FL Day 3: A Few Keys

  We decided that we were going to have kickstands up at 9am and we actually did it.  There was a great debate about if we should or should not wear rain gear.  Most of us said that we probably won't need it and would just end up sweaty from it.

  We stopped at Mile Marker 88 for lunch and I got the watermelon mojito and the Cuban Sandwich.  I looked at the Islamorada Fish Sandwich, but my mom suggested the Cuban Sandwich.  I got mine with the Key Lime Hollandaise.
  Then there was more talk on if we would need rain gear or not.  Some people put on a jacket but not everyone put on their full rain gear.  Bill and I still didn't put in our liners.
  We were having fun going over the bridge/road that connects the Keys when the first downpour started.  By the time we could find a spot to stop we had managed to get through the worst of it and only had a bit of drizzle to deal with.  The plan had been to be to make one more bar stop before the hotel, but most of the group wanted to just push through and get there.
  It didn't take too long before we were all dry again and even saw some sun and blue sky.  We had a pretty good view as we went over the 7 Mile Bridge.
  Unfortunately when we saw Key West, we also saw a line of dark and angry clouds.  It wouldn't have been too bad if it was a warm rain, but that down pour was cold and hurt.  We pulled into a tiny hotel and the lady at the front desk asked if anyone needed a towel.  Another couple had ducked in there before us with their dog.  He was nice and I got to pet him.
  Once it let up a little we found out that we were only 13 miles from our hotel and decided to make a run for it.  We got hit by another cold hard rain and then had to deal with "puddles" ranging from the standard few inches up to two feet.  Some of the cars weren't even slowing down and splashing us.
  The hotel parking lot even had some rivers/ponds to deal with.  After everyone came in wet and grumpy the guy at the front desk told us that we could not leave the bikes in the overhang, even though we left space for cars to pass by, and had to move them to the motorcycle parking lot.  I made sloshing sounds as I took our stuff up stairs.

  When you blow dry your socks from the inside it makes it look like there are feet in there.  I found it way too funny and it helped me to be less grumpy.

  So beautiful looking.  At least it waited until we were inside before it got worse.  The original plan was to take the shuttle into town to get dinner, but everyone was tired of dealing with the rain, so we just took over the second seating area of the restaurant.
  I got the homemade conch chowder and key lime pie.  When our waiter was asked if the chowder was creamy, he said yes, but it was really tomato based.  It was still good, but I was a tiny bit disappointed.

  The pie was really thick, like a softened white chocolate.  It had an even balance between sweet and tart.  It was really good and Trish and I made a plan to try a bunch of different Key Lime pies while we are here and decide which one we liked best.

FL Day 2: Ahead of Schedule

  I actually slept pretty well once I figured how to lay right and not feel as jostled by the train movement.  I would get used to the train rocking in one way just to have it change right before I drifted off.  My bed was firmer but cooler while Bill's was softer but warmer.

  We were really booking it last night because at 6am we got an announcement from the conductor that we would be arriving at the Station at 7:30am and then would have to wait until 8:30am when the station crew arrived and could start the process so we could get off the train.

  I actually had a bit of breakfast, and that is not normal for me.  I had a mini bagel (not pictured) and some tea.  There was also the option to have some cereal with mini milks to go into it.  They also brought butter, jelly, and cream cheese for the mini bagels.  I was hoping to get some eggs, but that was not an option.
  While we waited at the station it rained really hard then would back off enough to give us some hope, only to pour again.  The motorcycles were the last ones off and it was only raining slightly when they got pulled off.  We met up under the overhang and re-packed everything in a nice dry space.  On our trip down to Pompano Beach we didn't really get rained on even though the weather guessers said there was a 90% chance of rain all day.  It would drizzle on us long enough to make sure we were thoroughly damp, then nothing long enough for us to dry out, and then repeat.
  When we were rolling into town there was a group of three people just hanging out on the front lawn.  One was kind of half-heartedly waving at us, but when I waved back they got excited.  They were enthusiastically waving and yelling Hi to us.  It was great.
  We got in to the hotel and met up with the rest of our group.  I saw some interesting places on the way and I was really hoping we would stop in at Brendan's Sports Pub because it was almost right next to the hotel.  Since no one else could decide if we were going to go somewhere far or within walking distance I mentioned it.  Since it was so close everyone liked the idea.  I made sure to get the Smoked Fish Dip because my friend Mary kept mentioning that I would like that.

  We talked about how on the train they played Hearts for three hours and so they had to have a repeat performance tonight with one of the rest of our group.  The girls were off to the side talking and hanging out.  It was a good night but I wish we were going to be around a bit longer because the menu of Dandee Donuts looks awesome.

  There was a great meeting of the minds to determine our route for tomorrow.  The larger road was close to the city, so we figured that would be slower than if we took a road we found on the map that goes by the Everglades Wildlife Management Area.  Trish and I thought it sounded like it might be more fun to go by that, but the commitee had to talk it over.

FL Day 1: Training Our Way South

  We were only rained on a little bit on our way to the train station.  Enough to worry us but not enough to cause any problems.  The station was a lot closer than I thought it was.
  The little carts they have for the motorcycles are really neat.  Those scoops in the front hold the front wheel while the back sits in that groove.  Then a bunch of strapping is added and hopefully the bike is secure.

  We did a quick lunch at Chipotle before settling into the wait area until it was time to board.  There was even a slight delay so they kept saying to ignore the recorded lady who kept telling us to board.
  I was excited enough about riding on the train that Bill upgraded us to one of the sleeper cars.  That means that we won't get to eat dinner with the rest of the gang, but it will hopefully mean that I will sleep better.  I was worried about sleeping while sitting up.  I will get to try that on the way back.

  It was really cool to get to see the inside of the vehicle cars.  I think it would have been really cool to drive up into it, but I understand the need for the motorcycle carts.  I didn't know that they were two floored, but it makes sense to get as many as you could.

  This is what it looks like entering our little room.  It is a lot deeper than I thought it was going to be.  There is another sleeper option with just two chairs and a fold down bed.  The two chairs turn into a bed.

  You can see the second bed and our closet from this angle.  The couch folds down and becomes a bed, it wouldn't be too hard to fit three people in that room as long as two don't mind getting friendly when they are sleeping.

  We even have our own toilet and shower!  It is pretty cool even though we probably won't be using the shower.  It is very similar to what an RV or boat would have.  It is very smart.
  There are 15 people cars, 16 vehicle cars. 8 motorcycles, 5 of which belong to our group.

  We spent most of our pre-dinner time sitting in the bar cart.  Most of the guys were playing Hearts while I knitted off to the side.

  Nothing to complain about so far.  I really like train travel.  I was even able to get the rest of my steps in for the day, you can't do that in a car and you can't easily do that on a plane.  I even talked to a crocheter who saw me knitting on the way back to her seat from dinner.  It was so sad that she forgot her project at home.

  We also had a conversation with this guy who lived in New Jersey for 60 years and is now moving to Florida.  He then proceeded to drunkenly tell us more about his life than we cared to know about.

  Dinner was quite good.  I also got the cheesecake for dessert.  The green beans were meh, but the potato wasn't dry and the beef was also well cooked.  The mushroom gravy was my second favorite part, after the baked potato.

  The conductor came to the bar car we had been in earlier and was hanging out.  When Bill and I showed up with a deck of cards, the conductor decided to show us some card tricks.  He was really good and I could have watched him all night.

  We then went downstairs to the lounge area to play more cards but ended up talking for a while and just hanging out instead.  It was a lot of fun and when we got back to our room our seat had been converted and the top bed pulled down.  I picked the top bunk because it meant that I got to climb up the ladder.

The Green Leafy Thing is a Go!

  I feel like I should say something about best laid plans and how they never work.  I finally started on the green leafy thing!  I had planned on having the collar have two sets of leaves growing out of each other and even planned how to add a hidden button hole around that idea.
  I found a chart for the pattern I wanted to use and then changed it so that it would curve and not just lay in a flat line.  I spent a while prepping for this stage.  The outcome was almost too wide for my shoulder area, so it definitely would have been way too big for a child.

  I decided to try using just one leaf and I liked it a lot better.  I was even messing with short rows and getting it to curve.  I still thought it was missing something and took this one out and added two more stitches to the right side.  I am super happy with it, though I think it would have been cooler if I had just increased out for the first leaf instead of the increases and decreases to form it.  I could have also done the decreases for the button tab differently, but that is just me being picky.

  My Saturday had been filled with shooting of all kinds.  I take pictures during the Women on Target event at my local IWLA.  It is a really cool event because women can come and trying shooting sports without the pressure of a boyfriend or father telling them they are doing it all wrong or trying to show off.

  I can luck out and get some really cool pictures throughout the day.  It is fairly easy to get pictures at the shotgun range of the case flying through the air, it is a lot harder to time it so you can see the blast coming out of the front.
  Only women can sign up for the event and it is held once a year where I take pictures.  It is held at a few different locations across the US.  There are some classes on how to choose a firearm and how to not be a victim both inside and outside of the home.  The ladies can also try shooting shotguns, rifles, pistols, air rifles, black powder, and bows.  Everyone had always had a really good time.

Project Pan List:

Regular Items:

• Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Eye Refresh Eye Cream
• NYX HD Eye Primer
• Kat von D Lock-It Primer (sample size)
• Bare Minerals Prime Time Foundation Primer
• Pur Minerals Correcting Primer
• Dr. Brandt Pore No More Primer
• Milani Moisture Lock Lip Treatment
• NYC City Proof 24HR Eyeliner in Dark Brown
• Maybelline Color Tattoo in Shimmering Sea
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Baked Eyeshadow in Enchanted
• Elizabeth Mott Whatup Beaches Matte Bronzer (sample size)
• Pond's Luminous Finish BB+ in Light
• NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Milan
• NYC Ultra Last Lipwear in 416 Berry Rich 
• Bath & Body Works Sweet Pea Body Mist (travel size) 

Gimme Items:

• Origins Grapefruit Body Souffle (sample size)
• Origins Mega Defense SPF 45 (sample size)
• Origins mystery moisturizer (sample size) - 5/14
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Eye Primer
• Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus in Espresso - 3/15
• Benefit They're Real Mascara (sample size)
• Revlon PhotoReady Powder in Fair/Light - 4/9
• Skin 79 Gold BB Cream (sample size)
• YSL Black Opium Perfume (sample size) - 3/5
• Balenciaga Floraboranica Perfume (sample size) - 3/17 (given away)

Happy Star Wars Day!

  I meant to post about the 5K I mentioned before but then work got crazy again and I kept putting it off.  We had so much fun that day.  We got in a little later than planned, but still before the talk at the beginning.  We weren't the only walkers, but we were the slowest walkers.  That being said, we beat out test time by 13 minutes and we even got stuck at a few lights.  We did so awesomely.  There was water, granola bars, oranges, and donut holes waiting for us when we got back.  They were also all packed and just waiting to get out of there even though the event was scheduled to go another hour and a half.

  I finally finished it!  I wasn't sure how long to make it since the body was done in a 2x2 ribbing and tends to shrink to about half size.  I was considering trying it on for the picture, but it has been 90° out and our AC has stopped again.

  You can see the cap sleeve details in this picture.  I am pretty proud of how they turned out, even if no one will see them.

  We have a new AC until on the way and it will come in on Monday.  The repair guy and I were both bummed that we couldn't just do a lasting fix to repair our current until.  Yes, it is very old, but I feel like that also means that it was made to a higher durability level than the ones now.  He kept repeating that it was 'a shame to see it go' and that 'they don't make them like that anymore'.  For some reason it is getting too much power when switching from heating to cooling and that is burning one of the wires.  Not sure why it is suddenly doing it and I didn't think to ask him then.  I'm still bummed but everyone keeps telling me that the new one will run more efficiently and we will save money.  I'm also pretty sure that we are the last in the neighborhood to still have our original until.
  Tank is having a great time because we are leaving the windows opened during the night to help cool the house down.  He has been super hyper in the morning and then crashing around mid day.  He has been watching the latest batch of fox babies run around.  He wants to play with them so much because he loves pouncing and wrestling and that is all they do all day.  There are five babies and I'm not sure how all of them and Mom fit in the small den, but they manage.

Happy Friday the 13th!

  Tomorrow is the big Japanese Cherry Blossom festival in Washington DC.  I went once many years ago and while it was fun, I also felt it was too crowded to want to do again.  In previous years I usually had to work on Saturday, so it didn't really matter, but this year I have it off.  I know a few people who are going and I hope they have fun.
  Another good thing about this year is that it looks like the trees will still have flowers on them.  Most years the blossoms have come and gone before the festival and a few times they don't bloom until after it.  I always feel bad for people who plan their trip around the big weekend since they rarely get to see them.

  I also don't have to go all the way into DC to even see some cherry blossoms.  A few of my neighbors have some white blossom trees.  I personally like the pink ones better, but if I really want to see those then I just have to hop onto the Metro.

  I had planned on knitting all day, but Bill's cousin was coming into town and was going to stay with us for the weekend.  Instead of getting closer to the end of the blue sweater I spent some time cleaning the house.  The guest bed room got new sheets and vacuumed.  I also mopped the guest bathroom with my Swiffer.  I didn't read the back of the all-purpose cleaner I recently picked up and so I didn't know I had to rinse it off the area I cleaned.  I just happened to glance at the back later and notice this fact.  I wondered what would happen if I didn't rinse it but found out that on tile it leaves a tacky feel.  It was also showing all my footprints, so I had to rinse it.  It was really weird when I was going back over it and the residue started to foam up again.

  Later in the day Krissy came over because she was nervous about something I wanted to do with her.  I wanted to do the Grub for Good Fun-Run 5k, but I didn't want to do it alone.  She was nervous that she wouldn't be able to finish it.  The website says that all fitness levels are welcome and that it is untimed.
  We decided it would be a good idea to do a trail run of our walk.  We laced up our sneakers and headed out.  I set a timer so we could see how long it took us.  I had it in my purse so I couldn't see the time, I figured we would just walk and see how we do.  We walked, we took water breaks, and even smelled some good food smells.  We got back and felt pretty good about how we did.
  I had figured that we had about two hours as our max time if we wanted to finish the 5K and still get to have some snacks.  When I looked at the time, we had finished in 1 hour 21 minutes.  That means we could have walked even slower or taken more breaks and still be within the time.  She is a lot less worried and a lot more pumped about it now.

Never Ending Blue Sweater.

  I had been knitting along on the blue sweater and had gotten to the point where I should be dividing for the under arms and finally deciding what I wanted to do about the sleeves.  I took a look at it and realized that since I used stockinette that there was a good chance that the off the shoulder design would want to just fall off the shoulders and keep going.  I then took all the stockinette out on March 28th and was pretty much back to where it was when I first found it.  Since it also seemed a bit short I also decided to do two plain rows between my increase rows instead of the one I went with on the first round.
  It then became my main project because I wanted to get past most of the increases before our trip because I didn't want to have to worry about keeping track of what row I was on in the car when I was also trying to navigate.
  I got enough done to be able to see where I needed to be, but I didn't get all the way to the under arm area.  It took me until March 2nd until I was able to bind off for the cap sleeves and cast back on for the under arm area.  I decided to do a cap sleeve because one of my friends recently posted a sweater she finished with cap sleeves and I thought it was really cute.  I'm also getting more and more anxious for this project to be done.
  I wanted to do some ribbing so it won't fall off the person trying to wear it, and I wanted to keep using the ribbing on the body so it has a good chance of fitting someone without having to try and find the perfect person for it.  The gauge is a bit tight and it didn't have the same stretch most knits have.  This means that it is boring enough that I want it to be finished, but I have to pay some attention to it so I don't accidentally start just doing stockinette.
  I've kept it as my main project everywhere because I really want to get to the green leafy project.  I'm really excited to start that, even though I haven't done all the math needed quite yet.

  My friends know that I both like makeup and donating things to various charities.  I've been linked to the chicken sweaters before and things like this.  It was really interesting when I got linked to Wands for Wildlife.  This was also amusing because I had recently recorded a video for YouTube on items I have that still have product in them, but are too old to be used any more.  Now I have something to do with all those mascara tubes I was holding on to for no good reason.

  I've gone back to cleaning my house.  I took a bit of a break because I was trying to power though the sweater.  Don't worry, I didn't neglect anything, I just didn't go through any of my random bags of craft items that need to be put away.  I'm now back on it and found these.  They were donated from the Monday-Group and I really liked the pattern.

  Does it count as cleaning if I eat these?  A packet of Scottish Shortbread Fingers by Brake Brothers Ldt, and a Belgian Biscuit by Speculoos.  I keep finding my bag of goodies from Scotland and then misplacing it.  I am not overly picky about how shortbread tastes and I like this one.  The Belgian Biscuit is pretty gingery and nice and crisp.  I like both of these and I'm glad I snagged them from the various hotels.  I also like how European nutrition labels had any allergens in bold and tell you at the bottom if the food can be eaten by vegetarians or vegans without the person having to look at every ingredient.

Project Pan List:

Regular Items:

• Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Eye Refresh Eye Cream
• NYX HD Eye Primer
• Kat von D Lock-It Primer (sample size)
• Bare Minerals Prime Time Foundation Primer
• Pur Minerals Correcting Primer
• Dr. Brandt Pore No More Primer
• Milani Moisture Lock Lip Treatment
• NYC City Proof 24HR Eyeliner in Dark Brown
• Maybelline Color Tattoo in Shimmering Sea
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Baked Eyeshadow in Enchanted
• Elizabeth Mott Whatup Beaches Matte Bronzer (sample size)
• Pond's Luminous Finish BB+ in Light
• NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Milan
• NYC Ultra Last Lipwear in 416 Berry Rich 
• Bath & Body Works Sweet Pea Body Mist (travel size) 

Gimme Items:

• Origins Grapefruit Body Souffle (sample size)
• Origins Mega Defense SPF 45 (sample size)
• Origins mystery moisturizer (sample size)
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Eye Primer
• Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus in Espresso - 3/15
• Benefit They're Real Mascara (sample size)
• Revlon PhotoReady Powder in Fair/Light - 4/9
• Skin 79 Gold BB Cream (sample size)
• YSL Black Opium Perfume (sample size) - 3/5
• Balenciaga Floraboranica Perfume (sample size) - 3/17 (given away)