I am in Idaho with my friend of 36 years. We traveled from home going north through Bend, OR and up to Walla Walla, WA. We visited her relatives and then headed east to Lewiston, ID, then south on 12. The highway follows the Clearwater River and the canyon is beautiful, even in the rain. The woman in the car ahead of us tried to avoid a rock on the road and went into the ditch and took out 2 highway signs and the bottom of her car. There was no blood, but she was hurt. We waited with her until the emergency vehicles arrived, then continued on our way. The sheriff told us that a rock the size of a washing machine had fallen the week before and landed on a car and killed 2 kids who were both sitting on the right side of the car. The year before on the same day a tree fell and killed 2 teens at just about the same spot on the highway. For the rest of the canyon we became very aware of all the places where rocks and trees had slid because of the saturated ground. We were happy to get out of there without incident.
The quilt workshop is held in the woman's log home. Donna and I are sharing a bedroom and there are 4 other guest bedrooms plus the owner's bedroom. The place is large, has fabulous views of hills and mountains and lots of pine trees and fields. The meals have been excellent. Today is the first sunny day of our trip. I have been sitting outside with my spinning wheel working on the wool I got from Eva at the Spindle Retreat. I am halfway through a second bobbin and it looks like the bag is just as full as when I began.
Donna has been sewing all day and evening since Thursday evening. She is making a queen size quilt top made of a zillion squares that all have to be in exactly the correct sequence. There are 5 other women working on the same design in various colors. They have all been working constantly.
I, on the other hand, have read a book, taken a nap, spent time on the computer, knitted on socks, daydreamed, and spun. I have also been blowing my nose a lot. I started a cold 2 days before we left CA and am now pretty much down to the bi-hourly blow. There are 5 of us here from CA, one from CO, and one is local. We are 12 miles from the nearest town, which doesn't sound like much, but it took almost a half hour to travel it. People here go to Lewiston (2 hours) to get groceries. They don't just pop down to the store. The lady in the car accident was on her way home from Lewiston and was very concerned about her groceries. Her back seat and trunk were filled.
It's been a nice relaxing time for me. We brought several books on CD to listen to in the car, but we haven't even started one. I have my Ipod to listen to, but I have been listening to the birds and the people chatter and the whir of the sewing machines. The clouds in Walla Walla and here are of the sort we don't see too often where I live. They are huge and puffy - like the kind childen draw. The sun comes up early and goes down late.
Having a good time.... pictures later!
