Tuesday morning The Princess and I flew to St. Louis, rented a car, and drove a couple of hours to St. Robert, MO. My SIL joined the National Guard and graduated from Boot Camp on May 9th, so we wanted to be on hand to congratulate him. May 8th was Family Day, so we got to pick him up at Fort Leonard Wood and take him with us for the day. He looks very handsome and impressive in his dress uniform!
The Princess and her cadre of Army Wives. Facebook is handy for making connections!
We enjoyed meeting some of his buddies and their families and spending some quiet time, then had to have him back on post at 9:00 PM. The next morning, we went back for an impressive graduation ceremony. When that was over, we drove to a restaurant several miles out of town. The drive was beautiful and the restaurant was actually in a cave. The "shuttle" from the parking lot to the restaurant and "resort" was an old, rickety van driven by someone who might have been an extra in Deliverance, so suffice it to say that my Northwest snobbiness was held in check with difficulty. We had to climb up two sets of open stairs to enter the rather dank cave where we ate.
We enjoyed seeing a bit of the countryside and visiting with the other families, but I was quite glad to get back to the hotel!
I had never been on a military base, and the sheer size of this one is astounding. I thought they looked like the TV show MASH; muddy roads and tents. According to Wikipedia, this base covers 97 square miles. There's a hospital, schools, housing, theaters, fast food outlets, lots and lots of wooded areas and much that we didn't see. I was impressed. The surrounding town was obviously built to support the base and its visitors. Fast food, hotels, and WalMart. I didn't see anywhere else to shop. Not a yarn shop in sight. I wouldn't last long here.
Knitting accomplished: I finished the Winter Femme hat that I started in Palm Desert. I think it came out nicely and I had an official model for a change.
I really enjoy working with the yarn; too bad it's discontinued. I have a bag of Aran weight that I tried to make into a sweater but didn't like it, so I still have that to use.
GothSocks are still in progress. Lots of airplane time tomorrow so I expect there will be quite a bit done on them.
Crochet attempted: That stupid hat still looks like a doily. Either more investigation into technique has to be done, or I just need to send the older niece a stuffed animal and be done with it.
Back home in time for spring flowers in Seattle. May 10th was a long day; drive two hours back to St. Louis, get the Princess on her plane to Vegas, wait for my plane to Phoenix, wait for my plane to Seattle and finally arrive back to my very-happy-to-see-his-mom dog. A busy, fun three weeks.
The Princess and her cadre of Army Wives. Facebook is handy for making connections!
We enjoyed meeting some of his buddies and their families and spending some quiet time, then had to have him back on post at 9:00 PM. The next morning, we went back for an impressive graduation ceremony. When that was over, we drove to a restaurant several miles out of town. The drive was beautiful and the restaurant was actually in a cave. The "shuttle" from the parking lot to the restaurant and "resort" was an old, rickety van driven by someone who might have been an extra in Deliverance, so suffice it to say that my Northwest snobbiness was held in check with difficulty. We had to climb up two sets of open stairs to enter the rather dank cave where we ate.
We enjoyed seeing a bit of the countryside and visiting with the other families, but I was quite glad to get back to the hotel!
I had never been on a military base, and the sheer size of this one is astounding. I thought they looked like the TV show MASH; muddy roads and tents. According to Wikipedia, this base covers 97 square miles. There's a hospital, schools, housing, theaters, fast food outlets, lots and lots of wooded areas and much that we didn't see. I was impressed. The surrounding town was obviously built to support the base and its visitors. Fast food, hotels, and WalMart. I didn't see anywhere else to shop. Not a yarn shop in sight. I wouldn't last long here.
Knitting accomplished: I finished the Winter Femme hat that I started in Palm Desert. I think it came out nicely and I had an official model for a change.
I really enjoy working with the yarn; too bad it's discontinued. I have a bag of Aran weight that I tried to make into a sweater but didn't like it, so I still have that to use.
GothSocks are still in progress. Lots of airplane time tomorrow so I expect there will be quite a bit done on them.
Crochet attempted: That stupid hat still looks like a doily. Either more investigation into technique has to be done, or I just need to send the older niece a stuffed animal and be done with it.
Back home in time for spring flowers in Seattle. May 10th was a long day; drive two hours back to St. Louis, get the Princess on her plane to Vegas, wait for my plane to Phoenix, wait for my plane to Seattle and finally arrive back to my very-happy-to-see-his-mom dog. A busy, fun three weeks.
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