Camping Trip

We went to Chain of Lakes State park with our new gear and bikes in tow. It was pretty cool. We got to see nature and ride our bikes with working restrooms and a place to get coffee nearby :-). The Captain got a nice fire going so we could cook the corn, potatoes, and lamb burgers. I worked on the watchcap for my dad and then we packed in for the night. I could not sleep well. I had a mat under my sleeping bag, so the old hips were doing alright. I know it 'looks' pretty tame and civilized in the photo, but it was much more wilderness than one petite tricoteuse is used to. The problem was that our neighbors were pretty near and nature is loud. Every few minutes I thought some beast (human or otherwise) was coming near our tent. I finally started drifting off when I noticed the fire had lit itself again. I roused the Captain and he put it out. This happened twice. It might have happened a third time, but at 2 am what appeared to be a MONSOON struck. The wind was blowing our tent sideways. The Captain had to rush out and collect the chair and blanket that was blowing away. We were at the lee of the tree so we didn't get too pelted with rain. (Boy am I glad that we decided to put the cover of the tent on. Even though it was sureley excessive since it was sunny and couldn't possibly rain *sheesh*.

To top it all off, there was a mosquito in the tent. We were so diligent about keeping the tent closed, but the Monsoon distracted us. I had 33 mosquito bites from the mid thigh down. The official count was made 2 days after the fact because my left heel was so puffed up that what appeared to be a giant bite was actually 7 individual ones. I am thankful that I have neither West Nile or Elephantitis. The nature seemed to love the rain storm. The caterpillar on our tent roof seemed quite pleased with himself.

It's summer time...

This past weekend we helped Miss Luscious Luka move into her new apartment. It was really cute! Unfortunately the Captain had the graveyard shift the night before and was really sleepy- so sleepy, in fact, that he managed to impale the LCD of his phone into a dresser. Luckily he is way savvy and took the phone apart himself. He is waiting for the new LCD to arrive in the mail and will put it all back together- good as new. Most of the rest of the weekend was spent recuperating from the move.

Last night we went on a bike ride/picnic. Word to the wise: don't try to put a full size picnic basket on the back of your bike. It does not leave a bunch of room for your heinie, which is needed to cross-duh duh duhnnn- the bridge. I got my basket for my birthday from the Captain. We hadn't had a chance to use it yet, so when we decided to do a bike picnic I was very stubborn and we just had to take it with us. I think we are going to have to find another picnic spot to walk/drive to. (On a side note: while riding I kept thinking I was Miss Gulch and that Toto was going to jump out of the back of my basket. Oh and yes. I do know how white my legs are. I actually have a tan. Honestly!)

In knitting news... I have finished the toe on the second Baudelaire sock and am almost ready to begin the gusset increases. This second one is going a bunch faster because I have the chart memorized. Progress is being made on the hoodie for the Captain as well. It is being knit in KnitPicks CotLin in Nightfall. I cast on 198 stitches on US size 6 needles and did 2" of K2P2 ribbing. I switched to US size 7 needles and have been stockinetting ever since. I need to get to a total height of about 14" before I start deciding what to do sleeve wise. I am doing the back and the two front sides of the zip up hoodie as one piece for now and will separate it out when I get to the sleeves.

Bike Ride

We are back safe and sound from NYC. I won't go into detail about the absurdity of domestic air travel. It really makes you appreciate Southwest Airlines when you have to fly on a different carrier. The sheer stupidity of their corporate machine makes me ill, so I will focus on better things instead.

First, I got a new CamelBak LUXE (courtesy of the Captain's parents) and so last night we went biking along the river to test it out. It was awesome. I did the best I have ever done on- duhn dhun dhun- the bridge. And I even managed to keep up with the Captain. We did a bit of exploring along the river and found a new path. We mapped our route when we returned: 15 miles in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Not to shabby.

In knitting news, I cast-on the toe of the Baudelaire socks using Judy Becker's Magic Cast-On. She is right, worked perfectly the first time (unlike the figure 8 cast on which I re-did like 4 times on the airplane!) I hope to be able to start on the Summer Shawl tonight. I have the yarn, needles, and pattern... now I just need some time :-)