Relaxing Labor Day Weekend....

Ahhh.... shouldn't every weekend be a three day weekend? Okay - I suppose you could argue that if that were the case then we really wouldn't appreciate them. If I promised to appreciate and enjoy every three day weekend & not take it for granted, then could we have them? Please? Just thought I'd ask.

Over the weekend, dear hubby & I went down to the Seattle area to visit w/my college roommate (and Matron of Honor) & see the annual Dave Matthews Band concert at the Gorge. Wow - what a fabulous weekend!!! Not as eventful as the Yarn Harlot's Labor Day outing, but spectacular, none the less.It didn't start out so spectacular however. So picture this... On the way to drop off the boys w/friends, Wade suggested I test out our new iPod w/the new car adapter/FM transmitter. I plug in the FM transmitter, insert iPod, and nothing happens. So my DH, smart guy that he is, suggests that I read the instructions (my students would be shocked!) - so okay... I read, see nothing out of the ordinary that any college educated, sane individual couldn't figure out without additional aid. However - nothing worked. We speculated that perhaps the iPod (now being referred to as the iPoop) was lacking battery power. No sweat - we plug it in w/our fancy-schmancy new car charger, and viola.... a whole lot of NOTHING. Grrrr..... So - check iPoop off the list of items to bring on the trip.

Next... I figure, fine, I can live without the iPoop, as long as I have my knitting to keep me occupied during the 3 hour flight. I was anxious to cast on the socks for MSS3. So.... I look in my bag, and what do I discover? A whole lotta sock yarn, but NO NEEDLES!!! Arghhh.... how did this happen? Apparently I stuck an empty circ needle package in my knitting bag. What was I thinking? I must have been out of my mind. Fortunately.... Seattle has lots of knitting stores and I have understanding friends & husband. So... before setting out on our drive to central WA for the concert, we stopped at Tricoter. But... they didn't have the length circ I wanted (47" for 2-at-a-time socks), so I settled on a 32" (I already have several of these - back in Anchorage!) and a skein of Socks That Rock yarn in Undertoe. It could have been worse....

However - once we arrived at the airport, all went swimmingly (I love that adverb - back in HS my friends & I thought it was such a funny word. We loved how you could change any word into an adverb by adding 'ly'. Yeah - we were (still are) nerds....) I surprised Wade w/first class upgrades for our trip down. Yeah - it is better up front!

We took advantage of our kid-free weekend by staying out late & just having tons of fun. After we checked into our hotel (Sheraton - downtown) we went out for apps & drinks at Dragonfish. Good sushi, edamame, and drinks. Mine came w/a flaming sugar cube. You don't have one of those everyday!

Here we are (at the end of the trip - but the only group photo we took!) - George, (Hil's, SO) Hilarey (college roommate, Matron of Honor, all around great friend), me, and dear hubby. Fabulous fun!

Once we got out to central Washington, we hooked up with my friend Margaret's friend, Wendi, for a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately we left Seattle later than expected (trip to Tricoter...), so we didn't get to hang out as long as we would have liked. Wendi is wicked fun & a great hostess. Here we are when we had a brief visit last July. Wendi kindly opened up her home, offered chauffeur service to the RUSH concert, and drove me to a bookstore after midnight to pick up HP#7. She sure is swell. Can't forget Sherman - lovely dog!Since the Gorge is far from major civilization, concert goers often camp on location the night (or weekend) of concerts. Hilarey procured "Premiere Camping" (ha ha ha) for our one night stay. Essentially you camp in a large grassy field. Premiere camping means you are in a fenced-in area (keeps you away from the riff-raff) and can have a shuttle to and from the concert. Never mind that after the concert, when thousands of less-than-sober concert goers are returning to camp, only 2 shuttles are in service. Yup - that's premiere. Imagine what regular camping must be like? :0)
Here I am in our North Face Arrowhead arctic expedition tent. A little overkill for camping in Washington over Labor Day weekend. When we pulled the tent out of it's bag, Wade says, "Uh-Oh". You know that's usually a prelude to something not-so-good. Fortunately (for Wade), all that comment meant was that he grabbed the 4-season tent, rather than our 3-season tent, and NOT that we didn't have any necessary equipment like tent poles. Anyhow - it was our home away from home the evening of the concert.

Ahhh - the concert. What an awesome show! I wish I had some photos to post, but we didn't bring the camera into the venue. The Gorge is gorgeous! The backdrop of the stage is the Columbia River Gorge - spectacular! The DMB played a jammin' show - great tunes for dancing & having a grand old time. I think we hardly sat down for the 2.5 hour show. I'm convinced I need to own all of their albums & would readily attend another show. They are playing a benefit concert for Virginia Tech - great music & great guys! The downside to my concert experience was the aftermath of the concert goers who sat on the grass. As far as the eye could see there was trash. Argh - it just made me so angry! I live by the "Leave it Better Than You Found It" and "Pack it In, Pack it Out" philosophies, so I have a hard time comprehending why people think it is okay to leave their garbage around for someone else to pick up. Arghhh!!!

Sunday morning we headed back to Seattle. Since we couldn't check back into the hotel until 3, we had some time to kill. So... we:
Visited Seattle's Japanese Gardens. Not as spectacular as the one in Portland, but beautiful none the less. We were also blessed with fabulous weather.

Next up - Coffee!! Down in the University District (~45th) is a great little coffee shop that puts art into the foam of the coffee. According to a tour guide, the barristas have to train for three months in order to work there. It shows! Fun shapes & good coffee. Great way to hang out on a Sunday afternoon.

A leaf...

Nuclear Cloud? :0)

Yum!

Deep Thoughts...

We topped off the weekend with a splurge at The Melting Pot Fondue restaurant. Ahh - cheese, bread, veggies, meat, chocolate - what's not to like? A great social dining experience.

Yes... Every weekend should be a three day weekend!