Wednesday, June 25, 2008

More Traveling Adventures

I’m pretty bummed I couldn't figure out how to get blogger to let me post from Word. I always think I’m sooo smart until I spend hours on something that shouldn't really be that complicated… Oh well, I can always copy and paste and feel like I’m smarter than I am! What I especially loved about this idea was, (if you use blogger you’ll understand) it is a simple push of the button, and you get a picture where you are typing, as opposed to having to move it after it loads. Everyone out in Blogger Land probably knows this except me… but then it could be one of the reasons its worth paying for a server. What, another example of you get what you pay for?

We stayed one night in Carlsbad, New Mexico, well I’ll tell you for sure, I didn’t see Carl, (he’s suppose to be bad?) but I saw a gigantic tarantula and that was BAD!!! Never mind that they aren’t poison, just seeing one could scare you to death. We don’t grow spiders like that in Oregon!

I did find a great thrift store; I actually went to the Chamber of Commerce for directions. The store was located out of town on a compound (for lack of a better word) that is home to adults that are mentally challenged. The store is run by volunteers and all the merchandise is donated. I got some great red leather cowboy boots and other random things. One of the best was plastic quilted protectors for dishes. This might be just the thing for carrying dishes to sales, or having at home in my cupboard.


Here are the pictures of the plastic shades that I covered with fabric, the ones I started when the trip first began.

This one is this one is above the kitchen sinkThis one is in the bathroom. Isn't that a clever place for the toilet paper?? I'm still on the search for something below the mirror, maybe a new/old medicine cabinet?? I added faux leather fringe to the curtain, I didn't get a picture of that.

Here is the oil painting I got in Baker City, hanging in the bathroom.This is what the shades look like before they were covered.
I still need to do the bigger windows, space for sewing is a little cramped..

We have been stopping along the way at little towns, when I'm not asleep to point out which ones I would like to see... I had Dave drop me off and he took Sam swimming. Thought I would walk the main street, looking for thrift stores. Not a great idea in 90-something degree heat. I'm not sure why they call it dry heat... I was soaked! I asked a store owner if there were any thrift stores or second hand stores, noooo she says.. the lady behind me says, that's not really popular around here. (I'm thinking, are you serious??) I covered the town, on foot... there was one mobile home that had lots of serious 'treasures' in the front yard. I asked next door, if they sold over there, she said, as she was rolling her eyes. The lady is in jail, again and the man hasn't been around for awhile... What a bummer it sounded like a nice couple..


I asked another person, if there were no 2nd hand stores where did they take their use items? The dump??? She said yes, so I sweetly asked, which way is the dump? She tells me to take this road straight out, past the cemetary...


Texas.. Here is a sign I thought was amusing.. Who would have guessed??
If you click on the picture it will enlarge, you should be able to read (cyclone fence).
At first I couldn't tell if I was looking at a prision or a high school, turns out to be a BIG highschool in a small town.. That was a good thing since it was Main Street.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

This is the second post from the trip to Texas, I wrote it Thursday June 19.
I couldn’t get the Microsoft Word to post in the 30 seconds I tried but, I will give it another shot and hopefully I will get internet for longer next time.(It didn't work for me so, I am doing it with blogger). The truth is I could have had it today for several hours but didn’t know it. Here’s the scoop, we were driving down the highway enjoying the air conditioning, I'm laying on the bed talking to my friend Lisa on the phone and next thing I know Dave/the driver is coasting along on the drunk bumps. That’s fairly annoying when I’m trying to talk, so I sweetly shouted…WHAT’S GOING ON !

The motor quit, stopped right in the middle of nowhere… now wouldn’t you think one of us would be freaking out?? Nope we are cool as a couple of cucumbers, since we still have the generator and it is letting the a/c do it’s magic. A long, long story made short, we called a tow truck,


much to Sam’s delight. After a couple magic turns of a wrench and $700 later...yipee skipee we are on the road again. It was the fuel pump, guess I shouldn’t have messed with it trying to get better gas mileage.. ( you know I’m kidding) Dave/ the driver and master mechanic (not this time) says we will get better fuel mileage. I certainly hope so, because under no circumstances can we turn off the a/c. Anymore trouble with Dumbo the R/V, and we are selling him to the circus and getting a sweet one like this
Unfortunately our entire day was taken with that escapade, so I did not get to do one little bit of buying today. Oh, except for that adorable fuel pump! That is my mission as you remember, to hit every thrift store between here and Texas. The tow truck driver wouldn’t stop when I asked!! What a mean spirited guy he turned out to be, glad he’s not going the rest of the way with us!
Tomorrow I will hit it hard, hopefully Dave/the Driver won’t do his man thing and want to make up for lost time... After all I have a job to do, and I want to do it good. My friend Mae (she was about 75 at the time) told me, "I told Nick when I married him, it’s his job to make the money and it’s my job to spend it. And if you don’t do your job, I can’t do mine!" I think that is pretty good advice.

Yesterday we stopped in Baker City and I found a great pair of cowboy boots and an adorable apron. I also shopped in this wonderful stationary store. I have a thing for paper and pens, I stocked up for fear we would, say have engine trouble and get stuck on the side of the road for several hours?? Quick thinking on my part.
I went to a Salvation Army that was bad! Worse than any Goodwill Outlet I have been in. It was like something my mom took me to when I was little, including the odor! Great memories from my youth. Of course that didn’t stop me from looking in every nook and cranny. I did buy an oil painting, I hung it in Dumbo’s outhouse/bathroom. I have been doing a little decorating along the way.
I decided to cover the vinyl roll-up shades with fabric. Fortunately I had spray adhesive along and masking tape and the sewing machine… I will show you the photo’s when I get done. I'm not sure if it is going to work, but I will give it my best shot.

We are still going down the highway and I am here to tell you we have not found gas for 17 cents per gallon.


On the Road Again

This is actually a post I wrote on Wednesday evening June 18th.
I thought it would be a good time to try something a little different while we are on our vacation. As I understand I can publish my blog from Microsoft word and if that is true, won’t that be just too much fun?? (sadly I wasn't able to get blooger to work with my word program so now I am entering it in blogger like usual)

You might be thinking I was already on a vacation of sorts as I haven’t posted in soooo long. Nope just the opposite, working like a mad woman trying to get ready for vacation. We did make a mad dash to my sisters Terri’s house after Farm Chick’s, to celebrate my nephew/cousin’s graduation. Are you asking why the nephew/cousin, well if you don’t know much about my family tree, you wouldn’t know that there are less branches than some families have… Terri is married to Dave’s cousin Kenny and so….
We left home Friday night with 3 extra passengers aboard the Dumbo train. There is nothing like a pit stop at Burger King, with a pirate, a cowgirl and 2 Hello Kitty Princesses.
We actually had a great time, but I guess I’m not as sorry that I have 3 grown boys as I thought! Sam wanted to know if they could go to Texas with us?? Imagine my answer!
Repack, refuel( yikes) and we are off again… We are headed to my niece Krissi's wedding in San Antonio. It is a long road to Texas if anyone asks! There are those who are betting we won’t get there before the wedding (9 days) we made it more than 50 miles the first day, kind of a weak start I agree, but there were extenuating circumstances… My plan is to stop at every thrift store between home and the border of Mexico, I just have to convince the driver how worth it that would be.
One of the reasons I was about 5 hours late leaving… I was finishing the postcards and address labels for the Antique Sale I help organize on the 4th of July, the postcards that probably should have gone out about a week ago. Here is the front
And here is the back
I would show you all the address labels, but.. they weren’t finished when I left.. I passed that job off to my much more computer savvy assistant, along with the stamping and getting them in the mail. Those same nay sayers that think we will miss the wedding, also think in the future I should hand write my labels...or at the very least don’t try it on my own. Hmmm.
As you ight be able to tell I am writing this as we travel down the highway I-84 to be exact and I am just a little on the bored side, but no reason all of us should die of boredom. I will try and tackle one of the 250 projects I brought along to keep me busy. I think I should get that little magic card that lets you have internet no matter where you are! I think it's 2200 miles to where we are going, of course if I did have internet I could google that to be sure.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Farm Chicks..the blur

Of course we were two hours behind schedule when we left and it we just kept getting further behind as we went, you know the quick stop at Costco for gas, just a few groceries and a couple cases of Diet Coke for the road... Then of course the fact that the hitch didn't work right on the RV for the trailer and the tires needed a wee little more air to compensate for the heavy load, so off to Les Schwab...(the tire store)
I had intended to get a picture of Dumbo the RV pulling the trailer (the circus train) but it wasn't long into the trip that I realized I had forgotten my camera, it was in the cute little bag that I bought to carry my electronics. The cute little bag that held my laptop, cellphone charger, camera etc.... It certainly pays to be organized!!
Be assured that I did bring everything else in the world! The trailer was PACKED so all those little things I didn't want to forget (except the cute little bag) were in the RV, everywhere... Why would they put those tiny little bath tubs in if they hadn't known you would need extra storage!!
We had called ahead for reservations at the fairgrounds where we would be staying. When we finally arrived, about 1am we could NOT find the campground!! We decided to just get in line for the delivery and go to sleep! When we saw where we had parked we had to laugh! We were between two train engines headed straight for us! Lucky for us they were a permanent display at the fairgrounds!!
Of course I would need a quick shower, so after moving things from the temporary storage unit. I hopped right in, all the privacy in the world with one little curtain that kept opening... Then its time to unload and we wouldn't want to loose our place so... now I'm showering as we are driving!! Thank goodness for the curtain!! Whose next in line for a shower??
We spent all day Friday unloading the trailer and setting up our booths. It was a lot of work, but so fun to meet the other vendors and have a peek at what they had brought. Wish I had my camera along... I heard someone say, that someone said... (could this be gossip) we really worked our asphalt off!! So very true!!
I copied this picture from Cindy's blog so you could get an idea of how many people waited in the pouring rain to get into this wonderful event!!
I was so fortunate that my sister Terri who lives an hour north of Seattle was able to come and help for the weekend.Many people wanted to know who was the oldest, it was so fun to say "her", she just hates that!!
I also loved telling people that Dusty silk screened our aprons and bags, I made the aprons after he put the Aunties on it, I should teach him to sew... He also silk screened t-shirts and camisoles for me to sell, unfortunately I sold one first thing and then spilled Diet Coke on the rest, that was a pretty amazing trick!!
Terri and I had fun being together and if it weren't for the help of my "younger" sister, I'd probably still be there trying to figure out where I put the thing I was looking for...she has figured out, the place for everything and everything in its place concept, wonder why mom didn't teach me that trick??
I loved being next to Cindy, her booth was wonderful with all kinds of treasures that people were delighted with. Be sure to stop by her blog so you can be inspired by her magic.
Here is a picture that Lisa took of my booth.


This is a shot of The Tickled Pink girls in front of their booth, you can see Isabel's blog if you click on that link. Isabel found the apron she is wearing at the show it was from Portugal and so is she, so that was pretty neat!! Isabel sewed the apron Lisa is wearing, she got the idea from Country Home Magazine, you take a carpenter's apron purchased from Home Depot and sew fabric and trim to it. She is an excellent seamstress and has beautiful fabric so hers are adorable.

I will share more on Farm Chicks later, this is about 3 days later than I had intended and long enough already.
I wanted to tell everyone that Baby Jack is doing wonderful, he is out of the hospital and home with his family! How amazing is that!