Monumental!

I've plastered this all over the place, but I'm so proud and excited!! Our first egg!!

We're going to hollow it out and keep it forever.

I Went For A Bike Ride!

  It's time for another installment of "Becky's Awesome Vacation Stories."

  Let's review what we've already covered: I arrived and went to Walgreens. I visited the Krempels Center, ate a cupcake and went to bed early.

  Saturday morning, I awoke to the pitter-patter of rain. Uh oh. Riding in the rain is no fun. I looked out the window, and not only was it raining, but it was also really foggy. Double uh oh. I'm glad I brought rain gear. So, I had breakfast, kitted up, plugged the address into Dave (my trusty GPS), and headed off to the Krempels King of the Road Challenge! 

  Luckily, the rain stopped, and the fog just needed a little time to burn off. It was damp, and so that made me cold. I always have such a hard time deciding how much to wear. Jacket or just arm warmers? Leg warmers or bare legs? I was brave and went with arm warmers and bare legs. I had forgotten my padded gloves, and only had my wind-stopper gloves. That could be problematic, with my carpal tunnel. Then, I finally remembered to take some photos!

Rental car, rental bike

  We lined up (I always start at the back because I know most everyone else is faster than I am)

  Over the course of the morning, the fog lifted, the sun started peeking through the clouds, and I got hot. I stopped to take off my gloves and arm warmers, and a support vehicle stopped to make sure I was OK. "I'm fine." I said "Just stopping so I can strip." I think that comment surprised him. I thoroughly enjoyed my 30 mile ride. There was one place I wanted to stop and take a picture, but it was halfway up a hill, and I knew I'd have a hard time getting started again, so I had to skip it. A couple of hills had me breathing hard, but all in all, I felt good. Which is  pretty amazing considering I had only been on my bike one time since July!

Also amazing was the amount of chain grease I ended up with on my leg:

Yup, that tiny spot!

  Normally, when I finish a ride, I look like this:

Well, that ride was twice as long...

  

  But back to the story. After the ride, there was a lovely party. I ate a lot of really good pizza and met a lot of really nice people. I stayed around until they kicked us out of the parking lot. (When I ride with Mr. Grouchy Karl, we never get to stay and have any fun. Yet another reason I like traveling by myself.) But I think the highlight of the afternoon was when I introduced Flat Ted to 3-D Ted.

They got along swimmingly!

  Sadly, I had to return my super-fancy rental bike to the bike shop. I returned to my hotel for a shower only to find an invitation to lunch the next day. But that, my friends is a story for another day.

Winner, Winner, TV Dinner

  I seem to have good luck winning charity raffles. Over the last 10 years or so, we've won:

 A Radio Flyer wagon 

Ours says "State Farm Insurance" on the side

 A large framed mirror

Yes, that's our prom picture, aren't we cute?

A fancy tire pump

We still haven't figured out how to use it

A super fancy bike light

I have yet to use this one

And last night we got a very unexpected call from the nice lady with the Friends of the Library. We've won the Grand Prize. A 50 inch LCD HDTV television!

I hope we can find somewhere to put it!

So I guess we're hosting all Superbowl parties from now on.

Edited to add:
I forgot about the Hunter ceiling fan I won over the summer. It was a bit more trouble than we expected, a couple of parts were missing, we had to buy a light for it, and it didn't exactly fit on the hardware from our old fan...  Maybe I blocked it from my mind.

Part 2: In Which I Go Exploring

  Let's review. I have arrived in New Hampshire without any problem. I found my hotel without any issues (thanks Garmin!), had dinner and went to bed. 

  The whole reason I took this trip was to ride in a charity bike ride, benefiting the Krempels Center. I was invited to attend the morning meeting at the Center on Friday, so I could learn what they do (and so I could deliver some handknits to my friend Ted). I was thoroughly impressed by what they do the the Krempels Center. I stayed to listen to Ted and Timmy talk about bike racing and brain injury, and delivered the handknits afterward. As usual, I forgot to get a photo.

  It was time for lunch, and I wanted to explore the city of Portsmouth. Off I went. I had no real plan, so I just plugged an address that I randomly chose from the map in to my trusty GPS. Well, that restaurant was PACKED - so it must have been a good one. But, I was starving and didn't want to wait for a table, so I checked the map again, chose another random address and headed toward the center of town (I think it was the center, anyway). I found parking by a giant mural of a whale, I figured that would be helpful in locating the car when it was time to leave. I had a yummy (and healthy!) lunch, got a cupcake for later, then just started wandering.

I came across a kitchen store. I couldn't resist going in and comparing it with All Through The House. Yup, pretty much exactly the same. I recognized about 80% of their merchandise, was impressed by their tea selection, and bought some maple sugar candy in the shape of New Hampshire. Out the door and to the left. Huh. Two doors down, I found a toy store. (sound familiar to anyone?). I recognized a large portion of their merchandise too. I had to ask - "Your store isn't connected in some way to the kitchen store is it? Because that would be weird." I explained why I asked, and no it wasn't. But now I know, if I decide to run away to New Hampshire, I could likely find employment in a familiar environment. (It could happen, you never know).

Still, no photos. I had my camera with me, I was just enjoying myself too much to remember to take any pictures.

I would have loved to sit on a bench and knit for a while, but it was starting to rain, so I headed to the bike shop to pick up my rental bike for tomorrow's ride, then stopped for a very filling dinner on the way back to the hotel. I enjoyed my cupcake the way you should - in my jammies in front of the TV. Once again, in bed by 9.

In Which I Arrive

  The post-vacation glow is starting to lift. I want to prolong it as much as possible, so I'm just going to tell about it in little bits. 

  My outgoing flight was uneventful. I left a gray morning with a few sprinkles. A short layover at O'Hare airport - just long enough to grab a sandwich. My "economy" flight had no snacks, just beverage. That's OK, I was busy knitting. Arrival in New Hampshire was in the sunshine. An airport security guard (a dude!) complimented my hair. I thought "Wow, I am going to like it here!" Car rental was a breeze, and because they were disorganized, I got a free upgrade. From a Toyota Corolla to a Kia Sportage - plenty of room to haul a bike, and it's a size I'm used to driving. Dave, my trusty Garmin, got me to the hotel without a problem. The "Moose Crossing" signs on the highway made me giggle.

  Hotel check-in was a breeze, and my room was on the ground floor. I had a patio door that opened right onto the parking lot, with a view of a funeral home / crematory. But, the room was nice, and I didn't plan on spending a lot of time in there. I asked at the desk where to go for dinner, and she recommended the restaurant right across the street. Yummy - home made soup and a nice salad with some really good dill bread on the side.

 After dinner, Dave found me a Walgreens, and I went for some essentials (I never bring toiletries, just buy travel size when I arrive) and a few snacks. By then it was almost bedtime and I was tired, so, as usual, I was in bed by 9pm.

All in all, everything went smoothly, and I was happy for that.

Up next: exploring Portsmouth.

Countdown

One. More. Day!! Then it's vacation time!
I think tomorrow will be the longest day on record. I'd better have something to keep me busy at work, or I'll go absolutely crazy!

Well Deserved

It recently came to my attention that Sweetest Day is Saturday, October 20. Why is that important, especially since my husband "doesn't believe in that made-up holiday"? (Maybe some handsome stranger will give me flowers and make him jealous)) It's important because I got called in to work the rush at the flower place the week before.

I'll be working Friday, Saturday at Giggles, Sunday at flowers, Monday at Giggles, Tuesday at flowers, Wednesday at Giggles THEN I get to leave on Thursday! Throw in a late-night LMS gig (welcoming the veterans home at the airport from the Honor Flight) on Saturday night just for fun. Wow, I'm really going to need a vacation after a week like that!

In preparation for my ride at the Krempels King of the Road Challenge (sponsor me here, get your friends to sponsor me too- I'd love be in the top 10 fundraisers) I took advantage of a beautiful fall day yesterday, and planned to go for a nice long bike ride. I was all ready to go, excited because I hadn't been on my bike since the ill-advised ride on July 4. It took a while to get my bike out, there are bikes and doors and bales of wood shavings in the way. I did finally extract it, leaned it up against the house, and here's what I found

Needless to say, I was mad. I found out that someone who shall remain nameless, but lives in my house and owns a lot of bikes, took my pedals and put them on his time trial bike. I am not a bike mechanic, I was not going to reattach my own pedals. So, I changed plans, got out the old mountain bike (and had to put on a water bottle holder, but that was not a surprise), and took a little trail ride. The scenery was beautiful and I left the camera at home. I surprised myself by making it up "hospital hill" without a problem, and riding over the floating boardwalk was fun (but against the rules). It was over too soon, and the rain started to fall just a few minutes after I got home. I hope I'll have time to ride a few more times before I leave, but I doubt it.