Road Trip

Every fall Beth and I try to get away for a few days. Mom and dad are coming home from Myrtle Beach in a few weeks and suggested we go away sometime in November. We started talking about it. Vegas is the first place we said. I'm not sure I want to sit on airplane for 5 hours with my cough so that got crossed off the list. We had fun at Foxwoods in Connecticut a few years ago but that is a 9-10 hour drive. Where can we go a bit closer to home? Cathy and her family go shopping in Michigan every December. She said there is a great mall with a Nordstroms, Apple, Lush, Coach and California Pizza Kitchen. That has to be a great mall.

What is near the mall? It's not too far from the MGM Grand Detroit. Perfect. So I start looking and there are two more malls within 40 minutes of the hotel that both have Norstroms, Lush, Coach and California Pizza Kitchen. Then my dad asked if we were going to a football game. Excellent idea. We picked the weekend where Green Bay will be in Detroit. And the football stadium is a 5 minute drive, 20 minute walk from the hotel. Things are looking good. Then I started looking online. There is a zoo not too far from everything. Beth's eyes lit up. She loves the zoo. When I looked at the website they have polar bears. That was the clincher!!

The Arctic Ring of Life is North America’s largest polar bear exhibit, which also houses arctic foxes and seals.  This state-of-the-art, $14.9 million, interactive facility encompasses over four acres of outdoor and indoor exhibits. 

The most unique feature of the Arctic Ring of Life is the spectacular 70-foot-long Frederick and Barbara Erb Polar Passage, a clear tunnel that winds through a vast underwater marine environment.  This 12-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall tunnel takes visitors underneath diving and swimming polar bears and seals!  The bears and seals are separated from each other by a transparent barrier but appear to share one aquatic environment.  Visitors then arrive in an "ice world", passing through a frigid ice cave and finally entering the Exploration Station with additional indoor viewing.

The Arctic Ring of Life was named the number-two Best Zoo Exhibit in the U.S. by the Intrepid Traveler’s guide to “America’s Best Zoos”.

We can't wait.

Jane called this morning that Mr. Canada Post was there with 8 boxes.

The first was full of addi Turbo needles including the new addi-Art Diamond needles.

The addi-Art ‘Diamond’ is sure to be on every knitter’s holiday shopping list this year. Unique in all respects, the limited edition needle was handcrafted with great patience and care. This once in a lifetime creation features a visible core of genuine Swarovski crystals which twinkle and dance in celebration of every stitch you knit. The construction of a needle this special required the utmost attention to detail. Thus, for a single day in the fall of 2012, addi devoted their daily production to focus all efforts on this individual item. Keeping with addi’s hands-on tradition of manufacturing, each individual Swarovski crystal was painstakingly placed into the heart of every needle. The final product gently blurs the line between form and function, constructing a piece of art, with purpose.

The addi-Art Diamond is a 32” 10mm-US 15 circular needle.

Look to the horizon, as the addi team continues to allow their artistic creativity to inspire additional addi-Art designs. Each design will be released in a different size, resulting in a full set of limited edition needles.

The second box was from Offhand Designs.
There are four new Scottie bags and four new Marcellas including Roseville (shown).

Then there were six boxes from madelinetosh.

This is vintage in the new colour night bloom.

Two boxes were filled with merino light. I couldn't resist-this will make an amazing Color Affection.

-rainwater
-night bloom
-whiskers

My job this afternoon is to get the website updated.

Then there are a couple of other jobs. A few boxes need to be packed for Mr. Canada Post to pick up in the morning and then there is that awful A word (accounting) that needs to be done.

I made it to 6" on my Linen Stitch Scarf last night! Now I need to work. Maybe knitting tonight. :)