Knitting on the Road

My daughter lives in Monterey. The Monterey Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places in this country. The coastline is rugged and the ocean is cold, dark and deep blue. That is, if it is not a shade of green or turquoise. Breath taking. We had the good fortune to spend a few days with her last week.

The drive from San Diego takes us 7+ hours on a good day. Lots of quality knitting time. I have been known to cast on and complete a project during the ride up, and another on the ride down. A knitter's dream. I don't get carsick. My husband gets carsick if he is not driving. This adds up to the perfect road trip combination. He drives, I knit. I don't care what the rest of the car is doing. The kids have always been excellent travelers. First dog loved a long drive. Reading, music, Gameboy, Ipods, whatever.

This trip was different. The setting was right, all the participants were acting according to plan, except for one. The pup was having none of it. She is still a baby and let us know it. She cried and whined and fussed and fidgeted for the first 4 hours. Knitting was futile. I kept trying to help her settle down and she finally did- when I wrapped her in a beach towel and held her snugly on my lap. Swaddled like an infant she slept on my numb legs for the duration of the northbound trip. I knit 10 rows total on my KAL throw.

The first night there she kept my daughter up all night long. Every hour through the night Steezy cried and ran up and down the staircase of her apartment. I'm sure the neighbors thought she was throwing bowling balls down the staircase! Both arrived on the hotel threshold at 7 am. Blurry eyed and exhausted. Welcome to motherhood. I relieved my girl for a nap before our scheduled trail ride at Pebble Beach Equestrian Center.

Brynn works there as a guide. It was the high point of the trip. Through the Monterey pine forest to the sand dunes you crest the hills of Pebble Beach Golf Course and behold the ocean before you. The seals bark at the shoreline and the birds put on a show all around the trail. Perfection in the form of an 8 point buck appears and grazes along side the trail before bounding off into the trees that line the green. We descend to the beach,crossing the famous 17 mile drive road just in front of Seal Rock. I highly recommend this adventure.

The dog sleeps peacefully in the car parked under a cool shade tree at the barn. Bliss...