Sitting On A Corner (Bridgeport, TX)

That song was stuck in my head all day after our visit to Winslow, AZ.  

I love the Eagles so, I had to listen to "Take It Easy" a couple of times after we got home on my iPod.

I tried to get a photo of the Rte. 66 symbol in the center of the crossroads, but I couldn't angle the lens to include the building and statues.  I should have brought my wide lens with me.  One of those moments of "should of, could of".

The corner was having a slow day. There were less than 20 visitors while we were taking photos. We enjoyed visiting the corner, doing a little shopping, and finding a nice place to eat.  We ate at the Sipp Shoppe across the street while watching people doing their version of standing on the corner.  Plenty of posing going on! 😄

We stayed a couple of nights in our favorite state park - Homolovi.  We spent the afternoon walking a few of the trails.

Kiva

It's hard to imagine from these ruins that there used to be a Pueblo built with more than 1,200 rooms.

Homolovi II Pueblo

Pottery sherds are everywhere.  People have gathered up loose pieces to set on rocks for others to view.  I did not pick up any but I did spend quite a bit of time looking at the ground near the trail trying to identify the small pieces of pottery from the rocks.

The Hopi ancestors certainly knew how to pick a home with a view. 

And this is why we enjoy staying here.  Quiet, beautiful and untouched by man as far as the eyes can see.  Okay, I can see the highway, but it is far enough away to mute the sounds.  At night, you can see the stars.  Usually, we get spectacular sunsets, but smoke from the wildfires was blocking out the sun.  But....I did not leave disappointed!

I woke up just after 4 am on our first morning in Homolovi.

Giving up on sleeping longer, I decided I might as well grab my camera and watch the sun come up.  Boy, was I ever surprised by this outstanding sunrise.  I was told this looks similar to the Arizona state flag.

Okay, a couple of pictures of the cats.  Dusty (grey) has never been a cuddler with us or with the other cats.  He'll let Max sleep with him for short periods of time before he moves away, but I think he has finally decided that he doesn't mind cuddling with Max.

Or maybe Max is just too stubborn to give up on Dusty.  He looks pretty determined, doesn't he?

By the way, we are in (Bridgeport, TX).  This is to let you know where we are at the moment.  Not where the photos were taken.

On The Cutting Board

I'm making some progress on my quilt.  The second block that I decided to add to the Native Flair quilt is Kokopeli.  It took a couple of different designs to make him a little wider in the middle in order to add embellishments from the Native Flair designs.

This looks like it will work without overwhelming Kokopeli.

I still have a long way to go.  Back to sewing!
Happy Quilting!

Still Grand (Bridgeport, TX)

One of the stops on our travels to Texas was to visit the Grand Canyon.  This is our third visit here and I still find the views very Grand.  

I took a lot of photos.  I wanted to give you the full effect so no collages this time.  The colors and textures are amazing.

We walked the South Rim from the Visitors Center to the Kolb Studio.  Along the trail, there were pennies and years set in the path telling visitors how many years they have walked between each one.

Also, along the path were samples of different rocks with nameplates for visitors to touch.

Across the canyon and to the left, you can see smoke rising from two wildfires.  I can't get over how far I can see.  So clear with such brilliant colors.  Mother Nature at her best.

Looking down... a long, long way down, I wanted to know just how deep is the canyon.  It is 1.154 miles or 1,857 meters deep just in case you wanted to know.😉

Periodically, we would get a peek of the Colorado River.

I found looking straight down with a railing had a slight dizzy effect.  The trail doesn't get close to the cliff if there are no railings. Which is good for someone like me that trips over her own feet.  

We were surprised to see so many people standing close to the edge of the cliffs.   They are more surefooted than I am. 

Not as close to the edge as some people

Below, one guy on the left (red) was waving his arms and jumping up & down. ME - 😨

We finally made it to the Village.  Stopping for lunch, I had a delicious veggie wrap with southwest flavor at the Harvey House Café inside the Bright Angel Lodge.  Decent prices with fast and friendly service.  

Below is the walking trail to the bottom.  It looks like an interesting walk, but I would prefer a ride in a helicopter to the bottom or even take a raft trip down the Colorado River than to hike up and down this trail.

This ground squirrel was happy to show me the proper way to take a dirt bath.  He certainly did not mind posing for my photos.  

Last photo of our 'Grand' tour!  We stopped in Valle on Hwy 64 to check out this Western scene at a gas station.

On The Cutting Board

I'm working on my next Native Flair block and I will have photos for the next post.  For now, I want to share some new fabric to celebrate Día de Muertos.  While in Albuquerque, my friend took me to a couple of quilt shops and she pointed out this Day of the Dead fabric with cats in it.  

Of course, I had to have at least a fat-quarter ...or two.  It was too cute to pass up!  Now, I have the perfect fabric for this festive pattern that I have been wanting to make into a quilt.

Happy Halloween!

Waiting in Texas (Gordonville, TX)

Since my last post, we have traveled a lot of miles.  2117 miles since 8 October. We rarely travel that many miles in a short time.  Surprisingly, our cats did not complain about the long hours on the road.  They did want to explore each new stop though.  Sometimes that just wasn't an option with the overnight location.  Ever try to explain to a cat that it isn't a good idea to go outside...yea, doesn't work.

We spent a couple of nights in Williams, AZ.  A great little town within walking distance of the Grand Canyon RV Park.  We were a little worried about being so close to the train tracks.  It would not be the first time a train has woke us in the middle of the night, but to be this close really had us thinking we were in for a couple of sleepless nights.  Turned out we worried for nothing.  The trains were unusually quiet...quiet engine...only one short horn blast at the crossings...even the wheels on the tracks seemed quieter if that is possible.  Anyway, we had no problems sleeping.

We hope to return sometime in the future so we can explore more of the area and ride the train to the Grand Canyon.

 During our two day stay, we walked the streets a couple of times.  I enjoyed the old signs the most and took more photos of them than of the buildings.

 Next time, I plan to check out this gift shop.  Looks very interesting...

I did go into this shop....Of Course!  I could not pass it by with the door sitting open just begging me to come on in.  The Quilts On Route 66 was small, but fun to wander around and talk to other quilters.  

 

We stayed one night in Homolovi State Park near Winslow, AZ.  We stayed here a couple of times when we first started traveling in our old motorhome.  Great views of fantastic sunsets!

Desert Moon

I really miss the southwest landscape, so I was quite happy when we went straight into Albuquerque, NM (ABQ) from Homolovi SP.

I'm sorry to say that I did not take a single photo during our week stay in ABQ.  I spent a lot of time shopping, getting a green chile fix from Golden Pride (more than once), visiting with friends, and seeing our old haunts.  We even drove by our old house which was a big mistake since it is up for sale and falling apart.  Such a shame.

 We are settled in Gordonville, TX while waiting for our new motorhome to become available.  We have a couple of more weeks to go.

We could not ask for a better spot to relax and wait.  This is our view from the side yard.  Nice, eh?

On The Cutting Board

All summer long, my shop was very quiet.  I think I had two sales.  So quiet that I did not think to close my shop during our trip.  I just thought it would stay quiet.  It did not.....

Lots of Happy Campers!

On the very first travel day, I received an order.  I messaged back that it may take me a few days to mail since I wasn't sure how our schedule would go or where to drop off packages.  I am very thankful that she was very understanding.

New Apple and Owl Mug Rugs (coasters)

That order was the first of many during our travels south!  It was like the first customer broke open the dam and the flood of orders started!  I was excited and stressed trying to fill the orders on time.  I really did not want to close my shop since this was the most active it had been since leaving Florida.

New Southwest Vintage Trailer

With the long hours on the road, I did a lot of sewing.  All of the photos above and below are new listings.  Some have already sold.

Tea Towel, Ornament and Quilt

My fingers are crossed that my shop will see more activity through the holiday season.  During my quiet time, I had started working on some UFOs - 3 quilts and more mug rugs.  I need to get them done and listed.  Well, I better get back to the cutting board!

Happy Quilting!

Wild West Burros and Gunfights Oh My! (Pahrump, NV)

Yesterday was a travel day for us.  No fooling...okay, I had to get that in there for April Fools day.  I have to wonder who the first prankster and fool was to make such an impression to cause us to acknowledge a Fool's day.  Yea, I know.  I can Google it.

Anyway, we moved from Needles, CA to Pahrump, NV.  Before we left Needles, we went to Oatman, AZ.  A former gold mining town with shops and a couple of restaurants on Route 66 in the Black Mountains of Arizona.  A fun way to spend a quiet afternoon....hmmm....semi-quiet...well, you'll see what I mean as you scroll down.

We had a nice afternoon walking up and down the streets while eating ice cream from the Oatman Hotel and I took a few pictures along the way.

Old tractor parked near the street

Lots of wagon wheels

I thought the best part was the wild burros roaming around town looking for handouts.  The shops sell burro feed for a dollar.  The burros are descendants of the miner's burros turned loose when the mines closed down.  They are relatively tame, but I'm sure there have been some incidents since signs are posted to be careful around the burros.

This IS my good side

This is a photo of Olive Oatman - the town's namesake.  Inside the Oatman Hotel there is a photo and Olive's story.  I found her story to be very interesting and came home to do a little more research.  As usual, the stories vary so here's my summary of what I read:

Photo of Olive Oatman

During an Indian attack on their lone covered wagon, a young Olive and her sister were taken captive.  All of the Oatman family were killed except for one brother who survived a clubbing to his head.  Olive and her sister were later sold and adopted by the Mojave Indians.  Her sister died during their captive years.

Olive was traded back to U.S. soldiers when it was brought to their attention there was a white girl among the Mojaves.  She lived with her brother for several years while touring the country talking about the book written on her captivity.  Later, she married and lived the rest of her life in Texas.  Olive became the first tattooed white woman in America.

To me, it sounds like the "White" society had no problem accepting Olive despite her years in captivity and facial tattoos.  It is nice to know that our ancestors were more understanding than what Hollywood would have us believe.

We also watched a street show of the ol' West.....This is when the afternoon got a little noisy.  Some people jumped at the gun fire...okay, I jumped.  What can I say??  Anywaaaaay....

Old West Shoot Out Show

I was kneeling on the street while taking photos of the show.  I felt someone get close to me, but I didn't look up to see what they were doing.  Dan quietly said that I had a visitor and when I looked up......I saw the cutest burro trying to sniff my camera!  He left when he realized I had nothing to give him.

Pssst! Yo, got any apples?  Carrots?

A bunch of burros showed up after the first gun shot.  The warning shot must be like a dinner bell to them.  They know there will be the largest gathering of humans and food for them during the gunfight.  Oh, and none of them so much as flinched when the shots were fired.  Nerves of steel, I tell ya.

If the gun doesn't convince them to give money,
I'll help by convincing them with a kick, okay?

I thought this was a great ending to the show with all the burros and a stage coach showing up.  The stage coach stopped right next to us.  The driver asked us if anyone was killed and Dan answered "only one!".   Yup, great day!

Stage coach has arrived

On the Cutting Board

I think starting this project over was the best thing for me.  The applique work on this one is going so much faster.  I decided to pencil in the positions for each piece.  I made sure the markings were at least 1/8 of an inch inside the actual piece so all the pencil markings will be covered.  Because I marked the background ahead of time, I have saved a couple steps with a light box and trying to pin the piece in its proper spot.  

To me, this has been a lot less stressful.  With the light box, something was always slipping out of place which had me  pinning, re-pinning, re-checking, and re-positioning.  So my couple of steps could add up to a good 15 minutes of pinning and positioning before I was satisfied.

 My Uncle Sams are coming along....

Well, we are off to explore Pahrump, NV.  Catch you later!

Happy Quilting!