At the start of 2020, with no knowledge of what was ahead, I was having a tough time getting out the door for runs. The awesome Kathy said that I could make a goal to run to visit her in South Dakota. Since Kathy always gives good advice and is so amazing at so many things, I was quick to agree!
Well after a year and a half of counting all of my running mileage, but no walking or biking, I have made it to Rapid City with 12 kilometers to spare.
Rapid City is in western South Dakota and is best known as being the gateway to Mount Rushmore. The cool thing is that the presidential theme has been continued through 43 life size statues of presidents on the street corners in the downtown core. The city was founded in 1876 by gold seekers who hadn’t found any treasure in the Black Hills Mountains.
This city that started with a six block downtown core has now grown to be the second largest city in South Dakota with just over 70,000 residents. That is much bigger than I was expecting! That may be due to the fact it is the banana belt of South Dakota and receives less snow and more sun than the rest of the state.
Dinosaur Park which is composed of 7 pipe, mesh and concrete dinosaur sculptures is definitely something I will be checking out while I am here. I will also be availing myself of some shopping as Mitzi’s Books intrigued me.
Of course the best thing about Rapid City is that Kathy lives here!! I would love to visit Kathy in real life one day, but for now I will have to settle for a virtual visit. Thank you Kathy for providing such an awesome goal for my running for the past year and a half- it has definitely kept me going.
I always find it interesting how some days I feel like doing nothing and other days I go non-stop.
I started the day with an easy run to the park and back. I am trying really hard to slow down some days and run easy so that I don’t hurt myself running everyday. So far it seems to be going pretty well.
I quickly ate breakfast so I would be ready to order my yarn advent calendar at exactly 8am. This advent calendar is put out by Stash Lounge in Calgary, Alberta and features 25 different Canadian yarn dyers. It seemed like a really good way to try out a bunch of different dyers. I had better stop shopping for a while though!
I then got picked up by Dennis for a bike ride. I chose for us to go from the bridge to Osprey Village, but I should have picked the other way as this one had more hills than I remembered! My bike is still not going into first and something seems to be rubbing. It also takes forever to move from 2nd gear to 3rd. I do notice that I am calmer on the bike though which is a good thing. I’ll just keep making myself go out so I keep getting more comfortable!
After a well- deserved tea after 20km, I came home and watched the newest Crazy Sock Lady vlog. She talked about scrubbing her shower so that inspired me to try cleaning my tub and surround. I hope it worked, but I’ll inspect tomorrow during my shower.
I also got all my recent yarn purchases put into my Ravelry stash.
I worked out to the newest NourishMoveLove workout. It was a leg workout using the mini band and I was once again a hot, sweaty mess by the end of it. Her workouts are definitely a challenge. I just hope they’re doing something for me!
In knitting, I finished my brioche cowl.
This was made out of Perle yarn in two different colours. This yarn is from my grandma’s stash and is so old it came from Woodward’s. That store hasn’t been around since I was a little kid. I used the Brilicious pattern off of Ravelry and found it very easy. It only used up one of the four balls so I may make a second one to use up more. I think I might try it a little smaller in circumference, but taller so it will be extra warm inside my coat.
This afternoon I finished listening to Knit to Kill by Anne Canadeo. It was an easy listen and nothing earth shattering, but I still enjoyed it. I thought it was the first in the series, but it is actually the 9th. That does explain a bit of the dialogue in the book.
I have done some rolling and yoga as I am really trying to keep being consistent with this practice this year. I know it’s important to not getting injured, so I’m making it a priority.
I am back knitting on my second sock that I started yesterday in the hopes that I will be done by Sunday when I get my next sock pattern.
Well, I think I’ve done enough today and I’ll just sit and knit until it’s an appropriate time to sleep. I did have a nap this afternoon since it has been very hot here again today, but I still don’t think I’ll make it to very late. I wonder how much sleep it would take to get rid of the bags under my eyes?
I live where I live so I don’t have to put up with hot weather and this summer I’m having to do just that:(
I started the day with a quick, short run as I slept much later than I have been lately. It felt good to get out and get a few kilometers in, even though I didn’t really want to go.
I was then picked up by my friend Em and we went downtown. We had plans to go to a very popular restaurant called the Jam Cafe and I was prepared for at least an hour wait. Well, we lucked out and walked right in. I quite enjoyed my vegan bowl and cup of tea!
It was way too much food of course so I haven’t had to eat much for the rest of the day!
After brunch we did some looking in stores. We were really there to pick new glasses out for Em at Warby Parker so we did that first. I like the pair she picked:). I managed to not buy a thing, not even a Lucky’s donut. I hear about these donuts all the time, but they only had chocolate sprinkle or chocolate pistachio that were gluten free and dairy free and I don’t really like chocolate. I guess I saved myself those calories.
I also got a sock finished on the way home and the toe of the second done. I love it when other people drive!
It was a quick turn around for me as I headed right back out to my massage and then some grocery shopping. I made myself an awesome greek salad when I got home and got the ingredients for chicken Caesar salad and fruit salad too. Lol I’m definitely craving lighter food after the past four days!
I have spent the rest of the day holed up in my bedroom in front of the fan. I watched This Nanny Knits’ newest podcast episode and have been listening to Knit to Kill while working on my brioche cowl. Brioche really is easy and I think this will turn out pretty. I can’t wait to take another four skeins off the stash count!
I ended the night with a yoga sequence off of Pinterest. I did it, but ended up deleting it as the pictures were way too small!
I remember thinking my parents and grandparents were odd for being tired when we had done nothing but travel to a new place. I so get it now! I’m exhausted from a day of traveling.
We got up and moving quickly this morning and made the drive to Gibsons. We grabbed coffee and a sweet and then wandered the streets. Unfortunately we learned that lots of stores and restaurants are closed on Wednesdays in this town, including our favourite ones:(
A cool rooftop in this seaside town.
We ended up grabbing lunch at the same place we went to last year. I had a Mediterranean tuna sandwich. While I have not gotten outright sick, my stomach is definitely not happy with all this eating out. I’ll be happy to get back to my more normal eating tomorrow.
It took us no time to get to the ferry terminal, but unfortunately the ferry was a half hour late. We did finally get on and I was happy to discover they had oat milk so I could have a cup of tea.
The drive home was interminable as traffic was barely moving:(. We did finally make it.
I was very happy to see my house. I checked the mail, but there was no happy mail. I got the heel done on the sock I have been working on and then re-did the start of the brioche cowl I was working on before I left. I didn’t realize that I had twisted the cast on:(
It has been a quiet afternoon in front of the fan, but that was quite enjoyable.
I did make myself do a workout as I feel like all we’ve done is eat for the past four days and I must be at least ten pounds heavier than when I left on Sunday! The workout was a NourishMoveLove and I was dripping with sweat so we will call it a success!
Well it was our last full full here, but boy was it a full day!
We were up and out by ten to nine this morning to catch another ferry! This time to Powell River to see an old work colleague. It was very smooth getting there
We had a wonderful lunch with our friend Karen and she took us on an amazing walk! We went in a loop that gave us the most amazing views of the area! We relaxed on her deck when we got back.
We enjoyed our visit and then headed back home. I was a little disappointed not to have seen the town of Powell River, especially as there is supposedly a yarn store there, but it was definitely more important to visit our friend Karen as she was forced out by her previous principal in a horrible way. She needed to know she still had friends who were willing to make the trip!
We had decided last night to t that we didn’t want to do another three hour dinner and so were going to come back to the B&B and work on eating up all the food we brought. Unfortunately we came back to the fridge being open for the day so our plans changed slightly to eating whatever was still edible.
We had a lovely day and a swim to end the day. Now I am trying to stay awake until at least ten pm🤣
I started the day with a couple of walk/runs up the hill and some squats, lunges, mountain climbers, and a plank. I had left a note for the girls but was back before any of them were up.
I watched an episode of the “This Nanny Knits” podcast and really enjoyed it. I also read a few chapters of my book, “ The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”. It was a lovely day of relaxing in the pool and enjoying my book.
This evening we went to town for dinner again. Dinner here is a very long process, but boy was my poke bowl yummy!
We came back to a lovely dip in the pool and a gorgeous sunset.
I started the day with a walk and tea with my running buddies. I had forgotten how fast they can walk, though thankfully the hills slowed them down at times.
It was then home to make sure everything was packed.
The girls picked me up about quarter after twelve and we headed to the ferry. We were nice and early to the ferry so walked over to the village for starbucks.
The ferry ride was beautiful as was the drive up the coast until I got carsick:(. This was the first time in my life that I got carsick and I wonder if it was because I had coffee. I’ve only had coffee about three times in my life so I wonder if this was what caused my first ever motion sickness.
I was fine once I got on solid ground. The B&B is awesome!
Of course the first thing I did was take a sip of a drink that had gluten in it:(. I don’t seem to have anything other than itchiness and a bit of nausea from it, thankfully!
We went into town to the hotel for dinner. When we got there we were warned that it would be at least an hour before we got our dinner because they were so short staffed. I had a ginger ale gluten free turkey club which was excellent, though thankfully I looked at the salad before I took a bite as it had couscous on it. The other ladies enjoyed it.
Since then we’ve just been enjoying the pool and deck. I have almost finished a sock today.
My friend wants me to say we had a wild pool party with scantily clad men. I told her you would all know it’s untrue after reading my blog for any amount of time! Rather we watched Olympic swimming at the pub and drank a glass of wine when we came home.
In 2002 I loved the work of Paula Vaughn and my grandma very kindly bought me the Paula Vaughn cross stitch book “A Quilt for All Seasons”. I immediately started on the January one. I’m not sure when exactly this was, but the project then languished on a shelf in my spare room for twelve years after I moved into my condo. Last year I heard about this SAL and decided it may help me actually get this project finished.
Unfortunately this definitely hasn’t happened this period. While my stitching has been faithfully with me wherever I have gone, it has not gotten any love or attention. I wanted to work on it, but have learned that I can’t stitch and visit. Hopefully there will be more work next time when I’ve been home a bit. Here is where it still is:
However, I have done a lot of vanilla knitting while visiting so if you’ll indulge me, I’ll share that this time.
I promise I’ll do better next time!
Well that’s it for me. Make sure you check out the other stitchers as there are so many gorgeous projects and such variety that there is sure to be something you find inspiring.
On Monday I ran in the morning and then met up with two work friends to go look around Fort Langley. I always enjoy spending time with these ladies and we often go to Fort Langley together. We looked in every store and had lunch at Little Donkey. The lunch was amazing! I had the brisket burrito which they put in a bowl rather than a wrap for me. Their chips and Salsa was also amazing and incredibly fresh (the chips were still warm!)
After checking this town out I then met up with two friends that I had not seen since the start of Covid. Michelle and Katie are both teachers so it was very interesting to hear how their school years went.
On Tuesday morning I got up early and was out the door before 6am to catch a ferry to the island. Amazingly it took only a half hour to get there so I had tons of time to knit on my socks.
It was amazing to see my mom and dad. We just spent the day visiting and I finished my vanilla socks, which I am calling Rainbow Ferry Socks
It was interesting to see that my gauge changed between knitting in a car and knitting on a ferry as one sock is much bigger than the other. The yarn is Sugar Bush Blaze in Sizzle Stix colour. I used 48 stitches and did them toe up to use all the yarn. I definitely used all the yarn as I had to grab a different yarn to finish the cast off in the second sock. I decided to reduce to 42 stitches for the ribbing and like the fit!
On Wednesday my mom and I went to Nanaimo to the Costco. I wanted to get my Downy Unstoppables that was on sale and she got shorts and shirts for my dad. We tried to go to Fabricland so I could get material for a project bag, but as luck would have it, it was closed for that one day.
I spent the day working on and finishing my current shawl- the Lightweight Hipster by Joji Locatelli. I did the shawl in the Tea For Two from SmashKnits. I am super happy with the results, but unfortunately don’t have blocking materials with me so it may be next week before you get to see them.
Today we made it to a local knitting store. I had called and was told they had some local yarns. I feel as though I can get commercial yarns everywhere, but love to see what stores have for local yarns. I came away with one skein of Laughing Sea yarn in an unnamed colour. My mom says it should be called Vanilla Tutti Frutti. It is a vanilla coloured base with orange and black/grey speckles.
I have spent the day knitting on a cowl that I have just ripped out to start again. Hopefully my second try will be successful.
I have ran both days that I have been here even though this entire city is all hills so it is tough to find an easy run route! I have also done a workout both days and also got my yoga done today. I’ll call that a success. I took the time this morning to count how many days I have done a run, workout and yoga and was super unhappy with the fact I’ve only managed to do that 18 days this year:(. I’d better get moving on this to improve that number!
I can’t believe it’s already Sunday, but thankfully I feel like I’ve done a lot.
Exercise:
I have ran 29km this week so it was nice to see those little 3kms a morning add up to something good. I also did two 7km runs and a 5km too:)
I have done a few NourishMoveLove workouts this week and I hurt from the last one still! It was a measly twenty minutes, but it obviously hit everything it needed to. My yoga has also gotten done so I am happy:)
Adventures:
On Thursday I did a knitting store tour with the Brenda. We started at the Knit and Stitch Shop which is about an hour away. It was a huge shop, but I wasn’t impressed enough to go back. It seemed cluttered and messy to me. She also carried lots I could get closer to home so it won’t be worth the trip. I didn’t buy anything here.
We then hit Baaaad Anna’s. I have to admit it was hilarious to hear how Siri said this name! This shop is lovely and carries a wide variety of Canadian dyers. I really wanted another scissors and tape measure set- this time in green, but they only had pink ones left. I bought one 50g skein from a local dyer who I’ve enjoyed using in the past. It’s a really pretty pink speckle. I do love when dyers offer 50g skeins as I just don’t need four pairs of socks all the same!
We then had an amazing lunch at Scandelicious. They are known for their waffles and they have a vegan, gluten free one so it works for me. This time I got their west coast one which had eggs and salmon on it and it was amazing. Of course, I didn’t have to eat again!
We finished the day up at Valley Yarns which is clear in the other direction, but Brenda needed wooden needles and we hadn’t found any yet. I got a skein of Madeline Tosh speckled and the book West Knits Best Knits as it was on sale for 50% off. I’m sure I will get $13 of use out of the book!
Since we are talking knitting, I will share what I finished this week.
These are vanilla socks done in the Hue Loco colourway of Woodland Nymph. I feel like this is the first pair of socks I have done in a trendy yarn as most of my socks end up in plain colours. I love them and the fit is amazing! I did 48 stitches on 2.5mm needles with my usual German Short Row Heel. The only thing I don’t love is the toe, but I’ve solved that now.
This is the Age of Steam and Brass kerchief expanded into a shawl. I used a 4mm needle and Fleece Artist Handmaiden Merino Slim in Stormy. This was the extra skein I had left over from my Bentley Cardigan this Spring. I haven’t worn it yet, but it’s super soft so I think I’m going to love it. If you are interested I added two pattern repeats to what was called for.
On Friday I finally used a gift card my Sister in law had given me a few years ago for a pedicure. The place is right across the street from me and it was great. I finally figured out how to get through a pedicure( I have super sensitive feet and am very ticklish)- I took my knitting!!!!
I also got my eyebrows and eyelashes done and had drinks and appies with two girls from work. It was a nice, low key day.
On Saturday I met up with Dennis and Sarah for my long run early in the morning. We were supposed to do ten but only got 7.08km done because of a bear. It was a teenager and he was having a great time running back and forth between two spots in the river. Unfortunately we didn’t know where mama bear was so we walked carefully much longer than usual. It was nice to have company and I got some mileage in.
I then met up with Emily to check out a new market in the next city. It wasn’t very large but was well laid out and we got there early enough that it wasn’t crowded. I was really looking forward to having lunch from the Aloha Poke food truck, but everything had soy sauce. It turned out that this the Tornado Potato was the only safe thing for me to eat. I got the zucchini instead of the potato, but it was still huge!
I spent the rest of the day working on my Hong Kong socks and doing laundry.
Today my friends Emily and Melissa and I went to check out the Sea to Sky Gondola. It is very much a tourist trap, but I had to see it for myself. The view was amazing! You take about a ten minute gondola ride up the side of the mountain and then there is a restaurant at the top along with a suspension bridge (not too scary or wobbly) and some walking trails. We did the third easiest walking trail that went out to another viewpoint.
The restair ant wasn’t open yet so we went into a little town nearby for lunch. I was shocked. I used to camp near here all the time when I was a kid. We didn’t go into this town often, but I got to go once for ice cream after my dad pulled my tooth out with the camper door. It has changed beyond recognition. It’s much busier and bigger now, though I noticed that you could definitely tell who the locals were. We stopped at a cute restaurant called the Zephyr and I had a chicken avocado sandwich with a side salad that was delicious. We then walked the street and picked up an ice cream cone. I was so excited because they had gluten free cones. I don’t know the last time I had a cone!
Since I’ve been home I’ve cleaned the fridge and have dragged out some things so I can start figuring out what I’m packing for my island trip. So far I have tons of running gear and knitting supplies and two outfits to wear🤣
I’m going back to my knitting as I’m hoping to finish my second Hong Kong sock today.
A Petite Slice of Life 