800+ stairs, 2 feet and a cane at a time

I will give you fair notice that this is picture intensive, I cut out well over 100 pictures, and they're small to help them load faster. HOWEVER, if you click on any one of them they will enlarge. I suggest you do one of two things, a-click on the pictures or b-get yourself here!



The day before Graduation ceremonies we headed up to Watkins Glenn State Park in the Finger Lakes area of New York state. They're closed from November to Mid May. They were just opened and my daughter couldn't wait for us to go for a 'walk'. Sounded good to me!

The is the map of the 1 1/2 mile trail along the water we wanted to visit.

Read the sign carefully, 800+ stairs. Yep. All of them. And more. straight.up.

and off we went!

Follow us around this fall....

First side up close


The backside of the falls.

And the other side...

powerful water...

and that's where it all goes...amazing. (Did I turn the water off at home?)

Very peacefully soothing up here.

More stairs...and peaceful moments

Fabulous way to celebrate her Master's Degree!

When he gets back to school, think of the stories he's going to be able to tell!



And these weren't even the best part of the section..that awaited just around the bend....

Please, click on this picture of the Rainbow Falls area! This is the 'money shot' even if the rainbow didn't show at this time of day. Amazingly beautiful!

That's a deep cut in the rock...and a lot of water smashing all over the place.

The guy in the white shirt? RAN ALL THE WAY UP!

Holding onto Mom to keep her from sliding into the water, it was cold but fabulous (don't try this at home!)

The last push of 180 stairs. Took me awhile but at the top I found...

...the best cheerleaders of all time! They waited at the top of the stairs with water and encouraging words.

My proof that I'd made it to the top-after a rest and our lunch at the top. The disclaimer? They hiked down and brought the car back up for me. It was much faster for them to go without me. I'm OK with that! 1 1/2 hours up...~45-60 minutes for them to get back down and drive up for me. Good decision, I think.)


This is the moment I let him know that the blanket he'd been watching me crochet for a long time was his! Yes, he was excited-does it show? [ Lion Brand's Crayon Ripple Throw pattern, I Love this Yarn! in White (2.5 skeins) and Royal (3 skeins) size J hook. Finished size 42"x 72" . Pattern found on the Lion Brand web site. ]

While riding back in the car, he wanted to put down everything he was playing with so he could have 'cuddle time' with his blanket. Now I ask you. How can you not love knitting and crocheting for such a kid?

Yeah! for airport knitting

Yeah! I have finally gotten a sock to fit me! Took me 4 years to get sock yarn on (US)1's to fit my foot!

To compare, it took my daughter 2 years to earn her Master's Degree.

Yes, I'm a slow learner.

And Yes, I have the 2nd one cast on already.

Finished!

oh, so close!

I flew into Syracuse, NY on Mother's Day..having flown the red eye out of California. Why? I have a daughter who's about to be hooded. YEA! On the way I worked on my new socks. If you're a sock knitter, you can see with the sock that I've adjusted the tension here and there. I had debated over ripping it out but decided this would be my sock that will show me from here on out how far I've come. I think I'm finally getting used to the 'hang' of the tiny needles, tiny sock yarn feel. It's something I think I've battled in my sock knitting quest. All I have to do now, is rip out the toes of this first sock, because my counts are way off. The top of the toes have more stitches than the under side of the sock. This MUST be the results of knitting through the night on a flight without any TVs or movies or music while being half asleep. Right?

That's my story and I'm sticking to it being sooooooooo close to finishing this sock. It certainly couldn't be that I just messed up, now - right?

Do you know what this means? Yep, those cranberry bits that have been cut.

Simply put, it means that on my Knitting Pure and Simple sweater, I picked the roll back sleeve cuffs, cut and weaved in the ends. It's my final decision. And I really like how they turned out. It's been a nice surprise.

The jury is still out on the bottom of the sweater. It's still got the 2x2 ribbing on it apart of the pattern directions. Eh...I don't think that matters as much to me. Sleeves are different, sleeves have a tendency to really bug me. I am a 'leaner'...I lean my wrists when I played piano, when I type, and my knitting needles always get caught in my sleeve cuffs. I rarely, if never, keep long sleeves down by my wrists. But at the same time, I don't like wearing 3/4 length sleeves, I'd rather push them up. If a sleeve is the correct width, it'll stay pushed up. If they stretch, they're going to bug me all over again when they keep falling down.

Since I landed here with my daughter still working during the week, I've been concentrating on getting the crocheted afghan finished. The cutest 8 year old joined us last night and doesn't know this is going to be his. I am 'this' close to getting it done. 3 1/2 stripes to go!

Here we are prior to the first pitch of the game. Waiting for the fun to begin...

And here was my son's main event! Stephen Strasburg, 2009's top draft pick for the MLB. Clocking in at 96 and 98 mph. So glad I'm not on the receiving end of them.

Bonus, was the chance to see one of my son's old fellow Little League player on the opposing team.

Sadly, he also was on the receiving pitches at 96 and 98 mph, three times!

I'm off to work on the afghan some more. The 8 year old showed up after a train, a bus and two planes toward the end of the game. Must.crochet.faster.