Blogging While Traveling - It's Harder Than It Looks!

Really? It's nine days later?! Yikes!

So, we'd planned to stay in West Yellowstone for two nights and explore Yellowstone National Park. However, there was an unexpected snowstorm, and we decided it was in our best interests to avoid the area and set our sights on Thermopolis - home of the world's largest mineral hot springs! It was a great consolation prize! We first treated ourselves to the free hot springs, courtesy of Hot Springs State Park, and as we decided to stay in the park, our hotel had its own hot spring as well. Twice in the hot springs! If only every stop had a hot spring to relax and restore us!

Look! There's a sign!

Thermopolis was a charming little town, with a surprisingly good Thai restaurant. It continued to feed our appreciation of Wyoming.

There were buffalo, too!

From Thermopolis we headed to Bozeman, MT. We had a hotel reservation in Missoula, and I wanted to see my old friend Carolyn, but we were still concerned about possible snow. Thankfully, it mostly bypassed both Bozeman and Missoula!

Sure, we saw some along the way -

And then there was this, in Bozeman

But by the next morning, the roads were clear, and the snow that remained was on trees and lawns.

Great sign in Bozeman

Another great bit of Bozeman

Seeing old friends is another great thing about a road trip!

In Bozeman I picked up another skein for my Find Your Fade shawl, which I'm calling the Traveling Fade since I'm trying to make it with yarns picked up on our travels. It was from Mountain Colors, a yarn company out of Corvalis, Montana. I picked up a skein of Raven Ridge yarn in Missoula. This was a yarn I was totally unfamiliar with. The shawl is coming along nicely. I think, however, that it will be on pause while we're in Fort Bragg since we're not actually traveling. Also, this will give me an opportunity to work on the other projects I have with me.

Here's the shawl in progress. I've already added the lighter colour (from Raven Ridge) and am currently wondering whether I'll stop at a yarn store in Eureka. I just had a full weekend at Knit City where I shopped for other projects; I don't know how far I can push my traveling companions' indulgence of my yarn habit...

There's a lot to see along the way, and sometimes one simply takes a picture out the car window.

I know we're only up to days 5 & 6, but that feels like a lot for one post. We'll be settled in Fort Bragg soon, and I promise to catch up then!

Wyoming! Who Knew?!

We're making tracks! From Sioux Falls we drove to Rapid City, SD. Unfortunately our hotel was horrid, designed with a pre-Glasnost Soviet frame of mind, but one should expect there to be a few dogs in the bunch. Since then we've done much better, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Despite the accommodations and the weather (drizzly/rainy), we made it to two stops in Rapid City worth seeing - The Dinosaur Park and the Chapel in the Hills.

The Dinosaur Park overlooks the city and was a Works Progress Administration project, which made me love it more. It's pretty amusing as the dinosaurs are not meant to be "realistic."

Then we made our way to the Chapel in the Hills, which is an exact replica of the Borgund stave church in Norway (hit the link and find out what that means). I wasn't sure I'd be impressed, but the all-wood structure is really beautiful, and it was easy to see why there were going to be three weddings taking place there that day.

Our goal for the day was to see Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. We lucked out that the rain lifted, and the clouds cleared so we could actually see Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately, the Crazy Horse Memorial was blanketed in fog, so we didn't get to see that.

We like to call this "Liss with Little Edie"

We spend the night in Buffalo, WY, which we all loved! Our hotel was great (we ended up talking with the owner the next morning at breakfast; the owner, by the way, described himself as "left of Bernie," which made our hearts swell even more), and we had dinner at the Occidental Saloon where legends such as Calamity Jane and Butch Cassidy once had a drink. We were lucky to see Taylor Corum perform, and his countrified version of Purple Rain was great. Wyoming made us love it!

No Cheese Castle, But a Car on Fire (Road Trip Days 1 & 2)

Hello? Is this thing on? Yes, it's been awhile since I've posted, but now we're on a massive road trip that will last until the middle of December. Instagram is great for little posts, but if there's going to be more than just a little banter, the blog will be the place for it (because I can't stand multi-paragraphed Instagram posts). That doesn't mean every blog post will be accompanied by extensive narrative, but there will probably be more pictures.

We'd wanted to go to the Mars Cheese Castle outside of Milwaukee, but it closed before we got there. We did, however, see a car on fire on the opposite side of the highway, which felt a bit like an attraction. I've never really seen a car in flames before. Quite dramatic. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to share with you here, just an image burned into my mind.

As Julie, the cruise director, I've been in charge of all the accommodations, and I have the feeling the bar was set high with our Milwaukee hotel - the Hyatt Regency - which I scored on Hotwire. It was quite nice and had this crazy sculpture in the center of it.

Before we left Milwaukee, we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, which was a beautiful building. I took a couple of pictures from the interior, but you should look it up to get the full effect.

We had to do the speed tour (needed to get to the Spam Museum before closing!), but what we saw was great. We definitely want to spend more time in Milwaukee.

A Donald Judd piece based on the Fibonacci sequence

No Cheese Castle? How about Mousehouse Cheesehouse? That was our consolation prize. Filled with Wisconsin cheese (we bought some three-year old cheddar and Thai red curry cheddar), it was pretty impressive.

I've also been trying to buy beer (so surprising) and have a mixed six pack of Wisconsin beers ready to try. Unfortunately, we only have so much room in our car, so here's a picture of one of the beers I left behind (the name of my memoir?).

But our main goal was the Spam museum in Austin, Minnesota. We managed to get there with half an hour to spare, and frankly, it was worth the hustle. The museum is free and has all kinds of interactive displays. One of our collective favourites was the international section, which featured commercials for Spam in South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and more.

If a whole can is too much, you can get singles!

This Japanese version is too cute; I could've sent the recipe to myself, but I didn't

Austin was a cute town. It reminded me of Paducah, KY as well as many of the small towns in Iowa my dad and I rode through on Ragbrai last year. A pleasant surprise was the number of Mexican restaurants there. The lady at the Spam gift shop gave us a great recommendation, which was a bonus!

Not the Mexican restaurant, but a great sign

Our destination for the night was Sioux Falls, SD. Had we known we could've seen the 60' Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN, we could've made a meal of the day - hah! Couldn't resist that. Who knew there were so many museums dedicated to commercial foods? Who knew we'd want to see them?

On our way to Rapid City, SD tonight, with lots of stops planned along the way. Unfortunately we're also going to have to change our route due to an early snow storm right where we wanted to go. Julie the cruise director will have to get on that tonight.

Happy trails!

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Where's My Horse?

Jacket: J. Peterman
Shirt: Etro
Skirt: Rohka
Tights: Hue
Boots: La Canadienne

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Graphic

Shirt: Rachael Mara
Sweater: Trapezoid Tee, knit by yours truly
Skirt: Junya Watanabe
Tights: Wolford
Boots: Brunello Cuccinelli

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: I Got Stripes

I lost my phone last week, and I wasn't able to post per usual. Sorry for the interruption!

Dress: Yohji Yamamoto (mom-me-down)
Top: Saint James
Tights: Hue
Socks: Target
Boots: Brunello Cucinelli (mom-me-down)

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Sometimes I Wear Pants to Work

Sweater: Beeswax - pattern by Veera Välimäki               knit by yours truly
Pants: Comme des Garcons (mom-me-down)
Boots: Brunello Cucinelli (mom-me-down)

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Ready to Spring or Ready for Spring?

Dress: Junya Watanabe
Tights: Unknown, made in Italy
Boots: Brunello Cuccinelli

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Still At It

A combination of snow days, reading week, illness, and exhaustion temporarily put these images on hold. But I still have a job; I'm still working.

Dress: Ralph Lauren
Turtleneck: Akris
Tights: Hue
Boots: Timberland

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Something Old that Feels New

Dress: Haat
Turtleneck: Three Dots
Tights: can't remember label but made in Italy
Boots: Aquaitalia

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Window Dressing

Dress: Woolen Moss
Vest/Shrug: Vogue Knitting pattern (can't remember details), knit by yours truly
Tights: Hue
Boots: La Canadienne

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Vintage Guidance Counselor

Suit: Gormont (thrifted)
Sweater: Rowan shell in Kidsilk Haze, knit by yours truly
Tights: Hue
Boots: La Canadienne

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Canadian Fashion, After a Fashion

Sweater: Glaswegian, knit by yours truly
Dress: Aida Barni
Tights: Hue
Boots:  Sorel

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: First Time and Last Time

First time wearing this sweater with this skirt; last time wearing the skirt - it's shedding!
Sweater: Rowan pattern, knit by yours truly
Skirt: Comme des Garcons

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Perfect Purple

Shirt: Etro
Skirt: Seamwork's Brooklyn, sewn by yours truly
Tights: Wolford
Boots: Aquaitalia

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: The Bees Knees

Sweater: Beeswax by Veera Välimäki, knit by yours truly
Skirt: Yohji Yamamoto
Boots: Aquaitalia

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Turn the Beat Around

Dress: Alaia
Tights: Hue
Boots: La Canadienne