Riding Destination: The Grand Canyon

We made it back from our 11-day southwest vacation. We spent four of those days with 10 of our friends on the road as we made our way to the Grand Canyon.

Our first 598 mile day ended as we treacherously traveled over a blizzardy mountain pass into Chama, NM. A second day of snow and ice was much more than I cared to tolerate so I volunteered to load my bike and drove the warm chase truck for the day. We passed through Farmington, NM (soon to be Angelique's new home) where you can see Shiprock Peak in the skyline.

On our third day the weather finally warmed up somewhat in the 50's as we took in the rock views of the 17-mile drive through Monument Valley at the Arizona-Utah border.

Then we made our way to the south rim of the Grand Canyon where we were greeted by a light sleet. Pictures cannot capture how big and breath-taking the canyon really is.

Since I don't sleep much, I was able to spend time waiting for the guys to get around in the morning knitting a pair of socks. See, I'm just a girl who rides and knits!

Finished up our trip with the group riding through the Petrified Forest and multi-colored hued badlands of the Painted Desert. At this point, we said our goodbyes and husband and I headed for Sedona, AZ to spend the week sightseeing in the Red Rock Country.

Riding Destination: Sedona, AZ

We passed by the snow covered mountains of Flagstaff and a chilly ride through hair pin curves of Coconino National Forest to our lodge in Oak Creek Canyon just outside of Sedona, AZ. Sedona was filled with great tourist shops and I even found a knit shop where I purchased a hank of locally dyed alpaca.











Spent one whole day leisurely knitting on the rocks by Oak Creek and finished one Fruit Loop sock.

Took a bumpy 4x4 sunset guided tour in a Hummer up into the Red Rocks where the views were incredible.










Rode to the mile-high old mining town of Jerome where I found another awesome yarn and bead shop. I came away very inspired by the talent of this shop owner @ knittinggeek.com.

Rididng Destination: Santa Fe, NM

Although I was sad to leave Sedona we were off to one of my favorite destinations where the weather finally warmed into the 80's for the last leg of our trip to Santa Fe. I love the southwest lifestyle, cuisine and jewelry shopping on the Plaza. This time I purchased a multi-stone heart belt buckle and got to meet the international designer herself, Rocki Gorman.

I couldn't help but make one more yarn shop stop for some hand dyed New Mexico alpaca. The Santa Fe colors in this yarn will make a beautiful lace shawl and a perfect souvenir of my trip.

Flea Market Finds

There were fewer vendors at the Colliseum flea market this month but I still fared pretty well in finding some treasures. The metal can is made for ashes but it will work well for securely storing bird seed and squirrel corn on my patio. The real excitement came when I found a woman was willing to part with her yarn swift at an unbelievable price and I can never have too many Longaberger baskets.

Girls Just Wanna Ride

Took the day off from work and called up the girls to go riding with. We got up early to hit the road meeting up with Karen at her gorgeous home in the country. Dawn finally got her bike started and came riding in (pictured). Then we were on our way taking the back roads to Aggieville in Manhattan for lunch. We made the mandatory road stop for mexican food, chips and beer. It was a great day of riding and I'm now up to 900 miles. Thanks Melanie for the great meal and letting me crash at your place.

Baby Cardinals

Last Spring we had a finch and robin nest off our front porch. This year it's a nest of three baby cardinals. The parents have been busy caring for them and it's a good thing I'm keeping an eye on them because one of the babies fell out of the nest today. It was so vulnerable just laying there and I grabbed my garden gloves (less scent) and placed the tiny guy back in it's nest.

March Sock of the Month

Obviously, my knitting has taken a back seat lately to my golfing. I'm way behind and just finished one sock for the March Sock of the Month Club. Yeah, I know -- it's now May! The Mt. Hood pattern is written for unisex which means (note to self) "slouchy" as a woman's sock. Now the challenge begins in trying to match the striping for my second sock. (It would be so much easier if only I was free willed enough not to care about the stripes matching up perfectly). I picked this pattern because of my fond memories of going to Mt. Hood with my Grandma Penny and Aunt Rita.

New Motor Miles

Our goal this weekend was to put 500 miles on my new Crossbones motorcycle so we made a trip on Saturday to one of my favorite riding destinations: Bad Brad's BBQ in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. (Most people give me a funny look when I tell them I'm going to Oklahoma for lunch). The food was great as always, but the ride back home was tiring with gusty winds and then rain in Ark City. On Sunday, I took a bonding solo rode out east on Highway 400 to finish racking up a total of 503 miles. Harley requires this break-in mileage on the new motor and now I can take her back into the dealership for a steering head adjustment and change of fluids. After this we'll be good for 5,000 miles.

Homecoming

I've had six years of good memories and 40,000 miles of travel on my custom HD Softail. While I'm excited about getting a new 2008 HD Crossbones, it made me sad to turn the old one over for trade. Today we made the deal, wrote the check and husband rode it home for me in the rain. Breaking in a new motor will give us a convenient excuse to hit the road this weekend. She's a beauty.

A New Bike

A couple months ago we went to the Harley dealership to buy my husband a new seat and ended up ordering me a new motorcycle. It finally arrived today and I got to go see it being assembled. It has many retro, old school features starting with the Springer front end and way cool fat tires. I almost can't stand the excitement to bring her home tomorrow.

Strike a Pose

We call our dog, Sexy Sassie. She's the only pet I've ever known who will pose for glamour shots. She'll just lounge around and look at me like, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!"

A Whole Lotta Golf

I'm hooked - bad. I used to make fun of people who wanted to chase a little ball around and now I'm one of 'em. I'm not even retired and have played three times this week. Would've played four had the winds not exceeded 40mph on Friday. I love this game and the time I get to spend with friends on the course -- three of them knit, too! Laurie and I joined a women's league so we would be committed to play every week and we're already seeing improvements and making new friendships along the way.

Black Minisweater

The minisweater strikes again.

A New Hat

I'm so lucky to have a knitting friend that works right next door. I find myself looking forward my standing lunch date with Becca every Wednesday and we walk to Twist. Today, on our way, we stopped next door at Hatman Jack's and I found this great denim cowboy hat. It meets all my needs for the love of denim and cowboy hats. An added bonus: I can fold it up in a saddlebag, bend it back in shape, then toss it in the washer and dryer.

Minisweater Obsession

I can't seem to get the minisweater out of my system. So far I've made 4 with one in red, charcoal, black and just finished brown. You'd think I'd be satisfied by now but nope - I'm thinking I still need one in white. Talk about an obsession!

Girls Night Out

It was a "girls night out" when a friend invited me to go with her and some friends to the Kid Rock concert. I have several of his CDs and now have a new appreciation for him as a performer. He sang everything from rap, rock, to country and gave a good show. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to get dolled up in a dress and boots for a night out.

Minisweater Love

Just in case you haven't seen enough of the red minisweater -- here it is again. It even goes well with biker attire and a night out on the town. (I really need to get the black one done so I can give this jewel a break!) Mixed it up with a Miss Me long tee and "L" necklace from the Pink Saloon.

Around Town

The (little red) minisweater gets around town.

Little Red Sweater

I just love this little number. Becca and I met for lunch a week ago and she was making her Minisweater in white Cascade Cotton Rich and I just had to follow. I decided red would go perfectly with my Kippy rhinestone belt and now I'm going to have to make another in black. I just posted mine on Ravelry as the 319th person to make one and everyone in the knitting universe agrees - WE LOVE THIS SWEATER!!

Collections

Do you find yourself collecting things? Some people take it to extremes - I might be just one of those people - if one is good, more is better. I blame it on my mom. Every room of her house is filled with a collection of some sort. If I like something I've got to have every color. Spring cleaning has made me stop and take stock of things. I guess you'd say I really like boots and Born's (to name a few!)

Freebie Dressform

I've debated investing in a dressform for a couple of years now. I've even considering making one but dreaded the thought of asking someone to wrap me up in duct tape (example here). So, you can just imagine how thrilled I was when mom called to say she went to an estate sale and they just gave her this very retro form for F-R-E-E. She was making another purchase but I guess it pays off to go to sales on the very last day at closing time. I picked it up and found that all the critical areas are adjustable to fit my own measurements and then sewed up a nice, coordinating jersey knit cover. I have named my new clone, Norma.

Settled In

I can't believe I'm going on a month at my new job. I've enjoyed setting up my office and this is my desk view. I found some great Keeper of the Plains prints at DPI that take up one corner of my office while golf pictures hang on the wall behind me. I'm thinking an orchid plant would look pretty by the window (to my right) but I haven't historically had good luck keeping them alive so I've settled for fresh flowers in a vase.

Felted Bags

Spring is here and I've got riding on my mind. I guess that's what motivated me to make these felted bags just the perfect size for a pair of sunglasses or riding goggles. I got the idea from a kit and used my own worsted wool, a 7" zipper and sewed on some patches I had laying around. These will work great to protect my eyewear when they are tumbling around in the saddlebag.

Ski Lodge Scoop Vest

When you step into Twist Yarn Shop, to your right, you'll find the most beautiful skeins of kettle dyed Manos del Uruguay 100% wool hanging from the wall. No two skeins are alike so they recommend alternating every two rows from different skeins. Really, not as cumbersome as you'd think and I finished this vibrant vest from the book, 12 Months of Knitting, in just one weekend.

An Office With a View

The old familiarity of working downtown came back as I drove in for my first day at my new job. (The 7 mile drive from my house isn't all that bad). I like this location much better as it sits on Douglas Avenue and my 8th floor office overlooks the Century II fountains and the Arkansas River. I was so caught up in decorating my space and getting settled in that I didn't take a break or lunch all day. Also, I am grateful to be working with two positive and funny coworkers from a previous employer.

Reserved My Seat

Here I go again, putting my knitting down this time around to read the book by Eckhart Tolle. Actually this one is going to be more time consuming as I've reserved my seat for the 10-week webcast class that begins Monday night at Oprah.com. Are you ready to be awakened?

Turquoise Beading

Went to Aspen Traders yesterday and purchased a pair of earrings with multi-colored stones and decided to make a similar pair of my own in turquoise. I always get great jewelry ideas from there and catalogs such as Silpada and Sundance. Made a trip to a couple of bead shops for head pins and a few more turquoise beads to add with my own collection and made up these earring sets. I'm going to share one set with a special someone that likes turquoise just as much as I do.