Post Vacation Haze
What is it about the first Monday morning after a vacation? It seems like the previous week is already a distant haze! Even if you have a great job to return to (which I do), it's hard to get back into the swing of things. But I endeavor to persevere!

Thanks for all the nice comments wishing me a happy vacation. It certainly was, even if it went by all too quickly. We arrived in the Pacific Northwest on Friday evening to catch the tail-end of a heat wave (103 degrees in Portland upon landing). We spent one night in Portland at a hotel -- my mother was entertaining cousins from Sweden and couldn't fit us in! The next morning (Saturday), we headed off for British Columbia. A nice if uneventful drive, ending with a loooong 2-hour wait at the border at Blaine, Washington.

Fortunately, we had a lovely destination -- Bowen Island, a short ferry ride from Vancouver, and the home of a good friend and business associate. A lovely night was spent there recovering from the 9-hour drive and border wait. Then one day (Sunday) in Vancouver visiting friends. DH had a golf/business meeting, and I hung out with a friend and caught The Bourne Supremacy in a lovely air-conditioned theater (good movie, quite different in pace from the first Bourne movie).

The next morning (Monday), off on a ferry to Victoria, BC! The Empress Hotel in Victoria was quaint, with no air-conditioning! We spent the day walking around downtown Victoria, peeking in the shops. I had given up hope of finding the famous Beehive Wools, when we stumbled across it while trying to find Chinatown. A huge shop, crammed floor to ceiling with lots of lovely yarn. Again, no air conditioning! It was a bit stuffy, to say the least. DH stayed outside. I braved the humid cocoon-like interior, and came out with this:

12 Skeins of Lett Lopi, for another Aran Poncho


Jeanette Crew's "Beautifully Wrapped" Book


Early Tuesday morning, we caught the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA. It was a much smaller ferry than the one we took from Vancouver to Victoria, and I got seasick on the passage. I felt much better once back on dry land! Then we drove the Olympic Peninsula from Port Angeles to Olympia -- a very lovely drive. From Olympia, we hopped on Interstate 5 & 205 back to Portland.

Once back in Portland, we spent the next 5 days chillin' at my mom's house. I wish I could say it was a blissful visit, but there's some stressful family stuff going on (finances and an impending divorce) that cast a worrisome shadow over the visit. Lots of praying going on in the family over various situations.

Saturday we flew back to San Diego, to an empty house. RockStar is visiting his mom in North Carolina for 3 weeks, and the cat, dog, and birds were all boarded at various facilities. Sunday we rounded up all the animals, and the ark was full again!

Of course I took a Road Project with me -- something easy and mindless that I could quickly stuff into a bag as needed. This free shawl pattern on the Lion Brand Microspun label fit the bill perfectly!

6 Skeins of Microspun makes this:


Two skeins worth of shawl, with a third skein just attached:


Close-up of the 4-row Ripple Pattern:


Gotta scoot! Works calls, and since I didn't win the lottery in my absence, I'm obligated to show up and see how much spam has accumulated in my email box :-)

Happy Monday, everyone!