Back From the Wedding

Well, we made it through the drive--there and back again. The drive convinced me I would never make it as a truck driver or an on-the-road sales person. If we had more time in the places we passed through, that would be completely different. We did pass through some beautiful country. Beautiful lakes and mountains and trees.
The overcast skies and green, green trees are a different feel than our own forests. (Twilight, anyone?)
Later, we drove through some areas that made me want to visit Ireland again.The cliffs weren't quite as dramatic as the Cliff of Moher, but we also didn't leave the highway, so who knows what other beautiful sights we missed.
And for those of you who know how much I hate driving, and doubt that I did drive, I have the proof!
And I promise this is a blink and not me driving with my eyes closed.
I'm so glad I got to go see my grandma and her new house! She is making it beautiful, as she always does. The adventure to the park gave us an opportunity to get some fresh air, visit, wear beautiful knits that are too warm now in California, and expend some energy.











The wedding itself was beautiful. Kudos to Jessie and Luke for being such laid back, relaxed people, because I surely would not have done as good a job going with the flow with needing to change wedding/reception locations and dealing with weather problems. The wedding decorations turned out beautifully and the bride...of course beautiful as well. A very fun wedding perfectly suited to their personalities (Though Jessie, I did wait a long time to see if you would stay with the sailor-themed wedding from so long ago!)

And the obligatory photo holding my own camera. One surprise was that the wedding was moved indoors since the winds outside were so strong and the rain was not quite what they had envisioned for their wedding. The result? The shrug that would have been too light for outdoors was too warm for indoors! I did wear it for a picture, but not during the wedding or reception. Ahh, but ever so cute...
I'm sure I will have a lot of opportunities to wear it this summer, since I seem to be one of the few people I know who carries a sweater around in the heat of summer. (The change from 100+ degrees outside to cold and air conditioned inside means a sweater is always welcome!)
And...finally, I award the Cutest Ringbearer Alive Award. Tyler did such a wonderful job smiling and standing where he was supposed to stand. (I know he charmed the wedding photographer photographer.) No pictures here of the fake mustache, but cute...very cute.

A Wee Tiny Shrug of a Problem

Where have I been recently? Madly knitting on a shrug that can go with light, summery colors. I have been know to procrastinate (only on occasion, you understand) and sometimes live in denial about how close things actually are to happening. But I could no longer deny that this Tuesday I will be making an epically long drive to Idaho to visit my grandma and go to my cousin's wedding. (Google maps says about 20 hours without stops!) Yesterday I finished my shrug out of incredibly soft wool and am happy with it.

Now, however, I have checked the weather forecast for the wedding next week. I have heard rumors of snow and hail. The weather forecast has beautiful 70 degree weather...right now. For the wedding, they predict a chance of rain and highs in the 50s. And, well, I begin to wonder if my light shrug I have worked so hard to finish in time will be warm enough for an outdoor, possibly rainy wedding. I really hope the weather forecast is wrong! I don't think I have anything else to pack to go with my dress, and a snow jacket might look a little out of place at a wedding. This weekend I get to find some new projects and gather everything I will need for them. Part of the 20 hours I will be driving (yuck!) but that still leaves more plenty of time for other things--and then there's all the time driving back....

If you were in the parade, how would YOU travel?

We went to see my dad in the Clovis Rodeo Parade when he was walking with the CARDA group.He's the one in the background...with the arrow pointing to him ;) While it was fun to see him in the parade, it made me think about all the different ways of traveling in a parade and--sorry Dad--walking is probably lowest on the list. Similarly, the flat-bed truck floats are pretty standard, though certainly less effort. The Red Hat ladies zooming around in their golf carts and ATVs looked to be having a lot of fun.The military vehicle with the arm that moved up and down was interesting, but still not what I'd pick.One of the beautiful cars--I'd like to ride in them, but the speed is a little wasted at 3 mph.
There were certainly a lot of beautiful horses, but...well...there were so many of them. And so I believe I would choose....

...the ZEBRA! Very original and fun.
Since it was the Clovis Rodeo Parade and there were a lot of horses, one zebra, and who knows what else, the very efficient last "entry" down the parade route was the street sweepers.
I'm glad the there was nothing to step in on the way back to the car!
My nephew started to get a bit tired and so he did not enjoy the entries at the end nearly as much. I looked over and said, "Is he glaring at them?"
Really, I think it was more zoning out than glaring, because right after that was this cute face:
After the parade we made a quick stop at Target.As bright as his outfit was in the parade in a sea of orange shirts, it was shockingly bright in the store lights!