Westward ho, and back again

Made it out west, got home last night, kids are now in school. I'm sitting here with coffee, ordering my thoughts....

Last Wednesday, we got up early to get to our 9 am flight. Thunder, lightning, pouring rain! I'd ordered the cab nice and early, so we got to the airport and through security (with 3 sets of knitting needles) in good time despite the storm. But just when we should have been boarding the plane, there's an announcement: one of the flight attendants is delayed, and we can't board without a full crew. So we wait a bit more, and eventually get on the plane. (My kids are still small enough to let me board first!) They keep telling us to stow our bags, put our tray tables up and all that, and I keep putting away my knitting and then, when nothing happens, taking it out again. Finally we are told that the pilot has arrived at the terminal and will be on board shortly! After his 20-minute safety check, he promises to "put the pedal to the metal" and we are off.

We have to make a connection in Calgary, and it's nicely timed so that we have about an hour to do it. But, since we were so late taking off, we were told as we were descending that we'd have 15 minutes. And then the plane was redirected to gate 15 instead of gate 12, and that took time... And, we were in row 35 of the plane, the second to last row! So we struggled off the plane, dashed as only a 6-year-old can dash across the airport, and made it onto our little plane, along with 6 or 8 others from the Toronto flight. And, lucky us, they held the plane to wait for our bags, since there is only one plane a day to Castlegar! So, a happy ending to the first adventure of our holiday.

This is how much hat one can knit between Toronto and Castlegar:

Love the red needles! I must get more coloured dpns.

And more knitting news: I walked into my parents' living room and saw this:

"Circlular thingmabob" made in Debbie Bliss Maya, with its first-place ribbon from the Pass Creek Fall Fair! Whoo hoo!

The house is awash in ribbons and ribbon-worthy creations. Here's my mom's hooked rug (you know what, I've got it upside-down, I think), dad's ribbons from a few years at the fair, and some flowers from his little plot out back. We ate the last of his tomatoes, and the neighbour had some summer squashes the size of softballs still on the vine.



Castlegar was awash in beautiful red and yellow trees. Some town planner had a good idea and planted the two kinds of trees together so the streets are wonderful in the fall.



And look at those mountains!


Who wants to live in a city when you can have mountains like that all around you? Well, I do, but I still like to visit! And yes, it was warm enough that the water park was operational, and that there were kids willing to play in it!

On our last morning, we took a walk to Zuckerberg Island.



We sort of stayed on Toronto time when we were there, going to bed early and getting up (very) early. So on our last, very chilly, morning, we had time to stop off here before heading to the airport. Our trip home was uneventful (though this time we were in the very last row on the plane)... and now the post-holiday day of laundry and grocery shopping.

Tomorrow -- the things you can find in small-town thrift stores, and the other things I knit!