There's No Place Like Home

Even if it is still littered with unpacked bags and stacks of mail.  The trip to remember ended Wednesday as we arrived back in good ole Twentynine Palms.  The house looks good.  The yard has a few weeds and a lot of beautiful greenery.  There were two large boxes of mail waiting for us (Thanks Grandpa!) which I still haven't been through.  It has been very windy since we arrived, but that is part of the fun of living here.  Most of the bags are unpacked and today I've done laundry all day long.  We really accumulated a lot of stuff along the way and packed it all into that little van.  My new fabrics are so beautiful.  I can just sit and admire them for hours.  Joe has already cleaned his new purchase and is probably planning on the modifications he needs or wants to make to it.

I'm happy to be home and I'm very happy to have my spa back.  I've been in it at least twice a day since we got home.  It is so soothing to my still tired and sore body.  I'm happy to have my bed back.  I didn't sleep well the first night back but I'm sleeping better and better each night.  It was difficult maintaining our strict eating plan while traveling and we eventually strayed totally away from it.  My body feels it and needs to get back with it.  The most difficult will be getting away from diet Coke again.  I do love that stuff.

I have a million thoughts running through my head that I want to express about traveling, sewing, etc., but tonight I am tired and just need to rest for now.  I'll be quilting in my dreams.

Two Days in Heaven!

On Sunday, April 25, we spent the day as close to God as we'll ever get in this lifetime.  When we left Limon, Colorado, we headed to Denver and the scenery remained pretty with expansive farms.  We saw an antelope on two occasions, a herd of about 12 deer, and even a wild turkey out in the fields.  Even though we'd been through Denver before we were really struck this time with the expansiveness of it.  Because it was Sunday morning the traffic was light and we were through the mile high city easily and quickly and on our way to Vail.  This is when everything else we'd ever seen in our lives became nothing!  We climbed higher and higher until we were driving at one time at 10,667 feet.  It was snowing lightly and the snow was swirling and lightly blowing across the road.  The evergreens were frosted with snow.  The awesome beauty took our breath away.  This is something everyone needs to experience at least once in their life.  Without further description, I'll just post some pictures for you to enjoy.  Enlarge them and marvel in the beauty!

A tunnel through the mountain before we hit the snow.

The Colorado River after the snow.











When I thought it couldn't get any better, it did!  Monday we drove from Grand Junction, Colorado, to the end of I-70 and on down I-15 to Cedar City.  I was totally speechless as we went on and on through the rock formations, mountains, buttes, valleys, etc., created by millions of years of water running through and over the land.  I was so awestruck first by the creations and second by our ability to drive through it on a great interstate highway and take in all the beauty.  The mountains and buttes looked like castles carved out of the rock.  At times I thought I must be in the middle of some giant movie set.  Then I found myself asking why it has taken 64 years of my life to get here and see this. I'll never forget it nor ever get over it.  There are no pictures to begin to do justice to what we saw yesterday.  It was difficult to photograph while riding and it was more difficult to photograph when I just wanted to drink in every second with my own eyes.

I found myself thinking surely there is no place in the entire world more beautiful and more awesome than these United States!  I've traveled to a lot of other countries and some of you reading this have been to many more than I, but I just couldn't be happier than I am right now!  This has been the trip of a lifetime.  Someday Came!!!

Cold Colorado

We spent the night in Limon, Colorado.  It is about 100 miles southeast of Denver and it is as cold as I ever want to be.  I am very thankful that we selected a nice hotel (Well, the nicest one in this little rural town - Holiday Inn Express) because the cheap ones would have been freezing all night long.  The second half of Kansas became more and more cold and windy yesterday as we drove along.  Stopping to see things was difficult because of the cold wind.  Driving was a struggle because it was directly into the wind and mostly gaining altitude.  However, Kansas was still lovely and so far Colorado is also.  The farms are still large, wide open spaces of rolling hills.  We also saw lots of oil pumps.  The silos and grain storage are the largest I've ever seen.  From a distance they look like large high rise buildings in a city!  Each little commuity seems to have a quaint and beautiful church with a tall steeple that can be seen from the Interstate.  Throughout Kansas we saw a lot of fence posts, then buildings and other items made from a unique kind of stone called fence post limestone.  Here are a couple of pictures of it.

We did stop a few times, but it was just too cold to enjoy anything.  Without the wind it probably would have been fine.  Our desert blood is pretty thin.  When we see weather reports for the rest of the country, we are not complaining.  We're just happy to be where we are!  It seems we left the south and the Kentucky/Illinois/Missouri area just in time.  We know the drive today is going to be cold also and it is raining right now in Denver.  We are hoping to make Grand Junction, Colorado by tonight.  That will keep us on schedule to arrive home on Wednesday night.  I know there is a lot to see today as it is a very scenic route.

Hope everyone is having a terrific day whenever  you are reading this.  My horoscope on facebook this morning was a great philosophy.  It said the sure way to predict your future is to invent it.  That is what I am doing and a worthy goal for everyone.

In the Land of Oz

Kansas is NOT flat!  It is beautiful rolling hills with wide open, gigantic farms and neat farm houses and out buildings.  Everything appears very pristine.  We think it is prettier than Missouri, which also has beautiful rolling hills.  In Missouri every farm seems to have its own little pond or lake and many of the farmers were fishing when we drove through.  We also had our first and only rain in Missouri.  It rained all night long! 

Seeing the arch in St. Louis was another one of those dreams come true for us.  I couldn't stop smiling.  It is truly beautiful.  Driving through Kansas City was also beautiful and passing by Fort Leavenworth was interesting.  We've made several stops along the way when it wasn't raining.  (We don't like being out in the rain unless it is in the desert). 

I didn't realize how tired I would be from the quilt show.  I'm not used to being on my feet for long days and carrying bags a good portion of those days.  My entire body aches.   My brain thinks my body is still 25, but my body keeps reminding my brain that it isn't.  My brain is still reveling in the wonderful quilts and goodies from the show and my body is saying give me time to catch up to you, happy brain.

We should make the eastern edge of Colorado tonight.  We've had a good night's sleep.  Joe is getting anxious to be home now.  I'm still enjoying every minute of scenery and sights of the USA.  He is too, but he is just very tired.  He'll sleep for the first week when we get home and that's okay.  This trip has meant the world to both of us but it has also been a strain on him.  We're both so grateful for each other and for being able to make this great trip together.

Incredible AQS Quilt Show!!

The is simply no way to describe the American Quilters' Society Quilt Show, but I will try.  I've been to many quilt shows in my quilting years, but all pale compared to this one.  These are the big money quilts and the big talent quilts.  Ther are quilts here from all over the world, with many from Japan.  Most of the quilts displayed took a year or more of constant, dedicated hand work to accomplish.  I am not really into applique but I appreciate its beauty and recognize the tedious and time consuming work it requires.  So many of the full size quilts here are covered in hand applique.  Many also feature lots and lots of thread work.  There was so much to absorb and it was so crowded.  I purchased a CD of pictures of the entire show and also a program guide so I can study it all at my leisure.  I know for certain that I'll never have a quilt here.  I'm just happy that I could be here to see all of this talent!  Oh, the shopping was pretty good too.  There were lots and lots of vendors.  Some had new things I had to have.  There were some vendors from Southern California who recognized me and it was nice to see them.  Joe had a good shopping day at the local sporting goods stores.  We both simply collapsed last night into a very tired and restful sleep.

Here are a couple of pictures I took before the battery died on my camera.  In my excitement I had forgotten to recharge it.

A blue ribbon winner.  All hand applique.

This one was called "Honey, I'm Home" and is much larger than the picture.    All hand stitched.

Machine stitched, oh the matching and the wonderful effects of the fabric.

Gale in front of a poster of downtown Paducah

The carpet in the hallway of Harrah's Hotel and Casino in Metropolis, IL.  This is where we spent two nights.  Almost every hotel we've stayed in has had quilt patterns on the floor if one takes time to notice.

Paducah!

I'm here!  Quilt City, USA.  We arrived around noon today and spent a couple of hours in the American National Quilt Museum.  All I can say is "Oh my God!"  The work there represents some of the best in the country, both contemporary and antique and it is all incredible.  Of course they won't let you take any pictures but they are ingrained in my mind.  Joe even enjoyed them.  I got some really cool new quilting tee shirts there and a few other things.  This town is full of quilters from end to end and beyond.  The show itself starts tomorrow morning.  After the museum we had a late lunch and then made a lengthy stop at Hancocks of Paducah- THE quilt store.  I'd heard legendary stories about the store during the week of the quilt show.  I was not disappointed!  The back room of the warehouse was open and was filled with bolt ends of new fabrics in one yard lengths.  After I filled a cart with those I discovered more tables of one yard batik bolt ends.  Both Hancocks and American Express are happy with me tonight and I am happy with me for getting so many gorgeous new fabrics at great prices.  Then they had the nerve to tell me to stop by again tomorrow because they put out new fabrics every night.  As it was, someone had to carry my bags to the car for me!

Tonight we are at a wonderful hotel in the home of Superman - Metropolis, IL.  This is our first time to visit this state.  It is green and lush so far and is on the river.  We are at Harrah's hotel and casino for two nights.  I blew my $20 at the casino pretty quickly and decided I'd rather have fabric than gamble any more.  Joe is pretty tired and travel weary.  I think he will rest most of tomorrow while I attend the show.  I'm a little tired but too happy and too psyched to totally relax.  When we leave here it will probably hit me all at once.  Right now I am one happy quilter girl!

Another Day in Kentucky

It has been a breathtakingly beautiful day in Kentucky.  When we left Lexington this morning we traveled past gorgeous horse ranches with rolling hills and white fences filled with thoroughbreds.  We passed by a racing track and some of the most beautiful houses and landscaping.  The gorgeous scenery continued all day as we drove over to Elizabeth and then down to Bowling Green before coming over to Hopkinsville.  Just before Bowling Green we stopped at a cave museum and learned about Mammoth Cave and the many other caves in the area.  We would have loved to explore some of them but Joe just cannot walk long enough to do it.

Among some of the interesting things we saw today - very large barns painted black, restaurants with smoking sections, very large houses, and one two-story mobile home!  We are at a nice Holiday Inn tonight with a hot tub so I'll post a few pictures and go soak my tired old bones.