Arizona Update

Where does the time go? Mine went where the Antelope play. Where the wind can power water. Where a teddy bear can look like this. Where Ike Clanton comes to life in Tombstone . and the beautiful state my family calls home.

I flew from Pittsburgh to Phoenix via Memphis and came home with great pictures thanks to Ike (my brother) who spent some quality time with me sharing his techniques. The pictures are wonderful but cannot compare to the beautiful memories of time spent with family, made all the more special by a favorite childhood cousin who flew in from Houston so we could reconnect. Along with these pictures I came home with some handcrafted wood work.
My family met the gentleman who made these items with a scroll saw when we went with my parents who were looking at a home they wanted to purchase. He gifted me with the Colorado plaque and my Mom with an Idaho plaque. I purchased the hunter profile plaque from him.

How do I sum up my trip to visit family? I can't thank my Sister In Law in particular enough for her gracious hospitality. My brother drove through the night to get home from Yuma to spend more time with me and take us to Tombstone. We celebrated my Dad's birthday and rejoiced in my Mom's recovery from two surgeries in the last four months. We ate tons, drank a little, laughed a lot and I learned a new game.

A couple days after returning home I drove down to Harrisburg to meet up with Jessica. Several weeks ago she sent me an email letting me know she would be traveling through PA and suggested we meet. She is a knitter and a hockey fan - so right there we had a couple of things in common, how could I resist. This was a first for me. Meeting another knit blogger just because we'd "met on the internet". I had a terrific time getting to know Jessica AND she let me touch her hand spun sock yarn. Beautiful stuff Jessica. I drove her up to Knitters Dream a yarn store North of Harrisburg that is run out of a ladies house. It's a nicely stocked shop and the owner couldn't have been nicer. I came home with two skeins of Cotton Twist yarn - but do you think I remembered to take a picture of Jessica? No. The camera was in the car too - call it a vacation hangover. After a couple of hours Jessica had to head home and we parted with promises of meeting up again - maybe in NJ. Jessica thanks so much for suggesting the meet it was a great time. Remember how the owner of Knitters Dream said she had placed the store on a Yarn Diet? That cracked us both up.

The following day was Sunday where I found myself being driven to Youngstown Ohio with some friends so we could catch the Championship game of the ACHA National Tournament where the Penn State Icers were playing. MFB was driving there when I was headed home from Arizona, so it had been almost two weeks since I had seen him. The Icers lost the game to finish in second place for the season. When I got to work on Monday I wasn't sure what State I was in but I appreciated the ride.

I'll leave you with one last picture of AZ. This is Texas Kate who puts on a trick riding show in Tombstone.