Has it really been that long since I blogged? We have been home for about one month so I guess it is true.
The trip across the country to get home was uneventful (fortunately....more later), and we spent two nights in the parking lot at the Winnebago plant in Forest City, Iowa. It is a very small town surrounded by Winnebago. The founder of Winnebago grew up in Forest City, and began his professional career as an undertaker. As Winnebago evolved, he kept it all in Forest City.
I was keen to take the factory tour, but I didn't see much because (1) the lines were not working the week of July 4, and (2) there were no lights on inside the buildings. However, there is a very cute quilt shop in the town so that was good compensation.
We drove along a bit of the Oregon Trail in Nebraska, but otherwise pretty much just drove toward Washington. We spent four days in the Spokane area at Clear Lake which has a Fam Camp affiliated with Fairchild. Our friends, the VanAusles, who own a home in Phoenix, spend their summers at Clear Lake so we were parked just a few spaces down from them. We saw friends and family while in the area.
Everything was in relatively good order when we got home. Craig and Colleen were good to stop in every once in a while to check on everything. Even with the hot weather, most plants survived.
The highlight of our summer has been the job of having had Warren and Nolan spend a week with us. We LOVED every minute of it. Uncle Craig and his boat were the highlights and I think the boys were out on it about five out of the seven days. In fact they stayed out on it for two nights running. Both boys were a joy to have here with us, and we hope we get to do it again next year.
Ken's cousin, Carolyn, and her husband, Irvin, were traveling in our area so we were very happy they chose to come by for a visit. They live in central Oregon, and none of our travels ever seem to take us that direction, so it was great to see them.
We were VERY GRATEFUL to have had an uneventful trip, because only after getting home and opening mail did we realize that I had overlooked paying the annual insurance on the motor home. So the entire trip from Maryland to the Maritimes and back across the country was without insurance. I was so confident I had paid it that I even removed the reminder from the computer's calendar, but I think I wss confusing paying the insurance with all the other tasks to get ready to go to Canada such as insurance cards and licenses.
I got home a week ago after having spent a week in eastern Washington and Eureka, MT for a quilt show and classes. My friend, Karen, and three of her quilting buddies were in Eureka as well. The entire town turns out for the one-day show with about 500 quilts displayed on store fronts and throughout the town park.
I stopped in Union Gap on the way home last week and bought peaches and some other fresh produce. So Ken and I canned about 16 quarts of peaches recently. I know it isn't cost-effective, but they certainly are tasty.
Steilacoom has a weekly farmer's market this year, and it is great. It isn't huge, but it has a good balance of produce, crafts, and snacks and all in all is very well done.
I have been spending some time trying to sort and reorganize my quilting area. It is amazing how quickly it can get to be such a jumble. I have completed a couple of small projects that have been hanging around forever, and am about to finish one quilt and finish a quilt top. I will not let myself start something else until I clear out the UFOs. There is another complicated partially completed quilt top that is lurking in my future before I can embark on something new.
Okay, I'll try to be a bit more prompt with my blogging!! Ciao
