I am never one to turn down an adventure, and last week I got to tag along with my best road trip buddy to the Charlevoix region in Quebec. It was my first time in that area, and I must say that it was gorgeous.

This was the view from our room:

Although I did do a fair bit of work while I was there, I was also able to enjoy a change of scenery and the opportunity to stretch my office-cramped legs and go for some long walks. I also knit a bit, of course!

I finished two Lizard Ridge squares. One was made up from the leftover bits of Kureyon from the first ten squares, because I can’t bear to let those little balls go to waste. Here they are, bursting out of my Booga Bag:

I am still loving this pattern, but progress has been a bit slower as I have been forcing myself to do other things. Like trying to finish the third pair of socks for 2008… the 3×3 ribbed pair which I will be gifting to… oops, I can’t say! I am 75% finished and hope to bring them down the home stretch on the weekend…which should be easy, since I’ll be taking a cross-country plane trip. They’d better let my beautiful Harmony needles on the plane or I will have a serious hissy fit right at Security.

Funny, I remember going to the U.S. from Canada less than two months after September 11, 2001. I flew in and out of several airports in Texas, and there were men and women from the National Guard everywhere. At one airport they had an older woman behind a screen for inspection, because the hooks on her girdle were setting off alarms. They were confiscating nail clippers and tweezers, but I was astonished to discover that long metal knitting needles were allowed on board! Wow. I remember thinking that it would be pretty hard to nail-clip someone to death.

Anyway, I’ll be taking a variety of needles with me, just in case. The reason I’m anxious to get the socks done is that my husband’s nephew and his wife are expecting a baby boy very soon, and I would like to make him a little something. Maybe something like this striped hat.

But back to Quebec… I understand that there is a book on the market called French Women Don’t Get Fat. I’m not sure what the premise of the book is, but I know the real reason they don’t get fat: it is because they stretch their meal out over hours and hours. Holy cow. I’m all for lingering over a beautifully prepared meal, but at one point I thought my friend was going to gnaw on the table leg, and I actually had to go back to my room (remember the cramped office legs?) after waiting for 2.5 hours for my fruit and cheese plate. I’m not kidding! It was because people meandered into the dining room to join our party, and the staff was too well-trained to serve our main course before the newcomers received their appetizers!

Too funny. Of course everything was delicious and beautiful in the Charlevoix area…just have some carrot sticks before you get there.

And bring your camera. I snapped some quick photos on my walk into La Malbaie, the nearest village. There were churches aplenty along the way, and it is hard not to feel close to God when this is what greets you around every corner:

And here was another little divine moment…sitting on the deck with my knitting and tea, with a gorgeous view and birds tweeting nearby:

Life is good.