December 3, 2005

Westward Ho ....trip report

Day 1 - 11/28/05
The car is packed and an early Christmas dinner with the kids and grandkids is done. It's time to get on the road. Slow driving with freezing rain and dense fog from New Hampshire through Connecticut. Long day with 425 miles driven, ending in a motel in Harrisburg PA.



Day 2 - 11/29/05
The start of the day's drive wasn't too bad, but by 11 am I hit the band of nasty weather with torrential rains, thunder and tornado warnings. I called my friend, Bevvie from the top of some mountain rest area where it was raining so hard I couldn't see the front of the car. Another slow drive in and out of very heavy rain and the big semi's. It was so good to get to Johnson City TN to spend the night with Cindy Tipton. We treated ourselves to a Chinese buffet for dinner and caught up on all of the gossip. Another 495 miles driven.

Day 3 - 11/30/05
It was so nice to get up to coffee perking and good company for breakfast. Cindy took care of bead business while I woke up. Then we went to her shop, Cindy's Crafts. I had an order to collect and things to pick up for my beading friends in Gilmer TX. It was a creative effort to poke bead mats, books, bead tubes and other misc. beady things into the nooks and crannies of my already stuffed car. Cindy has the most comprehensive craft store that I know of. It is a small building that has everything that a beader or crafter could ever want. It's nice to find that an internet friend is as nice in person as on the screen.

Now I had to hurry as I had to be in Memphis by dinner time. The weather was colder, but nice, so I put an audible book in the CD player and drove an easy 496 miles. I arrived at Mel's house just in time for a good home cooked dinner. It was nice to land in a comfortable house I knew and could really relax.

Day 4 - 12/1/05
This was a non-driving day to spend with a good friend. We waited for her new appliances to arrive and then took her Mother out to lunch. The afternoon was spent exploring Art Silver Clay and working on some beading projects. I got my cat fix and played with her two cats, Kismet & Mallory. I'm in the doghouse with some of my other friends as I did not want to go see Graceland or do anything Elvis related.

Day 5 - 12/2/05
We got up early... Mel went to work and I got back into the car to drive the 402 miles to Gilmer TX. It was chilly enough that I put wool socks on with my flip-flops. It was an interesting trip as I got lost on the back farm roads in East Texas and ended up making a big wide circle.

I'm here now with 4 of my best beading friends for a week of fun and good giggles. Marcie, Bev, Becky, Jackie, and I will have a great time beading, eating, sleeping at odd hours, and catching up. We call it the "Gilmer Getaway".

Day 6 - 12/3/05 Gilmer Getaway doings...
We stayed up way too late, catching up on the last 6 months of life. It was hard to get up at a reasonable jour, but we had to as we were scheduled to have a beauty day. Our favorite hairdresser is in Gilmer - the kind that cuts your hair so well that it seems to fall effortlessly into place. I had my hair colored and cut - how nice to feel stylish once again. Jackie and Becky had their eyebrows waxed - ouch, that's not for me! Bev had her hair combed out, styled, and is now feeling sassy.

We got home in time to put on our jammies and cook dinner. We had a great meal as usual with everybody doing some of the cooking. Then we got some beading time in.

We are all working on 3" mystery bead embroidery squares. I did the design, cut it apart and gave one to each participant. When they are all finished, I'll sew them together and the rest of the gang will see what it looks like.

2 comments:

  1. Judith, I love that you have a blog now and I'll get to hear what your trips and your life in AZ are like!

    Long-distance hellos to the beady bunch!

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  2. Thanks, Jenny... The wool roving from you is getting put to good use today - we all love having enough colors to make things with.

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