Phoenix ~ Melissa

Jason is officially there as of today!  Long road trip ~ quite a story already but I'll wait to share it til he's back.  He sent me this photo within a half hour of pulling into town ~ he in his custom made Richard Sherman jersey and his new 'friend' in her custom made Tom Brady jersey.

 

What a hoot!

 

I've decided to call Jason's epic journey :

 

The Hangover Part IV - Clean & Sober

 

Why not?  Their episode fits right in (other than it's not being fueled by alcohol & other mind altering bits and bobbles) ~ here's a tease...

 

they're not driving the same car they drove off in on Thursday, they won't be at the Superbowl and they've been to Vegas...

 

and that's just the first 2 days...they're not even halfway through their trip.

 

Got your attention????  Moohahahahaha...

 

Stay tuned :)



roadtrip (narrated by Mr Webster) ~ posted by Melissa

waiting - the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)




home - The abiding place of the affections,





embark - To go on board a vessel or a boat for a voyage



awe-inspiring - inspiring awe or admiration or wonder;"this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath"- Melville;



anticipation - pleasurable expectation



church mouse - a fictional mouse created by Lewis Carroll



nirvana - any place of complete bliss and delight and peace



intoxicating - extremely exciting as if by alcohol or a narcotic



gracious - Abounding in beauty, loveliness, or amiability




 patience - the power of suffering with fortitude








recompense - To give in return; to pay back; to pay, as something earned or deserved



energize - cause to be alert and energetic; "Coffee and tea stimulate me"

 

character - The peculiar quality, or the sum of qualities, by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others; the stamp impressed by nature, education, or habit

 

snarf - make off with belongings of others

 

felicity - The state of being happy; blessedness; blissfulness; enjoyment of good

 

A long awaited trip to Churchmouse Yarns & Teas.  A day with my husband spent out and about enjoying each other's company.  Christmas gifts received were carefully plotted, planned and well spent (thank you Trudy and Nanna).  More BT Shelter for hats, bright happy yarn for socks and enough yarn for our just kicked off New Year's Knitalong.  I'll get better yarn photos tomorrow in better light because, no, my Spire will not be golden and peach like you see above in the middle...not even close!  There's still time to join if you're tempted (and if you are following along and want to post (Mara!) ~ don't forget to pm me on Ravelry so I can tell you what I need from you so you can play along :)

 

I love how excited everyone seems to be who has taken time to post...and I know by Kelli's silence she is almost finished (only half kidding!).

 

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful posts and photos and excitement ~ you make doing this every year worthwhile and something to look forward to all year long!

 

I need to wind some yarn so that's all for now ~ more to come tomorrow hopefully! 

 

Happy knitting and happy new year!  Melissa

 

(and I did snarf the drink menu above but only because I plan on trying this at home!)



scenes from a passenger window ~ posted by Melissa

I had idyllic notions of how our 3-day, 4-state, spur of the minute road trip was going to be.  When we left midday Friday, I was imagining a blog post when we returned worthy of loritimesfive's travel/knitting blog.  It wasn't to be.  Although I did get these few stunning photos, our trip was, let's just say, an epic adventure.

scenic lookout I-84 in Oregon

Pendleton Oregon at dawn

These pictures were some of the few that were actually taken from outside the car.  We had thrown gear and sleeping bags in the truck thinking we were going to camp both nights of our 1700 mile journey  (reasonable assumption ~ we do have a month of spring under our belts!) but, oh, were we wrong!  The drive across Washington on Friday was done in torrential rain while towing a boat (more on that later), which we luckily dropped off a little after 8:00pm in Spokane Valley.  And since we were running behind schedule (we had a destination ~ more on that later also), we decided to keep driving.  Did I mention that we 'luckily dropped off the boat' we were towing?  Just want to make sure...

 

We crossed over into Idaho and as we approached Coeur d'Alene, the driving rain turned to snow.  Alot of snow.  And I should probably stop here and mention a few things:

1. I'm a nervous passenger
2. I don't like driving in the snow
3. we were beginning to cross Lookout Pass (elevation 4725 ft)
4. Lookout Pass is part of the Bitterroot Mountains, which you are in the midst of when you cross the state line into Montana
5. our trip took us into Montana...nuff said?

 

A little before midnight my husband decided that I needed to get off the road (bless him!) and we pulled into a rest stop about an hour outside Missoula and slept in the truck (I guess I should say 'he slept' ~ I was too frazzled).  Then back on the road before dawn (we do have a destination, you know!) and on to the happiest place on earth:

 

Missoula Montana Starbucks at dawn



Never was a girl so happy (or tired!).  It was the best cup of coffee ever!   Then it was back on the road towards our destination of Idaho Falls (yup, the quickest way to get there is to leave the state of Idaho and then come back in through the back door).  We knew when we left on Friday that the time crunch was on the front end of our journey so we drove straight through to Idaho Falls (unbelievably it snowed almost the entire way), and other than a few pitstops to let Dozer out of the truck:

 

no, the rest stop was not here but the exit took us past this gorgeous gateway

we reached the purpose of our trip:

 

 

Thanks to Jim at Hyde Drift Boats and all his advance help leading up to this weekend, we were back on the road within an hour, with my husband's dream boat following behind.  Luckily, we purchased a boat cover since the weather gods were still messing with us.  Just as we had arrived in Idaho Falls, a severe wind storm kicked in and for the next 286 miles to Boise we drove in 60 mile an hour crosswinds that blew hundreds and hundreds of tumbleweeds across the interstate, as well as causing an enormous dust storm the entire way:

 

 

 We're 24 hours into our trip and we've seen rain, snow, wind and a dust storm.  Camping?  Did somebody mention putting up a tent and sleeping under the stars?? Ha.

 

The weather finally got better when we reached Boise (don't get too excited just yet) but the trip was not going as planned so we decided to drive until we were tired and sleep in another rest stop before heading home this morning.  We made it to La Grande, Oregon (hooray ~ state #4!) a little after 9:00pm last night hoping to find an open coffee shop (no luck) and decided to grab something to eat before hitting the road again.  And then it started to snow.  Again.  After not sleeping much (at all) the night before, we decided to stay put til the morning and pulled in with the campers at Walmart (I slept in the truck at Walmart...does this sound like a loritimesfive blog post...I think not!).

 

This morning we were up at 5:00am and on the road home.  But not quickly since snow in La Grande overnight meant snow in the Blue Mountains and we crossed Deadman's Pass before dawn this morning in these conditions:

 

 

If you don't know what you're looking at, it's compact ice.  And unlike the first night's snowy mountain ride, this time we're towing a boat.  Needless to say, but it shall be said...we were not driving 65mph...not even close.  And while my husband is slowly making his way up...and then down...this icy slipslide of a highway, I was frantically looking online to see what the next mountain pass held in store for us.  Bad idea.  Snoqualmie Pass in Washington, which had been completely closed the night before was reopen with chains required, but was about to be closed for avalanche control and it was still snowing hard.  We were still about 4 hours away, which is a long time to stress about conditions (which I did) that can change in a matter of hours (which they did).  By the time we reached the Cascade Mountains the sun was shining and the ice on the roads had melted.  But not before we made a quick pitstop for a heartmelting moment:

 

 

Please excuse the way I look ~ take into account the 3 days I've had and that I haven't had a shower ~ but I so want to share that I officially got to meet our goddaughter for the first time (I saw her when she was 8 hours old but she was sleeping).  Neoma is sporting a darn cute crocheted cap her grandma made her and a sweater I knit for her , remember?  She's almost 7 months old now and I'm pretty sure I left a little piece of my heart there with her when we drove away.  And with a request for this 'cool cowl bear hood' thing her mama saw (I was excited to tell her I can make that!!)


So, although our trip didn't go as I had imagined, it was sure an adventure and I enjoyed the time I spent with my husband and Dozer, who is a great traveller.  The goal of the trip was met (I hope Jeff enjoys the boat as much as JR and then Jason both did):

we'll miss you, Morning Wood

and my husband was only boatless for about 15 hours:

 

tentative names: Jas thinks 'little blue pill' ~ I love 'sea alice'...think about it :)

Sorry for the long post ~ alot happened in 3 days ~ and I doubt we'll forget this epic adventure for a long time to come.  I know Dozer won't ~ he was so ready to come home that the last time Jason got out of the truck, he jumped over the jockey box (not allowed) and was ready to finish the drive on his own...can't you tell from the look on his face?!

 

dog is my pilot

Hope everyone had a less eventful weekend than I did and here's hoping that the next journey we take is just as much fun but a little (lot) less stressful!   ~ Melissa