Day Trippin'

Two more peas in the pod! I LOVE what people are doing with them!

We don't vacation like normal people. This has been brought home to me this summer as friends head off for various locations - Persnickety for Squam Lake, Katy for Maine, etc. Our vacations happen in winter, when we trade frostbite and five layers for sunny, hot days and tank-top evenings. I enjoy vacationing against the seasons. But I also like to get away, so we day trip. Sunday we went to Shelburne, Vermont. We took Girl along. She's been there before but it was a long time ago. When you're six it's all about riding the carousel and getting on the boat. When you're 19 you can do stuff like stand without blinking in front of a Monet for ten minutes, just falling into brush strokes. Or you can play moth with your father while standing in front of a chandelier that's not only amazingly sparkly but also dishwasher safe.(yes. dishwasher safe. Also $10,000). There's a whole exhibit of the things, including one made of ping pong balls, which is ironic for me. Mr. Wonderful played "real" table tennis quite a bit during our "dating" period. I spent a lot of weekends studying anatomy and phisiology while listening to the whack of a paddle and the stomping of feet. (Believe it or not, when you're a young single mother with young kids who go away on weekends, table tennis tournaments are an easier place to study than a weeknight at home.) But again - and I do this often - I digress. There's also an exhibit of contemporary quilts. They were amazing. My camera continues to be unamazing, so no pics. If you're in the area and can visit Shelburne before fall, the chandeliers and quilts are worth a stop, not to mention the fine art, architecture, history.
We've had plans to expand this day trip into a weekend involving kayaking on Lake Champlain and wandering Burlington, but so far this has evaded us. There is a new stop in my life - Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has built a lovely little welcome center in Waterbury, where they sell product and provide restrooms and even have a little educational coffee exhibit. It inhabits a beautifully restored old train station. I entered to win a K-cup machine. No clue what I'd do with it. It seems much to disposible for me. Down the road a bit is a factory store which was closed on Sunday - but I'll be back.
No trip to Vermont is complete without a stop at the A&W on Route 7 outside of Middlebury. A real live A&W with carhops and root beer. I remember back when I was young demanding the bigger Mama Burger and pouting when they made me get the Baby Burger. "I'm not a baby!!" Everyone else got big burgers, everyone but me. I also remember being the only kid in the car refusing to drink root beer. Always Coke in my little mug, thank you very much. Now it's root beer floats, and watching Mr. Wonderful and Girl eat their gluten-laden fries and dogs. The Fit with the little tray perched on the window made me think of the old Flintstones opening, with Fred and Wilma and Pebbles at the drive-in when the car tips over under the weight of the tray? I was a little nervous about it. But she stayed stable on all four tires.
We also stopped at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, former home of Hermes the Bear now felted and missing all the velvet off his nose. Girl found a new little love, a cutie who's name I have already forgotten. A car-sized bear for a Girl on the move. She says Hermes is fine with it, but I heard him crying into his pillow later. I can't say I love the bears now, though. We had a fantastic customer service experience with them when Hermes lost a limb, but things have changed at the factory. It's all about cheap build-a-bears; 'a new one every time you come'. And the fur on the classic bears has been changed and feels too soft, Walmart. It was sad. The visitor center is kind of tacky when placed in my mind against the old tour. I miss the real deal, the bear you get when you're little and love on until you're...19 and then some. The bear you feel like you're cheating on if you look at other bears. We're so disposible, culturally. But I am not here for social commentary!
I knitted most of the way up, getting a lot done on my Stitch Diva Stefanie Japel Simple Knitted Bodice in the Gail-dyed Belle, and starting a new design for Webs - a kid sweater in Sugarloaf. Then home, and work until today when I am slacking a bit and writing this. Which really is just a way of avoiding work - "Oh, no, I can't get writing this minute. I have to blog! People will expect it!" Good one, huh? There's more sweetpeas popping up at Ravelry with some wonderful yarn choices. There's even pirate peas which will show up in the gallery soon. The bodice - TRY IT ON, which Stefanie recommends, as you go!! It's worth it. I am short, short waisted, and 'gifted' (depending on perspective - most of the time I consider it a curse, really) in the bustline. Trying it on allowed me to make adjustments in length as I went by messing a bit with increases. I'll try it on again soon because of length issues. It is adorable and I love it.
Back to the grind. My life looks like this for the rest of the week. It's not my favorite view. In fact it makes my head hurt a little.