Happy Days

Managed to pack the kids off to the playground with hubby, so I could dash off to the Internet cafe in the village. The harsh reality of paying by the minute for blogging time is starting to register, so I think until my own computer arrives at the beginning of October, this will be an every other day affair.

The idea pot is boiling, however, because Whistler is so rich in natural beauty and cultural stimulation (art galleries! great music! live theatre! amazing food!) that the creative juices overflow. I want to expand the chromatic challenge feature to a series on colour, texture, design and seeing things in new ways. I have a host of designs in the works, starting with a classic navy and white striped cotton crewneck (with a twist, of course.) More on that one this week. I also hope to get a pattern for the second string bag posted this week, and get back to work on the white lacy tank, on which I plan to incorporate an inner shelf bra and eliminate the visible bra strap issue altogether.

Here's the view from my patio and livingroom window (this was our first morning):

Here's this morning's Saturday Sky:

Knitting at our favorite pub (yes, Lee Ann, it is heaven!):

Home at Last

We are still dazed and exhausted from the journey, but got in safely last night. Woke up early this morning, wandered out to the patio to watch the sun kiss the tops of the misty mountains and settled down with a coffee and some knitting to contemplate the fact that We Live Here Now. The coast mountain air is cool and sweet and moist, and the big blue sweater is exactly the right kind of warm.

I haven't quite sorted out the picture business, but that will come - it's just a matter of how much it's going to cost me. Consequently, I can't yet show you string bag number two, which finished up this morning - designed to cradle a bottle of wine, a baguette, and a hunk of cheese, or this noon's excursion to our favorite Irish pub for Guiness and a little progress on a lovely red sock. All in good time.

Halfway Home

Warning: picture heavy post ahead. If you are on dial-up, you may want to go for coffee, finish that masterpiece of Shetland lace you've got languishing in the stash, or simply take my word for it that the prairies are flat.

We made it safely to my parents' place in Creston, albeit a day late. Practicality triumphed over pride and we spent Saturday finishing up the packing and getting the house properly ready for the painters and cleaners. (And yes, I felt more than a little sheepish about delaying our departure after doing the grand public countdown for the last two months. Just a tad anti-climactic.)

Since we have made this two day trans-prairie migration every summer for the last six years, I thought it would be fun on our very last trip to document the highlights for posterity. (For full effect, we would have had to backtrack to Winnipeg - Not.)

The first leg of the trip takes about 12 hours, and covers approximately 1000 km (620 miles) between Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Creston, BC. (For Dipsy, that would be like, say, driving from Vienna to Genoa. Only different.)

Early Sunday morning, the wolfhound and the cat, sharing the back of the Forerunner with the (carefully covered) yarn stash and, um... one or two other things:

The kids, also sharing space with... stuff:

First stop - the golden arches for breakfast (road trips being pretty much the only time we patronize this establishment):

Next, that fine Canadian institution, Tim Horton's for coffee and bits:

Clearly, we are skipping town in the nick of time:

One last visit with the World's Biggest Moose:

Did I mention that the prairies are flat?

Tim's in Swift Current (good coffee and clean washrooms - very important with a freshly toilet trained kid who has just learned how exciting it is to use foreign potties):

More flatland:

Slightly less-flat land (Cypress Hills):

Next province (note the change in photo formatting where Blogger stopped letting me upload and I was forced to switch to Flickr. Gritting teeth now, forcing self not to go back and reload all the previous photos to match. Perfectionism sucks.):

Alberta, FYI, is also flat:

Are we having fun yet?

Timbits to the rescue:

The world's largest teepee, on the western edge of Medicine Hat:

At the risk of sounding sacriligeous, I couldn't help noticing the lovely sharp points on the ends of those straights.

More flatland:


Ah, but wait - a terrain feature looms, at last, on the hazy horizon:


Part of the windfarms near Pincher Creek:


The Frank Slide:


I always find this spot eerie - for the reminder of tragic loss of life, and also for the way nothing grows here - it looks like it could have happened yesterday.

Our new home province:


We had intended to get out and kiss the ground, but there was the small matter of the shoulder being approximately 1/2 inch wide, hence the slightly blurry high speed window shot.

And, with the roads becoming curvy, progress on string bag number 2 came to an immediate halt:

As did the camera battery.

Not to worry, this blog will be chock full of spectacular mountain scenes for the foreseeable future.

Tomorrow, we squeeze into the truck once more for the last leg of the journey to Whistler. (And pray the brakes hold over the mountain passes.)