Googly Eyes

Source: http://laurelgreen.com/thing-a-day-2013/day-16-googly-eyed-rock/

Yes, I haz them! I think I’m all ready now. I hope. I am SO tired of maps and websites and chasing down campgrounds and grocery stores and wifi hotspots. We’re as ready as we’re gonna be on that front. Now it’s just packing and cleaning and tidying and watering and….and….and….4 more sleeps. I swear last year I wasn’t nearly as ready to go twice as far. Guess I learned a few things since then? Or not.

Anyhoo, my lovely sister D is coming to stay at our house for some of the time we’re gone. My kids are checking in the rest of the time. Alarms will be set. Things will be locked, loaded and secured. We will still have a heck of a mess outdoors to clean up when we get back! That’s always the way. No matter how much we do before we go there’s always more to do when we get back.

I’ve packed all the maps and directions. The automobile association is fabulous for the actual printed paper stuff and no charge for any of it. They are so friendly and helpful to deal with and absolutely worth the membership fee. I’m completely computer-literate but our van doesn’t have a GPS. No hand-held one either. Luckily I can totally read a map – if it’s accurate. (Not all of them are. Or detailed enough sometimes.) But I’m pretty sure that now I’m clear on the routes we need to take. It’s SO going to be a blast! A blast from a furnace if current temps south are anything to go by. That’s what we get for heading to the desert. I think I enjoy it so much because it’s so different from our temperate coastal rainforest climate. But I do prefer it to be somewhat under 100F.

Yes, I packed my knitting first! I’ve already started a new project, basically because I was going squirrely without a relatively simple one to work on. And I have a bunch more to keep me busy enroute. I’ve parked my current weaving project which may or may not be a total disaster. I don’t care now until I get home. So there. I still need to wash and iron and perhaps mend a few things before we head out. Thom’s Camera Sock is coming apart where it attaches to his belt. I knit this one just as we were heading south on holiday in 2008 when we got stuck at the US border crossing for a couple of hours. I totally understand why it might need help after 6 years of vacations!

Nearly the last thing I need to do is back up my computers just to be safe. We always pack a ridiculous number of batteries, chargers, plugs, inverters and other gadgets so we aren’t completely technologically out of touch. Thom has his iBook and iPhone and I have my netbook computer and my iTouch. Then there’s our cameras and several flashlights and headlamps (for caving) plus the reading lights in the van that all need spare batteries. Most of the books I’m planning to read are on my netbook. (I love my local library’s digital collection!) Only a few actual paper books are coming which saves some of the extremely limited room in the van. But of course we‘ll need to recharge everything as we travel so we have a plug that goes in the lighter. I mean, who needs that thing for anything else? Really.

We’ve dehydrated a whole bucket-full of little tomatoes from the greenhouse. They are delicious that way! The drying just concentrates all the flavours. Yum. Then we freeze them to keep everything as fresh as possible. Last year we barely got any tomatoes so it was a nice present this year to have so many. We’ve also been eating through the last of the garden produce before we go.

I meant to show off the finished Ophicleide Cardi but it still needs to be photographed. It’s very cute and I hope it will get lots of wear. Silk is surprisingly warm. I can actually wear it over its coordinating Buonasera Tunic since I knit it in the same yarn. I have lots of that stuff left too. I actually had 2 cones of it in the stash. Knitting with yarn actually meant for weaving is fun! I seem to have done a lot of that lately.

Oh yeah. One more outstanding thing to do before we leave is to try to figure out what I want to look for in the Portland fabric stores. I’ve got a number of garments I want to make and a few gaps in the fabric stash. Like t-shirt and pant knits and maybe something in wool to make a warm Sewaholic Minoru jacket. I wear my water-resistant one all year except for summer. I also want to find some appropriate fleece or sweat fabric for a Thread Theory’s Finlayson Sweater for Thom. Truthfully I don’t need a lot more fabric but who’s going to pass up the opportunity? There’s always something different than what I can get at home.

Plus I’ve already got a wish list for Dharma Trading in San Rafael, California. We plan to stop as we go by on our way to the coast. I know I can order online but I actually like to see things first! More hankies are tops on the list since we’ve nearly worn out our first bunch that I picked up on a whim last time we were there. Who knew they’d become so important in our little household that I haven’t bought a box of tissues for years? We both prefer cloth over paper. They might be nearly worn out now and rather dingy-looking but they are soooo soft after being machine washed and dried a gazillion times.

OK. I’m completely babbling now. Off to actually get something accomplished today. No point in rushing and panicking at the last moment, is there? Only 4 more sleeps. Yikes.

More soonest! Or whenever…