Cuivre River State Park

For the last long weekend of summer we rode with friends to Cuivre River State Park just north of St. Louis, Missouri. We took off early and rode all day in the rain but that only intensified the smells of the fields and vineyards along the way. After 500 miles of riding we settled into our barrack and I grabbed a top corner bunk for some cozy lantern-lit knitting. (As always, having this little luxury with me was a lifesaver to have when I woke up at 3:00 a.m. every morning).

The roads in the park were tree-lined and curvy with one lane bridges and then there was more great riding on the way home following the scenic Lewis & Clark Trail.





It seemed ironic to pass through Portland, Missouri when this time next week my travels will take me to Portland, Oregon.

Lisa's Beret

I wasn't kidding when I said there was a hat in my future - this one inspired from the worsted weight homespun I finished a couple weeks ago. Truth be told, I had to knit this hat three times before making it small enough to fit right.

Love a Tractor

Riding a tractor is almost as fun as a motorcycle or horse.

Dad's old Ford makes quick work out of mowing some acreage.

Girls Just Wanna Camp

Grabbed a bucket of KFC after work and headed out to El Dorado to meet up with Laurie, Brenda and Pattie for a girl's night out at the lake. (Laurie is trying out RV's to one day live out my dream of hitting the road at retirement). The fish weren't biting but we got some knitting done, toasted to treasured friendships and sat around the campfire. We kept the windows open in the RV and woke up freezing in the early morning hours. It was a nice, little overnight getaway.

Happy 60th Mom

I can't believe you are 60!

Where'd the time go, Momma??

In Loving Memory

We Will Miss You, Grandma


November 30, 1924 - August 19, 2009

Noro = Love

I just didn't have a chance. Dontcha know when I saw a sample of this shop-designed scarf at Twist I just had to drop everything and whip one up for myself in Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn. Short row shaping adds a fancy flare at the bottom of this simple garter stitch pattern. There's a reason they call me
La-Noro!


Kinda looks similar to the yarn I made below, eh? I see a hat in the future...

Sunday Spin

Found some extra time this morning to sit down at my spinning wheel -- it's been awhile. Worked on the crayon-colored wool batt I made at my last fiber class in Oklahoma. The girls who dyed the wool were excited to sell it to me and see how it came out so I'm hoping they see this post. I added in some opague tinsel and recycled silk bits.

Granny Squares

It was a perfect, rainy day to sit outside on my covered patio and finish this crochet granny square blanket for one special little girl's upcoming birthday. Chose a vintage color scheme in Berroco Comfort enjoying the change from knitting to crochet. Found a great tutorial for a continous join that saved me from having to seam each square together then added a simple scalloped edge.
YAY -- Got it completed a week early!

In the Wind

Now that I'm home, I'm getting sentimental about my time on the road on my steel black pony. Money can't buy the feeling of freedom and adventure that comes with being on the road and in the wind. Of course, money helps get you there, but living in that moment on your bike is something else. For me, it was 3,200 miles of time to myself to enjoy my surroundings and my own thoughts. Sure, there were moments of What Doesn't Kill You, Makes You Stronger: doing speeds over 100 mph, fast curves, deer/bucks standing at the side of the road, downpours and flat out exhaustion - but through it all, I had an amazing trip that just adds another dimension to who I am.

SaddleSore 1000

I did it!!! I can now say I've qualified to be one of the IBA's World's Toughest Riders. Where do I begin to explain the experience of completing an endurance ride of 1,000 miles in under 24 hours on a motorcycle?

Short Version: Husband and I left Lead, SD, crossed a total of five states, 10 gas stops and rolled over 1,000 miles at Emporia, KS in 17 hours.

I picked a simple route of two Interstates 90E and 35S. We followed a storm (didn't get wet) with a cold wind as we travelled through South Dakota and Minnesota. It was good to head south for warmer air into Iowa and at that point I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the trip seemed at about 680 miles. But, as time wore on things got a little loopy-almost psychedelic as we pulled into the bright lights and fast traffic of Kansas City, Missouri. At 900 miles, I'd say I was feeling wobbly and dizzy from the 75-80 mph wind beaten speeds and bumps for the past 15 hours. The last 100 miles through the Kansas Flint Hills was the toughest fatigued riding I'd ever experienced. But I finished it and now have to submit my documentation paperwork and wait to receive my certificate, license plate back (above) and IBA patch. While this is one thing from my bucket list, I still think I'd like to push myself again to complete longer IBA rides someday.

Spirit of the Hills Part II

We took another ride around the monuments and Needles Highway again - this time with Chris & Shawndra. It's good riding with single lane roads that take you through rock tunnels and forest paths.
We even pulled off to climb some rocks. We spent the whole day there and wouldn't you know the storm clouds came over us again and dumped rain on us the whole way back. But storms seem to pass quickly and we had our last meal together in Deadwood as we leave tomorrow for a long journey home.

Another Good Day in Sturgis

Look who rolled into town last night--it's our next door neighbors, Chris and Shawndra. Have I ever mentioned how cool it is that our neighbors have motorcycles? Even cooler getting to spend time with them in Sturgis. This is their first trip so we escorted them for a cruise down Main Street and some more shopping for rally shirts and stuff. I've been on the road for six days now and finally got to enjoy a well deserved Corona moment at one of my favorite places in Sturgis, the world's biggest biker bar, Broken Spoke Saloon. It was there we saw one of the most fascinating sights of this whole trip, a rat on a cat on a dog just walking around the bar.

Spirit of the Black Hills

The spirit of the hills came alive tonight when a storm passed over us with a spectacular cloud to cloud lightning display. It would've been nice had we not been 50 miles away observing the progress on the Crazy Horse monument. (Prior to that we had rode around Mount Rushmore and the 5-10 m.p.h. hairpin curves through Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road). Many bikers were caught without their rain gear but not us. We know how the weather changes on a dime in these South Dakota hills. But it was still a dark, cold, wet and slow ride back to our lodge.

A Good T

A good t-shirt says it all.

Sturgis Rally 2009

We rode another 700 mile day to make it here for Rally Week. It was a pretty ride through the Rocky Mountains but now we are in Sturgis and I couldn't be happier. There's a thrill in the air with all the hundreds of thousands of bikes, vendors, bands, concessions and events EVERYWHERE.


For many of us, riding in the Black Hills is simply spiritual. Ordinarily, I don't like the cold, but here its so good to feel the cold mountain air on your face and take in a deep inhale of pine trees and motorcycle exhaust.

Hanging Out in Colorado

Staying a couple of nights in a cabin at over 10,000 ft elevation in the Grand Mesa National Park. Its nice not to be in a hurry to go anywhere or do anything. Kinda unplug from (just about) everything with only the bare necessities that fit in a duffel bag strapped to the back of


my ride. No flat or curling irons, hair products and beauty routines to weigh me down on this trip. We spent the day with friends riding to town for coffee, rode around the mountains then ended the day with grilled hamburgers and toasted smores over a huge pine fire.

Riding Destination: Grand Mesa

It was a long day of riding 702 miles to make it to our first destination to the Grand Mesa in Colorado. Weve made this trip before but I always enjoy riding the Colorado mountains the best. We pulled off the road to take in the Blue Mesa lake that really takes your breath away. I even managed to take a picture or two from the bike ... always multi-tasking.

Goodbye Back Pain

Too many hours behind the wheel has given me extreme low back pain for several weeks. I desperately needed some relief for my upcoming trip to Sturgis so I've been seeing Dr. Gao for acupunture therapy everyday this week and it's been amazing. From the moment he inserted the needles, my back pain has disappeared. I'm ready to RIDE!

Sunday Morning Ride

Grabbed my neighbor, Shawndra, for a cool, early morning summer ride. We fueled up with a big breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then headed over to Strong City to pick up the Scenic Byway to Cassoday. We passed by several other motorcyclists who must have had the same idea for a Sunday morning. It's safe to say my new motor is now "broke-in" with over 600 miles and will be ready for the journey to Sturgis.

A Fiber Christmas In July

I got on the road early this morning to drive to a fiber event in Kellyville, Oklahoma for the two classes I signed up to attend. The first, The Amazing Angora Rabbit, a hands-on workshop using a live bunny. We learned how to handle, groom, harvest and spin the wool from the rabbit. Sounds cruel but it's simply brushing out the loose fibers - which they do enjoy. We got to spin fibers from English, French, German and Satin rabbits. Of them all, I prefer the English. At the end of the class there was a drawing for the demo bunny but (unfortunately) my name wasn't picked.

The next workshop was Spinning Novelty Yarns. There were only 2 of us in the class so we received special attention and learned several techniques for plying with thread.
The instructor brought a great drum carder and we made some crazy batts from fiber we purchased from vendors.

Back in the Saddle

I'm relieved to have my bike back. The dealership replaced all with factory coated parts so hopefully there will be no more issues (or reason) for me to set foot there ever again. In fact, after all we've been through with them, the last thing the tech said to us was, "Sh*t Happens". I wanted to tell him, "No, Incompetence Happens," and then tell him off but I didn't. Just need to chalk it up to terrible customer service and again, hopefully, be done with them. Rode to dinner tonight and put 200 miles on my new motor. Life is good again.

M&M Choppers Open House

Husband and his friends took a couple of trailers full of motorcycle parts to sell at the swap meet/annual open house at M&M Choppers. What a beautiful 80 degree day to ride to Galva, KS - oh yeah - I DON'T HAVE A MOTORCYCLE TO RIDE. My girl, Sharon, lifted my spirits with a thrilling drive there in her drop top at speeds up to 120 mph.

Saturday Morning

I get up early on the weekends to sit outside on my patio. I like to listen to the radio and the sound of the sprinkler heads ticking, burn pinion wood in the chimenea, citronella candles and incense from New Mexico. Sometimes I wonder what my neighbors think of all the smoke coming from my house - hopefully they enjoy it as much as I do. This morning, I'm hand carding alpaca for a special project. There may come a day when I invest several hundred dollars into a carding machine but right now I enjoy the slower, traditional way of combing the fibers by hand. My funny-faced dog, Sheba, sits close by thinking the combs may be for her next.

Granddaughter Socks

Besides being nostalgically cute, the bamboo/wool yarn used for these socks is incredibly soft. It's another Twist-of-the month project I can cross off my "To Do" list. I've forgotten how much I like to crochet and this project has me wanting to make a granny square blanket now.

Dog Mittens

I've got a jump on winter with these light-weight wool mittens. I found the colorwork challenging and enjoyable knitting them from Noro Maiko in colors that match my dog, Sheba. They are from Twist's June Mitten-of-the-Month Club.

Antiques in Texas

I haven't been back to Texas since my grandpa passed away so it was good to spend some time with my Grandma Fetty. We visited grandpa's gravesite in Mabank and my uncle Larry in the nursing home. We were excited about and ate at a new oyster bar on the lake and made the rounds to all the flea markets and small town antique shops. Church on Sunday with Aunts Tami and Ruth and then it was time to come home. Just another busy weekend.

Road Trip: On the Bayou

Mom and I drove until midnight to make it to our road trip overnight destination in Jefferson, Texas. It's a historic Texas town close to Louisiana with many B&B's and antique shops. Before it got hot, we took a boat tour on the Big Cypress Bayou following the same route steamboats from New Orleans travelled in the 1800s. We walked through all the antique shops this town had to offer and discovered cornbread sandwiches at Kitt's Kornbread Sandwich & Pie Bar. The "Redneck" sandwich consisted of fried bologna and melted cheese between sliced cornbread -- it was a guilty pleasure and quite tasty!

Customer Complaint: Alefs Harley Davidson Kansas

I typically don't post about personal affairs, but when it comes to my ride: It's personal. I hope that anyone who Googles this dealership will see this post and take warning. When I bought my motorcycle a year ago, Alefs HD was more than happy to sell me on $6K of extras and modifications. Yes, they were more than accommodating to take my double-digit $K and sell me on their custom Harley modifications. My warning to cyberspace is if THEY do something wrong and you have problems with your bike (even during the warranty period) they will not want to stand behind their work and you will have a fight on your hands getting them to take responsibility for the repairs. It's been an unbelievable experience to say the least.

Organizing

Organization is good-especially in a craft room. As I fill my shelves with yarn and new fiber, I'm challenged to move things around and make the most of my space. A trip to Target sparked some new ideas for years of knitting magazines and a special place for my handmade garments. Of course, a spacious closet also helps.

Summer Tea

This is a clever idea I ran across for those like me who love sun tea in the summertime. Gallon sun tea jars take up so much room in the fridge so what you can do is use a mason jar to make a sun tea concentrate. It takes up less room and you can stretch it out over several days adding it to cold water. Give it a try!

Holiday Heartbreaker

You know I LOVE my motorcycle so when we got the call from the dealership today that my engine and transmission is ruined, I was simply sad and heartbroken. Turns out the black powder coating they did was not removed from the inside of the parts and has worked it's way around causing mass destruction. On top of that, the service mgr advised it would cost us $8,000 for the repairs. That really sets the tone for a happy, holiday weekend when we can't resolve the issue with the owner until Monday. Really, if they don't agree they did the all work and caused the damage - it's still under warranty - it will be time to get an attorney. But in the meanwhile, road trips are delayed (Sturgis is around the corner!) and I'm left heartbroken without my ride.

A Gift for Sister Terry

I made this special gift for Sr Terry at Heartland Farm. It has very sentimental meaning because the yarn was spun by Sr Mary Ellen from an alpaca named Albie that passed away on the farm last year. I gave it to the sisters and wouldn't you know they sent me home with more alpaca yarn to make several more. At this rate, I'm never going to be able to make one for myself!