Oh lord. What was I thinking? Ok, it was a car trip with The Husband. It was a three day car trip where I brought all of my yarn and fiber and stuff. That's right, we are home from Peewee's big adventure and after a couple of days of some crappy virus I can finally put my head up above it all and report in.
The whole time that we were preparing and overstuffing bins, little Tinkerbelle continues quipping in her special way...I can't BELIEVE that you are gonna GET all of this in the vaaaaannnn. Oh yeah? Well, if it were up to this space relationship challenged artist, that would be true but we were dealing with Packing Man. You know the type...blessed with a Tetrus Brain. I say...goferit.
So there, Pixiedust...it is all in there and quite neatly so, unlike the ride home when we packed the thing like 100 year old galley slaves! Oy.
We left on Saturday morning at Dark o'Clock as my friend Sam likes to say and headed off to see the Wizard. Day one, the Road Warrior drove us to our destination in Evanston, Wyoming. Yup, through California, Nevada (the home of the most ginormous bug splats I have ever seen...scary alien wasp things. Yikes! They survived by brainstem activity on the wipers. Ewwwwww) and on through the blinding salt desert to and out of Salt Lake City. Ok, so Evanston is a lovely little town just on the other side of the border from Utah, one whose claim to fame seems to be the plethora of Fireworks stores (open all year round) and nice people living in charming houses at the edge of the high desert. We fired up the laptop and checked email, putting the little white thing to sleep until the morning. All is well in the BAV and the night passes well.
Day two begins at the fanciest McDonald's I have ever been to, complete with flat screen TV's in the bathroom. Yeah, Wyoming and Micky D's Breffus. Things are looking good. We find the high desert charming in the early morning light and wave to the Bison and thank dog that WE were not the ones smashing into antelope in the night. Through Wyoming, which was a blur of sage, sage and more sage. Enough sage, already. The spectacular surprise was the archway celebrating Lewis & Clark, complete with silver horses and full on surprising artwork. Wyoming is surprising and I have been sporting a baseball cap to prove it.
On into Nebraska, where we are greeted by a big white statue of Jesus or Mary...someone tell me who this was, please. We roared past this religious greeter, figuring that we had better mind our California P's and Q's in Nebraska. :o) The sage gives way to irrigated corn and alfalfa in Nebraska. The change becomes more evident as we push on through the state...more corn. We pull into Lincoln to spend the night near the airport. It is a rundown part of town and I was a little concerned with the health of this particular Hampton Inn but the Hampton bed is the Hampton bed and a good rest was had. Of course I must mention that this state that greeted us with the big white religious figure also sports and advertises Adult Superstores next to Motel 6...Truckers Welcome. Yeah...no lie. Do you think that you could hear a condom ad on the radio station that I listen to? No way. These farmers are frisky! So, anyway, we go to fire up the Mac and nothing. Dead. Dead dead dead. Now I find that the tumble that it took (Thanks to Sasha the monster dog) broke something. Oh crap...no computer. We stagger down to the hotel computer and I do my email duty, visualizing the whole journey out of touch. OY! After an odd free breakfast at the hotel we push on to Iowa on day three.
Oh...Iowa. This state is green. This state is well fed and has the best highways and rest stops and corn. Corn, corn, corn. This corn is not irrigated for the most part because they get rain here in the summer. It makes a difference on this side of the Continental Divide. Goopy heat greets us dry heat denizens when we exit the cool BAV. Who cares? Look at this amazing rest stop...they carve art into everything. Iowa is doing A-OK and thanks to ethanol it will be doing a lot better. Yeah, Iowa. Green rolling hills with terraced cornfields that remind me of the terraced vineyards of California...the cash crop, growing everywhere. Green.
Cross into Illinois and the roads become a little rougher but there is still corn. We push on through the portion of the state that leads us to Indiana, thinking that we are going to miss the Chicago experience. Yes, we were getting cocky. Insert rude buzzer noise. ZooommmmmmmmSTOP. We have reached the place where the broken highway teeters unmercifully over a quarry. WHAT? Yes, an open pit on each side and 90 minutes to go 1.5 miles to pay 60c for the privilege of staring at wildflowers and tire trucks and craziness at the border. We did not hit a deer or a pronghorn but we hit the 80 nightmare. All of that sweet momentum came to a stop. Squeezing through the toll window and depositing 60 cents into the palm of the worn out woman we press on into Indiana. Let me just say this...this particular piece of business beats the SF Bay Bridge mess hands down. Chicago? You win...your mess stinks more than ours. Seriously. Now we are getting cranky. The third day in the BAV and what was a lovely journey, making good time suddenly turned painful. When would we ever get to Michigan???
We got there. We did and forgot that we would lose yet another hour to the line on the map. The wretches that exited the White Blur were not what should have gracefully sashayed into a 4 star hotel lobby. Believe me. Not pretty but d'ya know what? Michiganders are N I C E. I mean REALLY nice. Bubbly, too much information nice. I mean it. The wretches that staggered into the glamorous lobby of the Amway Grand Plaza were suddenly made welcome by the well trained and lovely staff. We were whisked to our spacious room in the old section and simply fell in love with the historic building. This place reminded me of our stay at Lake Louise. Wonderful.
Oh yes, we set up the next day. I am pretty happy with how the ginormous booth turned out but don't you east coasters think that you are going to have this much space to roll around in at Stitches East...aint gonna happen, Baby. Expect to meet your neighbor in a 10x10 but in the meantime feast your eyes on what you missed.
You know what? It was an excellent market with vendors that came from NZ and Canada and California, not to mention that wickedly talented white haired wood man from Vermont, Tom Golding. (yes, I dropped Kerry's name and was whisked into the spinning chair to fall madly in love with The Flock of the Shepherdess. I left my DNA...droooool.)
Needless to say I got some scorn from wood people when they caught me spinning on the Spin-tech but honestly, it was all that would fit into the truck. I mean it, really. How sad do I look? I am thinking...where are all of the PEOPLE??? Guh. Oh yeah, see all of that cool stuff in the foreground? That is the gorgeous product of Sheila and Michael Ernst. It was hard not to keep feeling up the orifice hooks. (that sounds rude, doesn't it?)
You see, I have my own. Michael made one specially for the ST, which is no mean feat, simply because of the unusual curve. People, if you have a ST, Michael can make one for you, too. :o)
Yup, I carried product with me that represented my friends. See the cute felted purses hanging there? They came from Holly The Webgoddess who knits AND keeps my website spiffy. I am SO loving the Teuffen bag that she made with Little Devil. Cute! Oh yes and see the ruffly scarf on the Judy? That is Tinkerbelle, AKA Brenda Patipa's new One Skein Wonder that she calls Do the Wave. Yup, it takes one skein of Sock! and we will be putting it on the site very soon. That pattern sold like crazy and it is just too cute and girly.
I have to thank the wonderful Indiana contingent that drove all of the way up to see us. You made our first day really fun and chatty. Yes folks, Indiana people are really N I C E, too! We waited until day two to exchange hugs and kisses with Elizabeth who drove up because She Had To, even if it was just for an hour. This is where I could rapsodize about the power of internet friends but when you love them by email, you love them in person. Such was the case with Elizabeth and her sweet little daughter and dear MIL. We had fleeting moments but it was enough of a connection to matter. She has the better shot of us from her camera. :o)
Last but not least, I carried more knitting from Brenda Zuk whose Byzantium socks were knocking everybody out. Rosemary Hill was represented by all of the fabulous logos stuff that she designed for me and also by her knitting of the medium sized Diamond Fantasy Shawl designed by Sivia Harding, which was a special printing for another one skein wonder with Sock! Merino. Sivia and Rosemary, this was a big hit. The adorable Lacey Shrug was designed and knit by my own assistant and resident yarn bin rat, Brenda Patipa. This pattern blew out of there as well and yes, we will be offering it on the site. It is so cute and this version was made with Fatima in the colorway The Sea. Yummy. Great job, Tink. (You folks that are coming to Stitches East will be able to get your mitts on a more of what is coming out of Brenda's imagination. Fun stuff!)
Thank you to the people of our country's mid-west. We enjoyed your company and openness.
You're back! Welcome home! I'm glad you had a good time, I'm glad for all the friends you got to see, and man, was I going through withdrawal. As in, no, I can't order any Petal in... Or Sock! Merino in... Sometimes you just have to wait.
And hey, on the time zone thing? At least, when we lived in Indiana for a year (Purdue U), the eastern half of the state went with the east coast time, and the western half went with Chicago. Really confusing to the airlines' scheduling systems. But the people made up for it--you're right, they're very nice. Crazy as all get-out, running to the top floor of the math building to watch the tornado that one time, but never mind. Welcome home! (Did they leave any for me?)
Posted by: AlisonH | July 07, 2006 at 10:57 PM
Ohh, Now I am jealous....why do I live in Denmark!!*GRIN* I really wish that I some day, will see you...and the other girls LIVE!:-)))
Thanks for a wonderful report....sounds like you have to invent a colorway called "Corn"!! *LOL*
Boy...Did I miss to open my browser, and see some news on your blog!!! That is way better than a Newspaper!!:-))
Posted by: Helle Reed | July 08, 2006 at 12:55 AM
What a wonderful travelogue! I loved seeing the drive east through your eyes. MickieD's with flatpanels in the bathrooms?? I'm too East Coast for words if that amazes me. Your descriptions are entertaining, amusing, informative. I want to play in your booth.
Posted by: Laurie | July 08, 2006 at 03:56 AM
i'm exhausted just reading your post!
Posted by: vanessa | July 08, 2006 at 04:16 AM
Thanks guys, it is good to be home. The trip home was interminable but each day we gained an hour. We learned about hit-you-in-the-face thunderstorm humidity the way home in Lincoln and then learned that people can shoot off aerial fireworks anwhere in Evanston, Wyoming. Yup...the evening of the third was spent in our jammies out in the parking lot of the motel (with our new friends from Oregon) watching people shoot hundreds of dollars worth of fun into the sky, marveling over how much trouble we would be in if we had them in California. That's ok, they spent the money and we didn't blow our fingers off or light half of our state on fire. :o)
Hell, Vanessa, I'm STILL tired...
Posted by: Lisa S | July 08, 2006 at 06:57 AM
Lisa,
Welcome home. I wish I could have gone to Convergence. The photos of your booth make me drooooolll!! Iowa is green, isn't it?!? We travel quite a bit, and whenever we return "home to Iowa" I do marvel at it's lushness. Glad you had a good experience in your drive thru. We do have nice rest areas...and yes, public art is a biggie too. but Shhhh.....don't tell anyone. :)
Kathy (Hoping to order more stuff soon!)
Posted by: kathy cochran | July 08, 2006 at 07:35 AM
That silver shrug in the last photo is exactly what I am looking for! Can I order this pattern from you?
Posted by: kim | July 08, 2006 at 08:16 AM
Wahoo, you're home again, Dorothy! We missed you, but it sounds like it was a wonderful show. I really appreciate the description of Iowa - my mom was born there, but I have yet to make it. :-) Thanks for the travel log - fabulous, as always! The booth looked great.
Posted by: Sam | July 08, 2006 at 11:00 AM
Too bad the corn wasn't ready to eat - nothing quite like corn picked that day.
Glad you're back home and feeling better!
Posted by: Kerry | July 08, 2006 at 04:01 PM
So glad to see you and DH are back in one piece. That was one mighty fine piece of driving all that way in the BAV!! We all missed you around here and the travel log was great! I hope to get there next year! (And btw, you haven't seen green until you hit the Bluegrass country here in KY! Well, that is until the end of July! lol)
Posted by: June | July 08, 2006 at 05:57 PM
Hey Lisa - I'm posting here for the first time. Yeah - I like hanging out together...except I'm way behind the 8-ball on MY blog. Isn't that typical??? More to follow, and some questions, too. But I'm so glad you're back. Hope Tank's doing swell, given his operation. Love ya, V
Posted by: Vicki | July 09, 2006 at 06:37 PM
I'm glad you got to check out those Golding products, aren't they something? and great customer support too. How funny to be traveling slowly enough to notice when you gain an hour - not like on a plane where you just get off and it's a different time. Oops it's 4:00 again, lookie! I am glad you will be less tired when you come to Baltimore, though...
Posted by: CarolineF | July 10, 2006 at 05:24 AM
How fabulously tempting it all looks. And it all fit into that van???
Posted by: Monica | July 14, 2006 at 12:23 PM