Home at Last

When I arrived at my mom's house I was greeted by what you see in the photos below.

Now in Murphys and I couldn't be happier that the Minnie Winne made the journey.



After spending 6700 miles on the road I often wanted to do this to Billy.

Even though I wanted to kill him on day two we survived six weeks together in a car, which is a huge task for most couples. We were both sad to see the journey end but the next will be an even greater challenge.

We are spending the next two weeks helping my mom with her paperwork, unpacking, doing our taxes, seeing friends, and soaking up the beauty surrounding us.

Happy Valentines Day

It is a little late but Happy Valentines Day to Billy!

Our Quote

I saw this card in a shot recently and thought it described our journey perfectly.

California Travels

Billy and I have been relaxing in California for the past week. We spent two days at my sister's in Atascadero and then have been spending the past four days in San Jose.

My niece Lindsey just had a daughter, Lily Rose, in December. While in Atascadero Billy and I met Lily and spent two days with her and her mom.

Before leaving Atascadero we each explored our hobbies.

Billy received a personal tour of Firestone Walker Brewery in Paso Robles. Firestone was started by a descendant of the Firestone family and is still family owned. The woman who gave us the tour was the most knowledgeable female I had ever met when it comes to beer. Because it wasn't their typical Saturday tour she walked us right next to the brew kettles and bottling line. When we walked by the bottling line one of the assistant brewmasters pulled two bottles off the line for Billy to drink.


My jaunt was to Birch Fabrics in Paso Robles. Birch is the brick and mortar store of www.fabricworm.com. This is one of my favorite sites for fabric and their store didn't disappoint. They are getting ready to move to a new store in a more visible area of Paso Robles so I can't wait until I return to my sister's in June or July for another trip to my fabric shop.

We left a couple of days early to be able to watch my other great-niece Fiona in San Jose. Fiona was sick so while here mom and dad were at work Billy and I played dutiful babysitters.

On Saturday we visited Santa Cruz and hung out on the beach. When the sun was out it was warm but once the wind picked up and the sun went behind the clouds we packed it in for the day. Darcy, my niece, had a coworker and her two kids and dog visit us at the beach and they were loads of fun.

My niece Darcy and great-niece Fiona.

This is how Fiona and I spend our mornings.

This is a photo of Kyle and Billy instructing Fiona on how to play Wii.

Besides visits to REI, Trader Joe's, and Cost Plus, Billy and I have just spent time hanging out with Darcy, Kyle, and Fiona.

Tomorrow we leave for Murphys where we will begin to unpack and relax.

Las Vegas, NV

One can't drive across country and not stop in Vegas so we made a quick one day and two night pit stop. Family friends offered us a place to stay in Henderson and it was since to sleep in some one's home and not stay at another motel. There was only one thing that I really wanted to do which was visit the recently opened City Center on the Vegas Strip. On our way into the city we drove over the Hoover Dam and stopped to take in the view. Billy and I visited it a year ago October but never at night. The lights were beautiful but unfortunately our camera wasn't good enough to capture the real beauty.

We started out our morning with a tour of Ethel M's chocolate factory and cactus garden. Since it was President's Day there wasn't much production but there was free tasting!



Since Billy and I are architecture and construction geeks we wanted to see the crazy City Center clad and open. Lets just say it didn't disappoint. The Wynn, Bellagio, and New York New York are all great but the new hotels and shopping are modern marvels with elegant simplicity. We visited Aria and Vdera along with the City Center shops. Vdera was welcoming because they don't allow gambling so it was quiet and felt like peace off the strip. Aria did allow gambling but it seems the machines volume had been turned down a few notches. Many of the other condo buildings and hotels were clad but not open. Whether they are opening in the future we weren't sure.

After looking at the architecture we viewed the Chihuly Gallery.

After eating chocolate what better to do than shop. Billy was kind enough to go with me to the best quilt shop I have seen thus far on my trip. I spent over an hour at Quiltique and would drive nine hours back to Vegas for a visit. They cater to modern quilters with bright fabrics, new lines, and fun quilt kits.

Sedona, AZ

After our day in Flagstaff we traveled to Sedona for a couple of hours to see what the Sedona hoopla is about. We weren't impressed with the town, or what we saw of it, but the views were INCREDIBLE! Billy and I walked around the old-main street before driving around the hills looking at homes and taking in the incredible views. We would like to go back and hike or off-road with jeeps so we are adding to our list of must-see places.

Flagstaff

Twice I had been through Flagstaff and both times I fell in love. I could never quite hit on the reason why but after seeing it in winter with two feet of snow on the ground the light bulb finally went off. It is just like Arnold! Not that I didn't recognize it before but driving around town this time was different. The smells, sunshine, and people all reminded me of Arnold if you were to add 60,000 residents. For those that don't know Arnold is a town about 15 minutes up the mountain from Murphys.

Billy and I arrived around 6 at night and ate dinner at Brandy's, which was another Guy Fieri find. The waiter recommended his two favorites and they didn't disappoint. We had Tequila Lime Chicken and Bistro Beef Stew. Both were out of this world and I even ate squash and zucchini, which I never eat.

After dinner we went to the Lowell Observatory which is a private research institution founded in 1894 by Percival Lowell. Lowell observatory is where Pluto was discovered in 1930. They had two mobile telescopes out on the grounds where we could view Orion's Nebulous and a star cluster. The large Clark Telescope was used for viewing Mars. Out of the three the Nebulous was our favorite. After being outside for an hour bundled up we were eager to find a hotel and settle in.
Looking for a hotel on Saturday was our most difficult experience in five weeks trying to find a place to stay. Flagstaff was a bustling city on Saturday with skiers, jazz festival attendees, and an NAU track meet. Billy and I had to make a few phone calls but we were able to get the last room at La Quinta Inn. Typically we drive up to a hotel and just ask for a room we have found in RoomSaver.com.

Sunday morning we visited Walnut Canyon National Monument which is about 15 minutes east of Flagstaff where you can view 700 year old cliff dwellings. We hiked down 185 vertical feet to view the dwellings but due to recent snows we couldn't see all the areas since the trails hadn't melted.

Not quite the Tower of Pisa but he does it caveman style.

The rest of the morning we spent driving around Flagstaff, it's subdivisions, and walking historic downtown. This was another city we both loved and could spend lots of time in.

Petrified Florest & Meteor Crater

On our way from Santa Fe to Flagstaff we visited two great natural phenominums. The first was Petrified Forest National Park with one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, multi-hued badlands of the Painted Desert, historic structures, and displays of over 200-million-year-old fossils. The second natural phenominon was Meteor Crator which is one of the worlds largest preserved meteor crators. It is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep.

The Petrified Forest National Park is drivable and hikable. It is a 28 mile drive that covers both sides of Interstate 40 with around 20 places to stop and see vista points, hike, etc. There was a .8 mile easy hike that Billy and I took but there are more strenuous or longer hikes from 1-3.5 miles. One of the most impressive parts beyond the petrified wood was the change in topography. The colors of the desert went from the vibrant reds and oranges to blue and purple. The purple and blue hues were a result of iron, carbon, and manganese being present in the soil.


The wood becomes fossilized when the mineral silica, dissolved from volcanic ash and hardened into crystalline quartz, replaced 80-90% of the organic wood. Minor minerals, such as iron, manganese, and carbon add the colors.

One of the other great parts of the Petrified Forest National Park were the dwellings and petroglyphs.

Our second stop during the drive Meteor Crator. You can't walk into the crator but we could walk a small portion of the rim where the visitor center was. We arrived just as the sun was setting so the photos were hard to get but the crator was quite impressive.

Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe fed my art lovers soul!

Billy and I arrived last night and initially thought we would spend just half a day and then head to Albuquerque. As soon as we drove around town and saw the abundance of galleries we decided to stay for two nights and skip Albuquerque. Even with two nights and a full day today we didn't cover half of what we wanted to see. Santa Fe is a city Billy and I both want to return to but for a four day weekend. There is more to say about the city than this post can do justice but everything I have heard about this city is true. Santa Fe has a spiritual magic fueled by the southwestern beauty surrounding the city, the abundance of art galleries, and incredibly open and kind citizens.

We spent the last two nights at Garrett's Desert Inn in downtown. I thought it would be out of our budget but at $59 a night plus free parking it was the same price as the those 2 miles away and we could walk anywhere. It never hurts to ask for pricing and I am glad Billy insisted we do so.

Last night we had dinner at The Plaza Cafe. It was a combo Greek/Santa Fe cuisine. A real locals place in downtown I would definitely recommend.

For breakfast this morning we went to Tia Sophia's. It has a huge following so get there early. The food wasn't expensive, the green chili sauce was incredible, and Giada from the Food Network also thinks it is great. There had been a bomb scare at the Federal Court House (no worries, just political material) just a few blocks away so the restaurant was abnormally busy for a Friday morning, but the owner wasn't complaining.

After breakfast Billy and I started our walking of galleries, jewelry stores, furniture stores, and churches. In the 7 hours we walked we only saw half of the galleries and stores we set out to see. We walked around Downtown and Railroad District primarily and then visited Canyon Road but only after the galleries had closed. The art scene in Santa Fe has grown to include a large contemporary art and modern jewelery scene.

Late in the day we visited Cathedral Basilica of St.Francis, Loretto Chapel, and San Miguel Mission Church. We finished the night with Indian food and turned in early for a busy day tomorrow.

A few of the things we didn't get to see were the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, State Capital, Palace of the Governors, and multiple other nature sites around the city.

Below is the link to Picasa. Just double click on the photos and you will be taken to a larger view. We didn't take lots of photos since we were mainly in art galleries but Santa Fe should be a must see on every one's list.

Great Surprise

On our drive through west Texas Billy received a great phone call. It wasn't a job but it was a wonderful treat for me. My box of sewing supplies that FedEx lost 13 months ago when moving to Baltimore mysteriously showed up at our old apartment complex in Towson. The box looked like it had received a beating but hopefully the goods are still okay. An old coworker from Promenade picked up the box and dropped it off at UPS. UPS was kind enough to re-box it, insure it for the real value of goods, and ship it to my mom's house. This box contained all of my fabric, books, patterns, etc so most of it was irreplaceable. I can't wait to get to California and see all of my old projects. The only down side is that now it means I have two quilts to make for Billy. His LSU fabric I purchased at the International Quilt Festival was in the box so he is eager for a quilt to use during football season in the fall.

Austin

Yet again I forgot to post our Austin adventure. Billy and I had lunch at the Salt Lick. Billy is a BBQ fan and I am neutral so for both of us to love Salt Lick BBQ it means it is just perfect.

I visited The Quilt Store. Inc which is a favorite of mine. Yet again I found fabrics that I hadn't found in other stores. The projects are beginning to stack up.

Billy and I drove around Austin and Lakeway since it is on our short list of cities we wouldn't mind settling in. It has changed so much so we wanted to see what types of homes are on the market, traffic, etc. When driving around Lakeway I ran into Jeff, a classmate from A&M. It was a great surprise and fun to catch up. I suppose if I can run into a Murphys resident in Barcelona I can run into a classmate in Austin.