Destination Oregon- Day 13

Dear Hubby wanted to go to the gym this morning and asked if I could amuse myself for a couple of hours while he went. Silly Dear Hubby!  The hotel we are staying at is walking distant to one of the local quilt stores, Joann fabrics and an outlet mall. “ Gee, I’m gonna be hard-pressed but take your time”.  I was laughing all the way to the quilt store called BJ’s Quilt Basket. It was lovely having time to look around without that little voice saying…are you done yet.

We had booked 3 nights in Bend during the quilt show and today we spent the day trying to fill time enjoying the sights. We drove to Tumalo Falls which are quite beautiful. On the way there I’m reading the GPS and the road we’re travelling on is Bear Wallow Road. Now I want to really see these falls, but I’ll be damned if I’ll say to Dear Hubby, “maybe we should reconsider as I’m pretty confident that there are bears in them there woods”. Typically people don’t name roads after non existent things in the area, do they?  I’m just hoping it’s a technical error on the GPS. Surely to god, there can’t be bears in the mountains of Oregon..that would be ludicrous.  Much worry for nothing as the road leads right to the falls and there are all kinds of vehicles and people around, so you know…safety in numbers! It was definitely worth the drive. There was also a Summer Fest on in downtown Bend. We stopped and visited that for a bit as well as had a picnic lunch at a park close by. They have the most beautiful parks throughout the town here.

You know that if you are taking Dear Hubby to a Quilt show, it’s not all about the quilting! You have to let him have a bit of fun too. We both have been enjoying all the beer choices along the way. Some of the names are so comical, makes you want to try them all. These are just a few….Fat Tire, Snarling Badger, Moose Drool, 3 O'clock Shadow, Bitch Creek, Fat Weasel,  Black Toad ,Big Foot Ale, Jumping Cow,  Nice Rack and my personal favourite Pin Up. Just to clarify..we haven’t been drinking them ALL, drinking some, taking pics of most.

Destination Amazing–Day 12

This was the view as I drove to Sisters Oregon today to visit the Sisters Outdoor Quilt show. The view was breathtaking, the mountains as well as the miles of traffic ahead to get there. It was traffic chaos to get downtown, but I opted to park at the local high school and be shuttled in which was a wise choice.

Once I got off the shuttle I was in complete awe. You really have to see it to believe and experience it. It  makes you want to go right home and quilt. The Stitchin Post hosts the local show which is always held the 2nd weekend in July. Their store is as awesome and inspiring as the show they host. Over the next days and months I will share my pics with you, it will take a while as I took 183 of them. I would have taken more but the camera battery died. Part way through the show I found myself sitting at the local library recharging…literally.

Hope you enjoy this little piece of heaven.

Destination Oregon–Day 11

We’ll we have finally made it to Oregon and tomorrow is the Sister’s Outdoor Quilt Show. We are staying in Bend, about 20 miles from the event. We are actually lucky to be here as a couple of days ago they closed the highway from Mountain Home to Boise because of a fire along highway 84.  They said it was a traffic nightmare as that appears to be the only highway that crosses the state there. When we drove the route, all you could see for miles was burned brush and grass, everywhere you looked was black. We travelled from Idaho into Oregon and along route 20 through the valleys and deserts of Oregon. The distance was about 500 kilometers, and during that stretch we drove through about 2 towns, not even towns, they were villages.

You literally saw no buildings or people for hours at a time. Then miraculously,  as my husband would say..in the middle of bum---- no where, in a small town called Burns, there’s  a quilt store….and a nice quilt store. It was so strange. The quilt store was called Country Lane Quilts. Nicely stocked, good selection of patterns and notions, rulers, with  lots of western fabric and patterns too. Believe it or not there slogan was “ Your Quilt Oasis in Oregon’s High Desert”…how true!

So, tomorrow I’m off to Sisters for the show, making sure that I have comfy shoes and a fully charged camera.

Destination Oregon- Day 10

We travelled from Yellowstone through Idaho and are staying at a little place called Mountain Home,  just outside of Boise. OMG it was hot today..how hot was it you ask. You know that Idaho is famous for their potatoes, right?…it was so hot that the potatoes were being harvested out of the fields, already baked!..43 degrees celsius hot! And that was at 6 o'clock in the evening.

 

We stopped in Twin falls after seeing the Snake River Canyon where Evel Knieval did his famous stunt. I had a little time in a nice store in the center of town called the Stitchin Time. I managed to pick up a couple of patterns and a new ruler to try when I get home.

Destination Oregon- Day 9

Definitely no quilt shops today. We spent  six bloody hours driving   the day exploring Yellowstone National Park. It was amazing and absolutely vast.  Old Faithful Dear hubby and I saw Old Faithful…and just our luck, we arrived at the site 5 minutes after it had erupted and  had to wait another 90 minutes. We saw the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and I was amazed at the likeness it had to the real one.  We visited the Upper and Lower falls as well as Tower Falls. Poor Dear Hubby was white knuckled by the time we were finished as the roads were sheer drop offs and barely enough room for two cars passing. Plus it  didn't help me yelling every two minutes to slow down, and every other minute yelling that he was too close to the edge. Maybe he was white knuckled gripping the steering wheel rather than my neck.

Destination Oregon–Day 8

We have finally hit the real mountains…amazing. We travelled from Wyoming, through Montana then into Yellowstone National Park. We are staying at a KOA cabin just outside the West Yellowstone Gate. We haven’t even pitched that blasted cool tent we bought. I know we will as we booked a few tent sites when we get to Oregon and Victoria BC .

  I did manage to get to a quilt shop today in Billing Montana. It’s been difficult as the drives have been long and my co-pilot is anal  on  a strict schedule. A lovely little shop called Backdoor Quilts. One of the woman who worked there used to live and work in Sisters so she was telling us all about the quilt show…can’t wait.

Destination Oregon Day 7

We took the Spearfish Canyon Loop drive to Deadwood SD and saw some amazing scenery. We spent the afternoon in Deadwood, an old gold mining town, now a tourist centre with lots of gambling. I think we lost $5 between us. We’re not great at gambling, plus it was much different than our casinos at home or in Vegas. They are very small with just a few machines and virtually empty.

From there we were off to Wyoming where the scenery changes yet again. There are very few trees and the land looks baron. We ran right into a huge thunderstorm as we travelled. You could see it approaching with huge lightening bolts. The rain was incredible with many travellers pulling off to the side of the road.  The picture shows it  as we travelled towards it.

We did stop in Gillette to visit a quilt store, however since it was Monday it was closed. I’m just not having much luck so far with finding many shops on route at the time we are traveling. It’s hit and miss. I just keep thinking that I will get my fill when I get to Sisters.

We are not however, having any difficulty finding beer for Dear Hubby. This is a Belgium beer that he found he liked and has been pounding  them back sampling a few. 

Destination Oregon- Day 6

We had a full day of sightseeing around the Mount Rushmore area today.

We took a phenomenal drive through Custer State Park. Hairpin turns, tunnels, amazing views, wildlife and nail biting ,cliffhanging roadways…literally.

We lucked out seeing Bison..up close and personal.

No quilt stores today as it was Sunday, but tomorrow is another day!

Destination Oregon-Day 5 …

Well the heat wave has broken and it was a pleasant day to see sights across South Dakota. Last night we stayed in Sioux Falls and headed on our way again today. Dear Hubby and I posed for a pic at Sioux Falls.

A short distance out of  Sioux Falls is a Sculpture tourist attraction. I had read about it on the internet and had wanted to see it. Looked  promising from the road. You had to drive down a dirt road a mile or so when you came across the artwork, a trailer, an abandoned metal shed and a sign scribbled in paint that said tours $6. That was enough for dear hubby. His quote…”we’re out of here, we’ re in the middle of bum ____ no where, some psycho is gonna come out in a minute, with one eye and a wooden leg, and I’m not paying $12 bucks to see _____. “  It’s evident dear hubby  has no taste   for culture. We ventured on and stopped in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace and da da da da a quilt shop was only a few blocks down… called the Pin Cushion. 

I picked up a nice bag pattern and a quilting stencil. You could see the scenery change today from flat farmland, to rolling meadows and cattle ranches, then the Badlands. Finally you could see the mountains in the distance, very faintly, but they were there. We had fun at our final tourist trap site called Wall Drug. I’m riding a Jackalope, a cross between a rabbit and an antelope…and the legend lives on.