Idyllwild, Day 2

The Road to ISOMATA

This morning I did a few errands in the Village...post office, drug store, etc. Then I packed up my knitting and drove over to the Idyllwild Arts Foundation Campus.

As mentioned in previous posts, I spent many happy summers as a camper and counselor here. I wanted to see how the campus had changed. When I was a student at ISOMATA, it was primarily a summer camp and was used as a retreat for USC faculty and educational groups during the winter. Now, it's a year-round campus.

Wow! I couldn't believe the changes! Instead of rickety lean-to studios, there were fully realized buildings on campus. There's a sound studio, photo lab, dance studios, a full dining hall and more. I saw many students toting their instruments, on their way to workshops. I visited my old haunt...the ceramics studio, while a class was in progress. The equipment was much improved. I did meet up with one or two old friends as I sat among the pines and knit a bit on my February Lady Sweater. It was a great day.

I came back to the Village later, rested a bit before going out to dinner at the Idyllwild Pizza Company and a meet-up with the Idyllwild SnB. Vanessa is the moderator of the Idyllwild SnB. She was so welcoming. The group is great. There were 6 of us there. Sometimes they have more, sometimes less, depending upon everyone's schedules. The ladies were either knitting or crocheting beautiful pieces! It was a very fun evening. I hope to visit again when I can.

Note to all knitters and crocheters: Look up the SnB group in the town where you plan to visit. Stitchers are great people and it's always fun to meet up with your fellow craftsters!