearing “Flight 931 to Jacksonville is delayed again and you’re never going home! Muhahaha”, they figured we had had enough and canceled the flight all together. Yeah, canceled. At about 9:00 at night. In the worlds busiest airport, by myself. Hmmm.

So I had to wait in a Customer Service line for another 2 hours, not daring to move out of line and lose my place, but since I had my knitting, and my own prototype On The Town Knitting bag, I was fairly content. They ended up putting me up in a very nice hotel, and gave me a food voucher. So it wasn’t all bad. In fact, I enjoyed all the alone time.

So my new flight was this morning at 8:10, and although I got there plenty early, the security checkpoint lines were insane due to all the other canceled and rescheduled flights. And because Hartfield-Jackson International is as big as a freakin’ small country, I missed my flight by 5 minutes. Joy.

I did, thankfully, manage to get on the next later one on stand-by. I touched down at about 10:45, and I’m home now. About 16 hours later than I should have been.

But I got some good knitting done on my entrelac socks. I’ll post pix of my baby niece soon. I’m going to go relax now.