The last month has been a blur!
We left on September 19th for our annual trek to San Diego. The first change was that we decided to take our four year old grandson with us. It would be his first trip away from home.
We started ourvacation by going to Payson Arizona to be a race crew for my son. He was participating in a 24 hour endurance mountain bike race, the Payson Stampede. Whoever rides the most miles in a 24 hour period wins.
He rides in the Solo Single Speed Class. This means he rides alone on a bike with only one gear. He rode 13 laps for a total of 130 miles. Each lap the altitude rises 1350 feet!
He took First Place in his class and Second Place overall Single Speed Racers. I am so proud!!! He's worked really hard to train for this and the other events he participates in.
We stayed awake most of the night helping Gabriel with his bottles of water and nutrients and food. It was nice to be able to help him achieve this goal! He did finally sleep a couple of hours early in the morning. I gave him my cot and tried to get comfy in the front seat of the truck. John and Jude were asleep in the tent. Needless to say I didn't get a lot of sleep.After breaking camp and packing everything up, we rested up the rest of the day. We hung out with Gabriel, ate a great dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and then a great breakfast the next morning. After that Gabriel left for home and we left for California.
About an hour south of Payson we blew a radiator hose going up the mountains. No cell phone reception! Thanks to the DOT guys and AAA we got to a repair shop and back on the road after 5 hours.
We pulled into our beach front hotel room at 10:00 PM that night. It had been a looooonng day in the truck. We decided we'd take the grandson to the beach. He'd never seen/heard the ocean before and he was astounded! We played in the waves for a bit and then it was off to bed.
The next morning we took grandson to the beach again and this time he COULD see it. LOL! He was astounded all over again.
What followed was 10+ days of hanging out at the pool (where grandson learned to swim and use a mask, flippers, and snorkle) or at the beach, driving around to different beaches and playgrounds, playing with the dogs and grandson and just generally having a great time. We visited Tide Pools, the Zoo, light houses and Old Town San Diego to name a few. It was so much fun! John took off one day and went to jump out of big planes.
Even though I took my laptop I only checked my email once while I was gone! That is a record! And, no, I didn't touch a bead.
On the last day we drove up to Costa Mesa to the Gem Faire. Managed to surprise some friends and wandered around for a bit. It was fun. I bought some really cute Chinese lampwork spacers and a few beads as well.
Got home and was playing catch up and got invited to an informal bead retreat in Frisco Colorado. It was a great bunch of ladies and we had a great time even though I had a bit of altitude sickness the whole time I was there. But, what a beautiful place! It was a beautiful drive up there through the mountains but I drove home as fast as I could on the interstate because I was ready to be home! LOL!
Now I'm getting ready to head to Houston for the International Quilt Festival next week. I'm working for Beyond Beadery and will have a limited selection of kits there for sale.
I'll get home a week later and the next day head off with my friend Star to Oakland California for the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza the first weekend in November. It's a great show with really interesting vendors. I'll be there selling my kits again this year.
This is a fun laid back show and I'm looking forward to see some folks I don't usually get to see. I also love the bay area and look forward to spending a few days there. Maybe I'll even manage to get into San Francisco this time!
I won't be able to stay long though because the weekend after that I have to be back in Albuquerque for the Bead Renaissance show where I'll once again be working for Beyond Beadery. I hope to have a selection of kits there to sell as well.
So that's what I've been up to for the last month and what I'll be doing for the next couple weeks. Then, after that, it's my bday and the beginning of the holiday season that runs through New Years LOL!
Sometime in between I hope to get a couple of new things done. It just never ends! LOL!
