Gone fishin'..aka On vacation

We arrived home from our trip last Thursday, but we are still on vacation until next Monday. While it's fun and we're getting a lot accomplished, it's tiring at times! That's what naps are for, right?

We left a week ago this past Friday, and since we got a later start than planned, we decided we would only go halfway and stop for the night. It's about a 10-11 hour drive to Pocatello, Idaho, where Scooter is from. He also had some work to do in Fernley, Nevada, which gave me a little bit of knitting time. (More on that later.) Fernley isn't exactly an oasis (sorry locals), but they DO have a Starbucks. Even still, not a place I would want to plant myself permanently. The next morning, we woke early and waved bye bye to Winnemucca where we got a room, but we kept forgetting we were now an hour behind the family in Idaho. Scooter's dad is always anxious to see us, and I think he forgets about the time change for us too. He is just the sweetest man...an awesome father-in-law! I mentioned to him that I would love to have some of his lilac plants and I thought he was going to dig up his whole yard for me...lol I had to stop him at 5 plants! Now if I can successfully transplant them in my yard, I am going to love it. And if not, well, I know where there are about 10 more acres of them.

We made it to Pocatello by late afternoon, got checked into our hotel room (it's free for us..it pays to know people), and headed over to my brother and sister-in-law's house. They insisted we had to go to dinner with them to their favorite Italian restaurant, and I have to say, the salads we had were very, very good, which oddly enough, is what this restaurant is known for. They make their own dressing that they bottle and you can buy. Just yum!!

We said our goodnights after dinner, and the next morning, the in-laws surprised us with the most awesome "honeymoon" trip to Yellowstone. They knew I had never been, and it was truly fascinating!! To watch the earth belch mud and steam....well, you knew you wanted to obey the signs that warned you not to stray from the marked paths. The geyser pools were just beautiful!!!

Not sure if the person who wore this obeyed the warnings to stay on marked trails or not!

The color in these...just incredible!

People, this mud literally BOILS! And smells like rotten eggs!

No trip to Yellowstone is complete without getting to see 'Old Faithful' spout. Not a good pic of it, but it was cloudy, so it was difficult to get the contrast right. Trust me, it was still way cool to see!

I have seen buffalo before, but not like this. Herds of them in clearings, and lots of newly birthed calves. It was actually zen-like to see the antelope, moose, elk, and bears, roam freely. I'm so glad I got to visit Yellowstone, and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend to be there. We were told the tourist season doesn't really begin until around July 5th, so no traffic, no long lines at restaurants and gift shops. Perfect timing!

My brother-in-law got us THE MOST EXQUISITE suite to stay in for the night!!!! They belong to a timeshare, and he got us the "Presidential Suite" to stay in. Folks, I'm not kidding, this place was bigger than our house!!! It was three bedrooms, 4 baths, and fully furnished with everything but food. Every single bathroom had a huge jetted tub, we had a fireplace, flat screen tv's in every room, four balconies to sit out on and enjoy the wide open with a glass of vino...just amazing and gorgeous!!!! We were sorry to leave, but we will go again....

Sunday evening, we headed back home to Pocatello, about 2 1/2 hours drive. We made a few stops along the way to see canyons and parks with massive waterfalls. My sister-in-law and I had such a great time learning about some of the wildflowers and animals native to each area we visited. I wish we lived closer...I love to decorate and she is an awesome decorator. She is a florist and gardener (built her own huge greenhouse), and is truly an inspiration to me!!! I have been so blessed with amazing in-laws. We are already looking forward to possibly another visit next month!
This is actually the Snake River Canyon... beautiful, right?

I did manage to get some knitting in during the traveling itself. I finally finished Scooter's socks I had been working on and off on for the past eight months. He loves them and I'm so pleased! However, I did learn that I probably need to go up a needle size for him. Either that, or cast on more stitches. Adjustments need to be made somewhere. He has some pretty muscular legs, so they are a little snug on him.

I've almost completed the finishing work on the baby bolero I've been working on for my cousin's baby shower gift. I haven't had a chance to snap a pic of it yet, but as soon as I do, I'll share it with you. It's the cutest thing ever...or at least, I think so! There is a little matching beret that I need to get started on after I finish the sweater, but that should go pretty quick.

I needed a project that didn't require a whole lot of focusing while on the road, so I also started a shrug type jacket for me. It's called Shimmery Bolero and is a free pattern at Lion Brand's website here. The picture there doesn't do it justice, so if you happen to be on Ravelry, look up some of the projects others there have knitted...really cute! I'll get a pic up soon of mine also.

We are off to go do some more fun things today...we're being very impulsive. Just the way we like it sometimes!