A road trip well worth the trip

My girlfriends and I hoofed it up I-35 yesterday to see the Yarn Harlot in Wichita, KS. And in honor of the Harlot herself, today's blog entry will be in the form of a list:


1. The girls and I had a great time. Some of us "bullied" Hillary into starting her first sock:




Despite the usage of the harsh word (bullied) I assure you that Hillary was very excited to be biting into her first sock.

2. Wichita is a nice town. I've never been there before, and I enjoyed myself. It's got art, great shops and food. Some of us dropped some coin; some of us dropped a lot of coin; some of dropped a little coin. Apparently Lindsey thought it important to catch me in action:

I'm in red, and that's the owner of Twist, Shelly, happily helping taking my money. Shelly was a delight. Very very gracious and helpful and again, she has a great shop.

3. There was also lots of fondling:

Lindsey fondling some lovely wool.

Chris and Hillary were all about the stuff.

And Hillary knit some more on her sock. It seems like just yesterday that we coerced her into changing her 100'th scarf into a bag, and here she is starting her first sock (sniff sniff):

4. Then we walked about a block down the street to eat a quick bite at a little Mexican restaurant. There was beer, warm chips, spicy salsa, and an exciting afternoon in store.

5. But really, let's get to the good stuff -- the Harlot. She was a delight. Witty, smart, wildly entertaining, and everything you could've ever imagined or wanted. The venue was very very roomy and very very chilly (which I loved, but then I have extra insulation).

And when the Harlot arrived, the energy rippled through the room. None of my pics of her behind the podium came out worth a damn, but this one did.

A lovely young girl standing behind me took this picture. I commented that I didn't need a do-over on the pic even though I looked "old and pissed" -- Stephanie related to my comments (being the victim of photos like this for years and years herself) -- but she's a real trooper. We like her....I brought her a small gift (hope it was good and cold, Steph) but what I should've brought her was an ice pack for her signature hand. How she manages to sign all those books legibly is beyond me.

Then when it was almost over, I heard a loud chorus of voices shouting my name. More Oklahoma folks were there. Meet my favorite masseuse (near left) and the rest of the Oklahoma contingent:

But now I must dash. Time for a bit of yoga.