Friday, May 22nd after work we packed up the car and left for vacation. Despite the long drive ahead of us I was ready to leave. The biggest excitement of the evening was crossing the Mississippi into Illinois. Vacation began at that moment for me, when I no longer was in Iowa. Please don't misunderstand, I enjoy living in Iowa most of the time and have a great life here but crossing that state line allowed me to leave everything behind and just relax (I missed my dogs very much though!). We drove to Joliet, IL Friday night and made the rest of the trip to Conesus Lake on Saturday. There was no bad traffic, no rain, no hail - nothing but the road and rising gas prices.
Sunday we visited with family, had a memorial day picnic, enjoyed a boat ride and sat in the shade on the most perfect weather day. Monday we relaxed in the morning and headed over to Letchworth State Park for the afternoon - the weather was perfect for walking around the park and my camera got an amazing workout. Tuesday we traveled south to spend the afternoon with our friend Sara and her family. I bought yarn at her LYS and fell in love with the shop owners - I want Alfred Knitting Studio as my LYS! Despite the dreary weather we enjoyed a visit that was much to short! I don't remember what we did on Wednesday, but I'm sure it was delightful! Thursday we drove up to Rochester to see my grandmother for lunch and to take her to visit her brother Eric who turned 89 that day! We had a lovely dinner at a fancy restaurant near my parents house and called to wish my sister a Happy 30th Birthday - I can't believe my baby sister is 30!
On Friday the weather was still questionable - so we did a lot of relaxing. When Dad came home from work (and mom had to head out for a work meeting) he suggested we go to Hemlock Lake, which neighbors Conesus Lake. Hemlock Lake was purchased about 100 years ago and is used for the city of Rochester's drinking water. There are no cottages or cabins on the lake and only very small motors are allowed on boats. It was such a lovely scene - seeing a lake with a natural shoreline filled in by forest - nature undisturbed. It was amazing and I felt as though we were trespassing on someones private land. After we returned home we had a great grilled dinner and hit the road for Pittsburgh.
Saturday we spent the day with Lisa, Dave & EJ. I've known Lisa online for several years - I met her in person in November of 2006, saw her in early June of 2007 for her baby shower for EJand we finally had a chance to reconnect on this trip. I got to meet her beautiful baby girl (who is almost 2!!) who is such a charmer and has the worlds cutest giggle. We spent the day at the Pittsburgh Zoo, chatting and had dinner before we had to head out. It was a perfect day and we appreciated them letting us spend the day with them - Lisa was a trooper going to the zoo when she was 8 months pregnant! Reconnecting with a great friend, having our husbands meet, and getting to meet her little girl was the perfect way to spend the last day of vacation.
We made the long trip home Saturday night and Sunday. Again, we had no trouble with weather and had clear traffic the whole trip. We were home early enough to pick the dogs up (a full day early!!) which made my night - and I think the dogs were happy too. Vacation was amazing - something both Shane and I truly needed and I just hope the good times are enough to carry me through the craziness of work over the summer. Seeing family and friends only made vacation better - to hug people I miss so much was so comforting! I'm already dreaming of our next vacation!!
This vacation gave me a great opportunity to give my camera a wonderful workout and I was so thankful for that. I love taking pictures and being in an area with new inspiration was fantastic. I took about 800 pictures during the whole trip and if the weather would have been better a few days I'm sure I would have taken more. I certainly won't share all my pictures - pictures of the NY leg of the trip are here and Pittsburgh are here. Here are a few highlights of our trip...
New York & Pittsburgh
1. Driving through Nature - uninterrupted green, 2. Hemlock Lake on an overcast day,
3. The quiet of the forest, 4. Storms approach on the lake5, 5. Upper Falls at Letchworth State Park,
6. Rainbow at the Middle Falls at Letchworth State Park, 7. An afternoon walk at the park with Mom & Dad,
8. My toes on the forest floor, 9. Sun shining off the lake, 10. Moving right along, 11. Shane & I on vacation,
12. Ducks at the birdfeeder, 13. Otter at the Pittsburgh Zoo, 14. Penguins at the Pittsburgh Zoo,
15. Octopus Leg at the Pittsburgh Zoo, 16. Gorilla at the Pittsburgh Zoo
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
A Walk Through Mom's Garden
1. Clematis, 2. Marigold, 3. First Rose of the season, 4. Rose Bush Thorns,
5. Out of Focus Daisy, 6. Petuinia Petal, 7. Bleeding Heart, 8. Chive Blossoms, 9. Hostas
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Latest Knitting Projects - most of them gifts...
1. Furry Monster for EJ, 2. Afghan for Soon-To-Be-Here Baby,
3. Icing Swirl Hat for Lisa, 4. Helix Hat for Dave,
5. Twin Rib socks for Mom, 6. Felicity Hat for Laura,
7. Star Crossed Beret for Anree, 8. One Row Handspun Scarf - with handspun yarn from Cindy
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
4 comments:
Sara--your pictures are breathtaking! I miss Western New York. I miss Lisa. I miss Sara (even though I haven't actually met her in person yet). I'm glad you had such a wonderful, relaxing time and two uneventful drives.
Sounds like an amazing trip! It's always hard to come back, isn't it?
I'm so glad you had a fun time. Your pictures are great!
I could have sworn I posted about how much I loved this series of photos. Well, I'm back and here now, so guess what... I LOVE this series of photos!
I do miss your updates though. More bloggyness, please!
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