Carol's Lunatic Cafe: Summer Vacation Part 3, including knitting report

Still with me? You hardy soul, you.

Thursday a.m. we went to the Costa Mesa Omelette Parlor for breakfast. We make a point of going there whenever we are visiting the area, it is absolutely wonderful! Tucked away in a corner of a strip mall, we found it quite by chance several years ago. The other restaurants I've mentioned are gentle recommendations. The Omelette Parlor is an absolute must-go if you are in the area. The online reviews often mention long waits; we've never had to wait at all, but we have always gone there during the week. The food is fabulous, the staff is friendly, and the decor is fun. Go; you won't be sorry.

OK, after fortifying ourselves with plenty of calories, we went to Huntington Beach (after a stop back at the hotel for bathing suits and sunscreen, natch. Still wishing for the sheep-dip sunscreen vat.). Huntington is generally considered a better beach for surfing, and we certainly got some good waves. The heat wave had broken and it was a little chilly, but fortunately we had our wet suits (which meant that I only needed about 25% of the sunscreen I put on. Oh well.). I really got a workout that day, but playing at the beach never feels like exertion to me, not like the exercise I force myself to take daily so I don't turn into a slug. Swimming, surfing, splashing about in the water are so much fun that I'll keep on until I drop.

After cleaning up, we went shopping at Southcoast Plaza. I should say window shopping, since this is a very ritzy mall, featuring names like Cartier and Dior. However, I did make one very important purchase:

I got my See's fix. IMHO, See's chocolates are the best in the world. Maybe it's because I grew up with them, but no other chocolate I have ever had matches See's in my book. Buying some See's candy is absolutely essential whenever I visit California. I will not leave the state without it.

Friday was reserved for visiting friends, which is just as well since my muscles were protesting Thursday's activities. Then it was time to pack everything up in preparation for a very early departure Saturday. Insanely early. Criminally early. (I'm really not much of a morning person).

In all this whirl of visiting beaches and islands and ships, I hardly picked up the knitting needles at all. But, I did have quite a bit of car time out and back; 57 hours, in fact. OK, much of that time it was dark, and sometimes I was asleep and sometimes I was driving (tried not to do those last two simultaneously), but what do I have to show for the rest of the time? Here's what I took with me:

1. Sideways garter stitch hat, in Noro Kureyon. Done except for binding off and seaming, which I plan to try doing in one operation. We'll see how that goes. This was perfect car knitting; garter stitch with short rows to keep from being boring, yarn and needles big enough that the occasional bump in the road wasn't a problem. Only downside was, it was over very quickly. I was done before we arrived in California.

2. Wildfoote socks. Made some nice progress, in spite of little bitty needles and fine yarn not exactly being the best choice for car knitting (some of those roads could have been a little smoother).

3. ILG socks. Didn't knit a stitch. Not a good candidate for car knitting, what with cables and charts and such. Thought I would work on them in the hotel, but I never did. See earlier references to being wiped out.

We had a wonderful time on our trip, but we were also glad to get home Sunday afternoon. The vermin seemed a bit wary at first, as if they were wondering, "Do I know you?" But by the time we ate dinner (and fed them theirs) and sat down to relax after that long drive, they not only remembered us but wanted to be near us (or on us) constantly.