Back from Wyoming.

Important things about Wyoming:

Yes, there are buffalo (bison, a great fiber animal). It's The Equality State, the first to give women the right to vote and the first to have a woman governor. We lived there when we were young, and our first child was born there.

It's also the home of Knit on Pearl. It isn't on Pearl anymore, but on Gill Ave. in Jackson, Wyoming. They specialize in whatever the owners/employees find interesting currently. They had a BSJ made from a Zauberball. It was really cute! 

I picked up a Zauberball and some Addis, just in case. (The join in one of my 2.75 mm circs was pulling out.)

After leaving Jackson, we drove up to the Bighorn Mountains and found our campsite at Sibley Lake. No hookups, but it was beautiful!

There were sites with electricity across the road, but it wasn't nearly as pretty. Also, we needed space for two tents. Yes, we had two tents, but we were far from too tense!

Daphne brought her family to visit. They arrived a few hours after we did on Thursday. They had one of the tents.

Daphne was the big girl of the outfit. She enjoyed playing "Zoo Train" on my iPad for a few minutes each day. She got to be very good at it, but there were lots of other things to do outside! We also got to enjoy the new canopy, which we got to put over the picnic table. It has mesh sides in case of bugs, but they weren't too bad, so we didn't use them.

On Saturday, the other family arrived. I was happy I had picked up books at the library. (In case of the feared rain, but the weather was mostly nice.)

The books were put to good use, though. Soren, who doesn't walk yet, has always sat patiently and enjoyed being read to. Zachary (with the curly hair) walked early, but is just now learning to sit still to be read to. How different they are! Of course, Daphne enjoyed the books, too, and Sunny enjoyed listening to the voices of people she loves.

We did some hiking.

Zachary started out riding in the baby carrier, but by the end of the camping trip, he was walking most of the way during our walks.

Of course, Daphne is a great hiker now! She especially enjoyed using the extra leash, so she could help guide Sunny.

The pups enjoyed some time off-leash where they were allowed.

The last night before we left, DD and her family took down their tent and slept in the trailer with us. It was a crazy night. First, we thought we smelled something unpleasant...sort of sulfurous. Coming from the black water holding tank? Strange...it wasn't as strong in the bathroom. From the running generator? Strange...it wasn't as strong outside. Suddenly I recognized the smell: gas!!! A quick inspection of the stove indicated that two of the burners were on but not lit. Yikes! We opened every window and door, and quickly aired out the trailer. We didn't see it happen, but we're pretty sure Zachary was the culprit. He must have turned the knobs, and of course, they don't light unless you turn the special lighting knob. I took the knobs off the stove until we felt certain he couldn't turn the burners on again. That was act 1.

Act 2 involved some middle-of-the-night crankiness on Zachary's part, which woke up his parents and sister. There was a lot of writhing and gnashing of teeth before everyone was settled down again and quiet.

Act 3 was the killer: DH's Tracfone and my old cell phone both started beeping every 15 minutes or so. Mine was a failing battery. DH's phone was receiving a text message with an offer of a great deal on more minutes...and inevitably...more late-night interruptions.

All the adults hit the coffee pot first thing on waking up the next morning.

After breaking camp, saying good-bye to the kids and moving on, we drove back the way we came.

On the way into Thermopolis, this sign caught my eye: Lucy's Sheep Camp.

It was just outside town. They weren't open the day we were there, but they have an Etsy shop. (More sources of yummy spinning fiber and yarn, hee-hee!)

We found a whisky distillery, Wyoming Whiskey, outside Thermopolis, and unlike Lucy's, they were there and open. They make a nice bourbon whisky using locally grown grains. I didn't think I would like bourbon, but it was very nice, so we bought a bottle.

We had a couple of tires on the trailer changed in Thermopolis and then moved on, stopping in Lyman for the last night. We gave the trailer a cleaning while we had the slide-out out and power for the little electric vacuum.

Note to self for next family camping trip:

1. Use paper plates. If you want to protect the environment, you need a lot more plates and a bigger holding tank for the dishwater!

2. Don't take enough food for the 7th Fleet. Babies don't eat much.

3. Don't forget to take the dog crate and suggest protective custody for the pups when there are two toddlers running around. (They appreciated it, especially Sunny. Good thing we had it!)

4. Frozen bread dough worked out great! It takes up less space, thaws nicely during the day and tastes great freshly baked!

5. Take a project to work on that's light-colored. Nothing is worse than being stuck with nothing to work on after the kiddos are in bed and the light is dim. Maybe I should have taken my wheel after all!

I worked on my appliqué a little bit, but it was hard to do in the truck because the ride wasn't very smooth, and when we didn't have hookups, our lighting was limited. (I need good light for appliqué!) However, I finished two projects: Daphne's Bunny Suit:

The pattern is from Better Living Collections Kids' Knits and Crochet published by J.B. Fairfax Pty Ltd, Sydney. The yarn is Swish DK in "Squirrel" and "Lava." The cuffs have been turned up because it's slightly too big for her...it was finished in August, too warm to wear now. I had to finish it to avoid having to put it in the mail, and it was fun to have her try it on.

Also finished the Lantana Socks:

The pattern is from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks, the "Waterfall Rib" pattern. The yarn is KP's old Essential Sock Yarn in "Lantana," from my stash. 

My plan after finishing the socks was to swatch for DH's new Waffle Sweater, which I did, whereupon I discovered that my needles were too big to get gauge, and I needed a US size four, the only size I didn't have with me. (My fault: I thought I had all the sizes in the set I grabbed.) Plan B: I CO for my Fenway Pahk Sox with red Fortissima Socka 6-fach, color 2210, dye lot 35611. The pattern is the "Embossed Stitch" from Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks. I picked the pattern because it looks like little diamonds. (Get it? Baseball diamond?) I'm hoping the Red Sox will get into the World Series. The yarn is sport weight, so it's going fast.

I've been wondering if we'll still be finding Cheerios (Zachary's first three-syllable word) in the trailer when we get it out again in the spring. Maybe, unless the mice get into the trailer. But I think I'd rather find Cheerios than mousie poopies.

What's on my needles: Fenway Pahk Sox, back to finish up Dogwood Blossoms and CO Waffle sweater, as soon as I'm satisfied with gauge.

What's on my loom: Ready for next project...placemats or more rugs, or a scarf?

What's on my Featherweight: Still working on the second panel of hand appliqué, but my machine is waiting to finish the Delectable Mountains block panels.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle "Fawn." I didn't take my wheel, so I'm still where I was with the spinning for a woven blanket.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Where do I start? DH and I listened to A Cold Dish by Craig Johnson while driving (Thank you, cherylbwaters for the recommendation! From the library, but downloaded to my Mac and then to the iPhone.) It's a mystery and takes place in the Bighorn Mountains, so appropriate for this trip. The humor was unexpected but delightful, and the story was spellbinding. DH is a Tony Hillerman fan, and Johnson's writing and topic of choice are similar, so he enjoyed it especially. During the time we were alone, I listened to Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson on OverDrive from the library. Not his usual, but very intriguing and a good listen. Then I listened to the second book of The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley from Audible.com. I'm finding it easier to follow when I don't try to listen straight through. Now I'm listening to Mercedes Lackey's Reserved for the Cat from Audible.com. I'm happy to have discovered this author.

What's my app of the week: Zoo Train. Educational and absorbing...if you're three.

What's in my wine glass: Redwood Creek Pinot Noir 2011. Or the Wyoming Whiskey bourbon...whatever!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook, using the iPad for photo processing and the iPhone for a camera. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.