Hello,

We are home form our California  and Oregon Trip.   It sure was fun, but as always there is no place like home.

Our first visit was to Sacramento , where my husband’s brother and wife live.   We were greeted by this display outside their front door.  There was music too as the skeletons danced and  played St James Cathredel.

They have a great fish pond with some of the biggest Coy fish  I have seen.   Cindy rings a bell and they all swim up to her to be fed.   We went wine tasting and enjoyed our time with them.

We took off on Friday morning north to  Bodega Bay.  Yes, that’s were the film “The Birds” was filmed.   I liked these  fellows from the window were we had Fish and Chips for lunch.  There were seals in the bay and lots of sea gulls on the roofs of the water front buildings.

We then  drove north along the twisty highway  1 along the shore.   I love the sounds of the waves crashing and the sun was beautiful too.

We stayed in the Windflower Hotel that night.    The flowers  were in such a vivid color.  It was beautiful.

Then we drove inland to highway 101 through a state forest of big Redwoods.   That road was twisty too  as you can see they road crew did not cut the trees, but dodged around them.    At times it was quite dark from the dense cover.

Next stop was Crescent City .   We stayed in the Northwoods  Best Western that night.   It too is on the ocean.   This sculpture was in the parking lot.

Leaving Crescent City, we turned land through Smith State park and again enjoyed the views.    This road too was full of S curves, and switch backs as it ran along the Smith River.

There were steep hillsides of shists as well and we drove into a fresh little landslide that punctured both of the tires on the left side of the car.    Several folks stopped to give us aid, but we needed towing .

Called AAA and they sent tow truck – but do to a bit of confusion and the fact that there was a second little land slide it took the truck  four  hours to find us.  It was also Sunday  so the tire place was closed.  The tow truck driver kindly drove us back to the  Northwoods Hotel  were we spent a second night.

We ate dinner at the Fisherman’s  Cafe and enjoyed our walk along the shore were there were lots of boats.

The Tires got replaced in 15 min when the car got in and we were off again.    Back through Smith State Park .  We drove through a section where 3 three  years ago,  there was a forest fire.   Still very desolate.    Having lost a day we drove up US 5  to Portland.  That took all day.  I am a true believer in GPS as I don’t think we could have niigataite the drive through that city with out it.  It took us directly to the hotel.

Then on Tue we went to see my brother and his wife in Vancouver WA.     Cindy is also a bit of a needle woman, and although she dose not consider herself to be a quilter, I was very impressed!  She out lined   quilted this panel beautifully.

We went to the Cove Restraint for a late lunch that day too and enjoyed ourselves.  There was a beautiful view of the Columbia river.   Then back to the hotel and a good nights sleep.

Our last bit of excitement was on the flight home.  We flew to O’Hair in Chicago .  Landed in plenty of time, but our gate was blocked, so we sat on the tarmac  for 45 min.    The  hour time allowed for changing gates was getting short  The piolet asked folks not in a rush to let those of us with close connections  off  first.    And they did!    So I waved   and thanked  all the seated people as we exited the plane,  Then having landed at  Gate 3 in concourse   A and our Syracuse connection was at gate 1 in concourse  B.  We had 10 min to make that run.    We  hot footed it  only to arrive and discover they were holding the plane 10 min for us and one other passenger.  We were so glad to get home last night event though our bags did not make it.  They came at 11:30 today.    Thank you United!   It was enough of an adventure for a while.

I did do a little work on the week end before we left however.

Progress Report: Clear Cut   This quilt is 45″ X 45 .5″.   I have not attached the sleeve yet, but I am calling it done.

I like how the organza shows through the layers.

Cut Away   I did a lot of pebble quilting on this before I left, but there is still about a third to do.

Lap 5    This top is all done now and ready for layering.     I so enjoy these little play exercises.

Roundie   I did this little guy in preterition for the trip.  It seems more timely now even though our run through the airport did not include bags.

I have a lot of yard work to do now  as lots of  leaves have fallen ,  but I enjoy being out in the crisp autumn air.

Keep Creating

Carol