An Awesome Vacation! Woohoo!

We left for vacation on March 24, and got back yesterday, April 17!  And we put 4, 187 miles on the car!  Whoa!

It was a fabulous vacation in every way!  The cruise, the visiting with relatives and friends, the golf, even the drive was great!  We saw some really beautiful parts of the country that we hadn't really checked out before.  And the weather was so perfect the entire time!  I think we lucked out in every way!

I've posted a few pics from the road, but here are the last of my vaca pics.

Besides driving around to find golf courses to play, we also hit several antique shops!  Yay!

I found this great 'yard long' military pic at the first shop we hit!  What luck!  Never did see any more along the way, so I was really glad I picked up this one to add to my collection.  Just above the pic is a little 6" wooden ruler.....old and very sweet!  And above that are darning eggs!  I've been collecting those for about 30 years.....and they are harder to find these days, but I managed to find 5 in one shop!  The mother lode!  lol  And a nice long spindle spool with wool attached, and a drawer from a treadle machine......these will make nice little display items in my antiquey house!  I also picked up 4 vintage booklets for tatting and one pot holder booklet.  I also collect vintage pot holders, and I've been thinking to make a few myself.....I just love 'em, but would never dare use my vintage ones.

We also managed to find a few thrift shops and I picked up 3 shirts for cutting up for quilts!  Woohoo!

And, of course, we stopped at Mary Jo's Fabric Store in NC.  The top of the pic shows my 6 yards of cheddar (Woot!) and some really great cotton candlewicking thread that I think would be perfect for some embellishment.  I got the colors that looked like they would go with my civil war repros......we'll see what happens.  I was very restrained while in the shop, and I'm kicking myself now......cuz each paddle of that thread was just 5 cents!  I should have bought the hold dang rack!  LOL  But again.......will I actually use it, hmmmmmm!  Maybe it's good I only bought ten paddles!  lol

As I said in my post from the road.......we turned this vacation into a Krispy Kreme road trip!  I ask you......is there anything better than seeing that red light on!?!

Holy cow.......I couldn't even wait to get a pic......HA!

It was so disheartening to learn that so many of the Krispy Kreme shops have closed!  There is only 1 in New England now, and that's at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Conneticut!  Sheesh!

When we were in VA,  the guy pumping our gas got so excited to see the box in the back seat....and asked where the heck we got them!  We had been in Greensboro, NC that morning, and he was so bummed, cuz they had closed the two shops that were near him.  Of course, we only had 2 left in the box, and there was NO WAY I was giving up either of those.  Is that greedy......yes!  But hey, we're talkin Krispy Kreme here folks!  I'll share just about anything, but not those!  lol

I'll tell ya, hubby was a real trooper this trip, cuz not only did he willingly stop at every antique, quilt or thrift shop I wanted to go into, but he also stayed awake the ENTIRE 4,000 miles of this vacation!  In case I haven't mentioned before, I do ALL the driving when we are together.  My hubby's driving scares the ba-jesus out of me!  So, rather than hear me freak out or whine about it, I just do all the driving.  Which is great, but hubby usually falls asleep the minute we leave the driveway!  Which made this vacation just that much sweeter......he stayed awake, he managed the gps the whole way, and we talked, and laughed, and noticed the scenery, and made plans for future drives, and had a wonderful time!  It was amazing!  And he's awesome!

When we got home yesterday, the first thing I saw was our 'crazy tulip'!  We call him crazy, cuz he is the first thing that pops out of the ground, usually while there is still a lot of snow!  And most years, there is no bloom, just leaves.  We never planted him, he just appeared one year......and has come back each year!  None of my other tulips have survived the gophers, but this little guy is still around!  And we caught him in bloom, too!  Yay!

And, of course, the first dang thing I wanted to do was sew.......but I just wanted to push fabric......nothing too mind-bending!  So I cut a bunch of 2" squares from my repros, and started sewing them up!  These will finish at 6" square, and I've cut enough for 9 of them......I'm thinking to put them on-point......but I'm not there yet.

Here are 2 finished, and 4 still needing the center seam.

I'll finish these up tonight, and tomorrow I'll be working on my jubilee quilt again.  The top is really at the nearly-finished stage......I just need to sew the blocks to the sashing, then the borders, and I'm done.  I'm pretty excited about getting it this far so quickly, and I can't wait to get to it tomorrow.

You know, vacations are awfully fun, but it really is good to be home again.  I love sleeping in my own bed, and having home-made soup for supper (it was sooooo good), and getting back into a real routine.  I spent today going through the tub of mail, balancing the checkbook, tons of laundry, grocery shopping, catching up on blogs, and playing the computer games that need more 'connection' than what the hotels can give you.  I even got to go thrifting today, and picked up several more shirts to cut up for quilts.  Yeah......it's good to be home!

Have a great day!

regan

Still on Vacation! Woohoo!

I'm still on vacation, but I have a few minutes of internet access, so I thought I'd post a bunch of pics from the vaca so far!  We are on the last stretch of it.....should be home in about 5 days.  I just love how driving vacations can linger......and I am making sure we are taking our time!  :o)

We started in late March with a drive from our home in Maine, to Philadelphia.  I'd never seen 'the bell' before, so it was a perfect first destination!

First signs of spring in Philadelphia!  Yay!

The Liberty Bell and the statue of George Washington in front of the State House!

The room where 'those guys' signed the Declaration of Independence!  lol

Philly was fun, but we had golfing to do......so we headed to Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort Bragg in NC and Fort Stewart in Georgia.  Woohoo!  It was so good to get to play again.  Our local course closes the middle of October and doesn't open until the middle of April each year......so we are just about to burst waiting for it.  And golfing on bases is really cheap......my kind of golf!  Ha!

Then we headed for Tampa, and then got on our cruise!  Woohoo!  Royal Caribbean to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico for a 5 day cruise!  Totally fun in every way!  It was my 2nd cruise, but my hubby's first, so I wanted to make sure he had a fantastic time......so he'd want to do it again!  AND HE DOES!  Yippee!

 My hubby, John.

Me on the deck, waiting for our room to be ready.  It was a lovely ship, but I didn't get many pictures......I guess I was having way too much fun!

This was a floor medallion on one of the decks......a beautiful Mariner's Compass.  Quilty inspiration!

 Yep.....I love towel animals......had to take a pic of each one!  Too sweet!

 This was the puppy dog towel that I made for our room steward with his tip envelope on the last day.  Hubby and I had just taken a 'towel animal making demo' and it was the one I really liked!

 MONKEY!

Here's the turtle our steward left for us.....next to my puppy!

And hubby and I also took a napkin folding class.......so naturally I left an elf shoe at every table I sat at from that moment on!  :o)

Our excursion in Cozumel was taking the Xtrail dune buggies through the jungle to the Jade Caverns.  It was awesome!  The ride through the jungle was amazing.....and you totally get covered in mud from the tires on the dune buggy.  FUN!  Then you get to the caverns, and you can swim in the pools.  It was a little murky looking for me.....but hubby and a bunch of others jumped in from the top of the caverns!

When we went to Costa Maya, we took an excursion to the Chocchobean Mayan Temples.  Our guide was really good, and gave us so much history and information about them.  There were several temples that had already been excavated (just since the 1990's), and many more that are just hills with trees on them, until the government can come up with some more money to fund more excavating.

Here we are at the top, looking down at the next group!

These were some really cool trees there.....have no idea what kind.  But very cool!

When we finished the cruise, we visited a bit more in Tampa with our cousins, April and Drew.  Did we get any pics of them, or the new grandson?......No!  Sheesh!  But I know April was taking a bunch of pics, so maybe I'll post one when she sends one along.  Speaking of April......she just started a blog......here's the link......Life Without a Tagline.  April is awesome in every way......and as I like to say, she's the 'voice of reason' in every group, especially when the family gets together!  lol

While we were in the Tampa area, we took a quick trip down to Ft. Myers to visit my sister, Alison.  Three words.......Norman Love Chocolates!  If you've never tried them, you are truly missing out!  If you are ever in Ft. Myers or Naples Florida, or a Godiva Chocolatier, then definitely get several!  They are little works of art, and totally yummy!  I even got to talk with Norman, himself!  :o)  And then we went next door and had some of his gelato......Holy Cow!  The best!

And did I mention that we had pretty much turned this into a Krispy Kreme vacation!  LOL  You know, we don't have any KK anywhere near us......and there is nothing like an original glaze Krispy Kreme donut!  YUM!  My favorite!  And all this chocolate, gelato and donuts are on top of all the amazing food we had on the ship!  Oy!

Yep......hubby and I are definitely going back on Weight Watchers when we get home......but for the next week, we are still living it up!  lol  I love being on vacation and eating every yummy I see!

When we left Tampa on Monday, we headed for Suzanne and John's place in The Villages in central Florida. We just spent a fabulous 3 days with them, golfing, eating, visiting and checking out all the villages have to offer.  Hubby and I are in the beginning stages of figuring out what we are going to do with our winters when we fully retire in 2 years.  And this area is looking really good.  We were also told by April that the Mount Dora area (also central Florida) is a lovely little town right up our alley!  And boy, were they right!  They so know us!  And yesterday we golfed with another couple we know from Maine in another local area, and that all looked good, too!  We have so many choices to consider now.  We just need to figure out what is really important to us.....and go from there.

Right now, we are in Atlanta, a good stopping point on our way to Mary Jo's Quilt Store in North Carolina tomorrow!  Can't wait!  Woohoo!

Speaking of quilting......I managed to mark and cut a bunch of civil war repro fabric for my 8-pointed star quilt......my next hand work project.  I saw the inspiration antique quilt on the Museum of the Confederacy's site.....www.mocquilts.org.....The Shelton 8 Pointed Star quilt.  I just love the striped fabric for the sashing, and I've always wanted to do this in small size......so these are going to work up to just under 3 inches square.

I made most of these while at Suzanne's; we spent Tuesday morning at her quilt guild meeting.....a very nice group of ladies.  I'm still deciding on what background to use......an off white/beige, or maybe a small shirting print......still don't know.  The 7 on the right are just half done.....still need the center joining seam, but my light wasn't great, so I didn't want to chance a crappy join.

And.......still on a quilty note......when I saw this car in the parking lot of our hotel in North Carolina......all I could say was......"That's a perfect cheddar color!"  Ha!

My pic reads more yellow......but in real life.....it was CHEDDAR!  ha!

Hope you have a great weekend.  I'll post more when I'm home!

regan