road trip wrap-up

that was a whole bunch of traveling and doing for a 5-day road trip.  Linda, Denise (her SIL) and i left friday a.m. for the cabin on the Metolius River at Camp Sherman.  before we even got to the cabin we almost passed up a small local quilt show, but not wanting to miss anything, Linda pulled into the parking lot in time!  there may have been 50 quilts there... some really inspiring. then on to the cabin, which was absolutely perfect!  the Metolius River is at the edge of the front yard.  huge old trees around the house.  did you know that if you put your nose up to the bark of a ponderosa tree, in a groove in the bark, and take a deep sniff, you can smell vanilla??  yep.. really!  just a bit of trivia... 

The really big and fabulous quilt show experience began Sat. a.m. when we drove to Sisters, finally found a parking place and started the walking.  the main street, plus 2 others and the cross streets were closed to traffic and there was a huge muddle of people walking and looking at the 1300 or so quilts displayed outside and on the walls in the businesses and eateries.  it was quite overwhelming.  and some truly lovely art quilts and examples of all types of quilts.  we were so lucky that it was a clear, sunny day and did not get uncomfortably hot til mid-afternoon, by which time we'd been there for 5 or 6 hours just walkin' and gawkin', along with thousands of other people, and decided we could go back to the cabin.  i'm not sure i could see all the quilts even if the show went for 2 days.  so, back at the cabin we recovered from the day with a nice dinner and wine... also, spinning, knitting and Denise quilting.  and more wine...

On Sunday, we left Denise at the cabin, picked up Jane in Sisters and headed for Teresa and Jack Southworth's cattle ranch near Seneca, which is near John Day and Burns.  besides the cattle, Teresa has a flock of sheep and a bunch of llamas.... and if that wasn't enough... she also has a yarn shop in John Day... Skeins.(on Canyon Blvd).  it really was a wonderful evening we spent there... tour of the place, photo ops, Teresa's workshop where she processes her wool and makes felted saddle blankets, dinner, "black eyed susans"  ... could be deadly or at least make for a short night if not handled with care.  contains vodka, rum, triple-sec, orange juice, pineapple juice, a bit of lime and ice... sure does taste healthy with all that juice, but we were warned.  we stayed up late telling stories and laughing like lunatics.  especially loved Teresa's stories about ground squirrels!! on monday we got a tour of the headquarters of the ranch and really fascinating info about what happens there.  and we even saw a real cowboy... wearing a cowboy hat and boots and riding a horse.  i just wish i had the time and energy to go into all the details of what we saw and learned there.  after that, we got a tour of Teresa's yarn shop which has an amazing selection of yarn and books and fibers for spinners.  and then we got on the road again and went back to the cabin, had dinner, mojitas, more talking and laughing, some sleep and on tuesday made the 3 hour drive back to portland!  it was a fabulous road trip... and Linda did ALL the driving.  yeah, we all offered to do some of it... but ...

this is Teresa's trophy wall/gun rack.