Road Trip! (and a side of knit!)

On Sunday, I got to do something special.  I drove my oldest up to Hilton Head, South Carolina so he could have some friend time with his bestie from Ohio.  These two boys knew each other from the cradle.  In fact, our two families had back to back pews, and I remember the boys entertaining each other while we listened to the sermon.  It was very handy having babies to look at each other.  Fascinated with each other, they typically remained fairly quiet for the duration of the service, a fact for which both our families were grateful.

As things would have it, our family left Ohio about five years ago.  It was very hard to leave, and I know it was hard on the kids, but I am so grateful the boys have managed to keep their friendship.

They've changed a lot since they were babies!

When we heard that they were going to be vacationing in our area, there was no question but that the boys would have to get together!

The drive from Jacksonville to Hilton Head wasn't as long as I thought it would be. It turned out to be just under four hours drive time.  That meant it was four hours of captive Mom/Son time!  My oldest had just gotten back from a missions trip to Nashville, so I enjoyed hearing him tell about his experiences along the trip.  We started listening to The Great Gatsby, as read by Tim Robbins.  And we drove through a monstrous monsoon and made it out alive!

I greatly enjoyed visiting with my friend, Ann.  I was very relieved to know that rather than having to turn right back around and drive four hours to get back home, I'd had the foresight to get a hotel room about 30 minutes away.  I took myself off to The Hampton Inn in Bluffton, where I promptly locked myself in a quiet room and began to work on a new design and knit.  I wish I could show it to you, but it has to remain a secret for the time being.  I can say this much:  it's a shawl and it has a watery theme.  I'm still working on some basics, but I think I've essentially figured it out.

After a sleepless night (long story, but it was basically about my other son being stuck in flight delays in Atlanta due to weather), I hauled myself out of bed to begin the long drive home.  But then I stopped and thought.  Savannah, Georgia was just a short drive away!  Now, I have always wanted to visit Savannah.  A few years ago, my mom and my sister had made plans to visit this city for a girl vacation that never happened because of Mom's health.  It didn't take much pondering before I decided to take a side trip to this beautiful city, in honor of Mom.

On the back roads to Savannah

I took the back roads from Bluffton, and only 30 minutes later I had arrived!

Live Oaks Abound!

I made my way over to a fiber shop that I'd learned of via Knit Map.  One of the shops I pulled up as being in Savannah was Wild Fibres.  I showed up just prior to opening, at 10:00.  Parking on the street was metered, and after searching for silver, I found I had exactly .45!  That was enough to buy me about 30 minutes of shop time, and while I would have loved to stay a bit longer, I was still able to visit with the friendly employee (or owner?  not certain!).  I was thrilled to see that the shop prioritized spinning fibers in the front of the store, although yarns were well-represented as well.

Wild Fibre is up the stairs, in a lovely shopping district.

I ended up selecting some cotton for spinning, and I'm hoping to tackle it a bit later on today with my spindle.

Weighing the cotton

The photo fails to capture the greenish tint.

Too soon, it was time to go.  I've decided my sister and I definitely need to get away for a girl's trip soon. Mom would have loved it!