Third time was no charm

Lovely, eh? 

But this was one of the flatter sections. And shortly afterwards, at almost the end of the bike course portion of the triathlon I was training for, I crashed my bike. 

Luckily, my first biking injury was just a sprained wrist - yea! - but no vacation triathlon either.

This view was the bloodiest but not that bad.

At this point in my day, I was longing to get out of these bike shorts!

Since typing is a bit hard, I'll be getting back to you later.

And the knitting is on hold for a bit as well . . . 

All my eggs in one basket.

Yes, even on vacation, I gave things away this week.

Eggs.

My sister in law raises chickens and gave me about three dozen eggs. Well, we were leaving for Saint Paul and hadn't finished them so I gave the rest of them to my mother. About two dozen - which should have kept me for about two Saturday Sevens - but then I visited her and we made egg salad.

I guess it doesn't count for giving away if You actually ate them!



We were very hungry because earlier that day, we went swimming at a beautiful state park in Pennsylvania, Morraine State Park. It is a man made lake built in the 1960s and would be the perfect place for a triathlon, if I say so myself. Nicely kept bike trails which open to some lovely country roads, a flat walking path for a run and a great (and very shallow) lake for swimming in.



It was a little chilly for swimming in so Mr. Daisy and the Youngest Child played on the beach while I swam laps in the swimming area. But what were the teens doing? I think they gave their cell phones a work out!

Unfortunately, the pool is closed at our hotel so we couldn't do laps tonight. Instead we had an impromptu pajama/popcorn party! Minnesota by tomorrow - yea!

Vactioning on the first Friday in July

Hey, I'm on vacation. Watch this and enjoy. It's a little slice of the past!



I am part way through a several state long car trip with two teens and the Youngest Boy. I don't think I was ever so happy to see Indiana before.



It took almost three hours to get through Chicago!

After finally getting to where our hotel for the night is, we had a late dinner. Right next door was this store:



Classy.

We'll be dong nothing more exciting on the rest of our vacation than a trip to the dirt track races and a brass band concert on the 5th of July. Hope your summer is turning out well!

Goodbye Washington, hello winter!

“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to”
- John Ed Pearce

Finally, we are home again. No laptop yet but at least I am able to be exhausted in my own house. Washington D.C. was both lovely and a kind of Bataan Death March - only done out of love of knowledge and family time. The best time to see things was at the end of the day when it was a little warmer and the ferocious winds had died down.

It was very cold and very sunny - and a few flowers poked through the slush - but we walked and walked and walked. Even to take the Metro, we had to walk. Luckily, the wonderful museums and sights helped qwell any thoughts of desertion but by Saturday, half the crew opted to stay home and watch the Disney Channel in the hotel. Eventually, on Sunday morning we all were sitting on one bed, eating cold pizza and watching "King Kong."


One other great break was touring the United States Botanic Gardens and eating lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian. Both were very informative and relaxing - and the food at the museum was excellent!



Earlier in the week, I found one of the branches of Stitch D.C. (the Georgetown branch - "By Metro: A short walk from the Foggy Bottom Metro Station (blue/orange Lines) - maybe in the summer but not in February!" - and bought some lovely sock yarn. I know, I know, don't I have enought problems with socks right now? I currently have two pairs on socks on the needles right now.

I bought Claudia Hand Painted Yarns' sock yarn in "Blue Terra Cotta" as a souvenir (hey, it's from Harrisburg, Va.!) and I plan to make the ROZA’S SOCKS by Grumperina in the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits. Lots of people seem to be making them and I hear they go quickly. And besides, who doesn't need socks in an easy brioche-rib pattern?

More on the Washington trip later - now is the time to go count cases of Girl Scout cookies in my garage. I just keep telling myself, "I won't eat those cookies, I won't eat those cookies . . ."

Oh, and the Saturday Seven? Last week, it was books and the week before, books. Lots and lots of books live at our house and we need to weed out more than a few.