Here is the rest of the trip.
NASA – amazing. I hadn’t been there since I was around 12 years old. So much has changed. There was a lot of exhibits and activities for kids and the place was packed with what looked like school groups. David was working at a customer site in Houston so he couldn’t come that day. I was sad that he couldn’t come, he would have really enjoyed it.Just as we walked in, we saw some people dressed in Star Trek uniforms. Of course I snapped a picture. I learned later that a prop from one of the series was being put on display so a lot of Star Trek fans came dressed in costume.

NASA has a building built around the Saturn V rocket to protect it from the elements. A lot of work had been done on it to restore it and keep the rest of it from falling apart. The thing is huge. Walking around it gives you this intense feeling about the things we humans can do.

Wicked was really great. I think I’ll order the music for it. I should also probably read the book since I’ve had for a long time.
I had three days of lots of walking and I was really tired. We did a lot of shopping before and after the NASA trip.
I did get to go to Rachel’s baby’s blessing. We were running a little late and I missed the blessing, but after the meeting I got to see Rachel and the baby. She was dressed in this gorgeous fluffy christening gown and looked so cute! The baby that is. Rachel looked cute too, she had on these AMAZING hot pink shoes! Motherhood becomes her.
Our first day out towards home, we got a flat tire. I’m so thankful it happened right in Ft. Worth with a spare in good condition and a tire place 10 minutes away. We drive home through so many miles of unpopulated territory that it could have been truly awful instead of mildly annoying.
On the trip back home and to Oregon we saw the usual beautiful scenery.

After the funeral we drove up to Portland to spend the night. I wanted to visit at least one yarn shop in Oregon. We were going to arrive in Portland too late for any of the shops to be open, so I found a nice looking one in Salem. It is called Teaselwick Wools and is located in a converted woolen mill. There is a museum and several great shops. I bought a few yarns that appealed to me. There were some that I thought were local but turned out not to be. Still very pretty though. I also bought some made out of hemp that I thought would make some nice fingerless mitts.

The next day we started our trip home with a few planned stops to see a bit of area where David grew up.
He took us to Multnomah Falls. There is a little bridge part way up the trail that David insisted I hike up to. Despite me being in enormous amounts of pain from being in the car for long. I did and while the view was beautiful, I hurt so badly afterward that I had to skip the gift shop and the pretty buildings and head straight back to the car. At this point in the trip we had been in the car for over 4 days and the Advil and Tylenol were no longer working very well.


He also showed us the house where he grew up. The area is beautiful and jam packed with fruit orchards.

On our way home, we see a truck hauling a cow in a trailer.
Kimberly: *quotes a few of the cow lines from the movie Twister*
Chynna: I don’t think I’ve seen that movie. What’s it about?
Kimberly: It’s about tornadoes
David: Cary Elwes played the bad guy.
Chynna: He played the tornado?
Chynna is always so funny to be around.
I also think I’ve got the hang of mom’s shawl. I’ve done two repeats of the pattern and I’ve caught where I make the mistakes. I tend to get a little carried away with the yarn overs. I may actually have this finished by her birthday.

I finished the sock at the funeral. I kept thinking that would ruin it for me, but I’m okay with it. I was in an uncomfortable place and the knitting helped to soothe me.

A happy little bit about returning home for the evening (other than how amazing it is to be home), was the Knit Picks box and Missouri Star Quilt Company package. I also found the rest of my sewing things stuffed under the stairs and I’m ready for school to start so I can have 2 uninterrupted weeks of having my sewing machine on the dining table 🙂

It’s good to be home.