Teaching and Tahoe...

"Bluebird Sewing Box" - The Class Project

Believe it or not, I am still really under the weather...sick as sick can be...and it is definitely not a cold, as some of the highlights include a 102 temperature, chills, sweats, terrible aches, weakness and dizziness - along with all the regular, nasty head cold symptoms and a terrible cough....so for my purposes, this will be known as the "California Flu". The California Flu has had me in bed or on the sofa for the last three days and is still hanging on...in fact, this post is coming to you via my laptop while I am curled up in bed (hopefully on the mend)...and will probably take me several writing sessions (my focus is limited and only good for short periods of time)...therefore, any typographical or grammatical errors are unintentional and probably a side effect of this gruesome illness...

So let's talk about my teaching trip to California...
It started out a little hectic...I was supposed to fly from Des Moines to Denver to Sacramento...well, it didn't work out that way. My flight (on Thursday) was several hours delayed getting out of Des Moines (the plane was coming from Chicago and it happened to be on the day with the terrible thunderstorms and flooding)...and although they held my connection in Denver to Sacramento for a couple hours, a sprint from one end of the Denver airport to the other found me out of breath and watching the last daily flight to Sacramento taxiing away from the gate. Ugh. All the flights for the following day were completely booked and I got an immediate notification that I was scheduled on the 6:10 AM flight for Saturday morning - well, that wasn't going to work, as I had a class to teach on Friday evening (and I really didn't want to spend 36+ hours in the airport). I started the tearful walk to the airline help center to see if there was anything they could do...I knew there was one last flight to California on Thursday evening (I had done my homework)...and as I was passing through the airport on the moving sidewalk, I saw the gate for the 9:45 PM flight to San Francisco (the last flight of the day and my only hope of getting to CA). I  hurdled the sidewalk railing (seriously), headed straight for that gate, and prayed for a miracle. Once the counter was open, I was put on standby for the flight to San Francisco...and I was (you guessed it) number eleven...bye, bye hope. I called my dear friend who was going to pick me up at whatever airport I could get to and broke the news...it was not looking good. Somehow, they made room for twelve passengers and I got on that flight - it was a blessing - and I am so glad I was proactive and hurdled the rail of the moving sidewalk. Great news, I made it California - it was after midnight and we had a long drive to Modesto, but I made it to California!! I think we arrived at about 2:30 AM...too bad my luggage was still in Denver. I won't go into too much detail - but let's just say, all the attendees got to see me without make-up in day-old clothes with my hair tied up...basically at my worst (I just used the explanation that I was practicing for the Koman 3-Day event I am participating in this coming November)...how embarrassing. My suitcase did arrive at 2:19 Saturday morning...and even more convenient, it was "signature required" - yep, doorbell ringing, dogs barking, everyone awake at 2:20 AM. But I must say, after all that, it was a fabulous trip!

It was so much fun to see all my California friends and stitching family...and we had such a marvelous time! Friday morning/afternoon, I got a chance to see many of the attendees at Elegant Stitch (of course everyone wanted to do some shopping - including me)...that evening we had a wonderful light dinner at the hotel...then started the "Bluebird Sewing Box" class. I was thrilled to see everyone finish their floral scissor fob and we even had time to start covering the rest of the class materials. Saturday everyone had a chance to start stitching...and many had a very good start on the project! After breaking for lunch, we finished covering all the class materials...I signed all the class notebooks...and I had a chance to visit with each attendee, one on one. After class, we headed back to Elegant Stitch for more shopping and visiting. It was a FABULOUS couple days and I truly enjoyed the entire event. It is always such a blessing to travel and meet fellow needleworkers...and even more fun when I get to return and see so many familiar faces...plus there were new faces, as well. I just adore Elegant Stitch and all my California friends!

Once the Elegant Stitch Workshop was complete, I had plans to stay in California with Lois and Bruce and do some sightseeing! Lois and I had made plans to spend a couple days in Lake Tahoe...and a day in Yosemite National Park...both of which I had never visited before...yes, I know I am such a lucky girl! Sunday morning we were up bright and early - we did a ten mile walk in Modesto, then set out on our journey to Lake Tahoe. This (born and raised) Iowa girl was pretty much blown away by the entire trip - the snow-capped mountains, the HUGE trees, the water, the wildlife - it was incredible (I will let the photos do the talking). We drove the entire 72 miles around the lake - stopping at ALL the scenic overlooks, where my jaw was consistently dropped...we picked up a late picnic lunch and ate on the beach...we stopped at Vista Point and Memorial Point...checked out Emerald Bay, King's Beach, Crystal Bay, Fannette Island, Eagle Falls, Heavenly Village, and the Y (to name a few places)...we saw it ALL. Around 6:15 PM, when we were finishing our scenic drive and heading for the lodge (are you ready for this??) we actually saw a tagged momma California brown bear and three (YES, THREE) bear cubs...seriously...we saw four bears along the roadside! It was a challenge to get good photos from a moving car (sorry for the blurriness, but I had to show you my proof!)...at first we only saw one bear (the one I have a close-up of)...but then we saw the momma and two more cubs in the distance - it was incredible and unforgettable...I can't believe I actually saw bears!
So without further ado, here is just a tiny bit of Lake Tahoe through my camera lens...

So there you have it, just a taste of the beauty I was able to take in while I was visiting Lake Tahoe...it was truly breathtaking! I will be back with more photos from my visit...including a few from Yosemite National Park. For, now it is back to bed for me...I *have to* get rid of this terrible "California Flu"...