Iowa to Indiana

The Iowa Sheep and Wool is now history.  Wow!  What an experience and what a successful show, both in sales and in new friends.  It's hard to tell Deb and Bob Cline from Maple Row Sheep and Wool and Carol Larsen of River's Edge Fiber Art both from Michigan good by till the next show.  We have been vendors  at the sames shows for the last 3 weekends.  We have a pitch-in pot luck at each show as we sit around and chat about our dogs and fibery things. 

Our trip started out on a rough note.  Thursday morning, we had an eight o'clock appointment for a front end alignment and oil change for the motor home.  The expected wait was said to be two and a half hours.  When we pulled in, the technician asked if we were also replacing our "old" front tires.  Oh, Oh,....we just purchased those tires last fall!  Hum, something is rotten in Denmark!  They explained that the tires that the other company said was recommended for "motor homes" were actually for trucks.  A special Michelin tire is recommended for the Winnebago motor homes.  Lessen learned....Not all RV tech's at RV dealerships know what they are talking about. Well, THAT added to the expense!

We were finally on the road at two thirty, three hours later than estimated.  Catch the word estimated?  Arriving in Davenport, Iowa was a relief.  We pulled into a Wal Mart Superstore at eight thirty, fixed dinner and we off to bed for a peaceful nights sleep to the sound of a gentle rain.  Then BOOM! Oliver jumped about 3 feet into the air, I sat straight up....a bolt of lightning and a huge crack of thunder woke us up at 4:00.  Well, that ruined my good night of sleep!  I tried and tried to go to sleep.  Nope, no luck.  I tossed and turned, planned my display, and desperately wanted a nice cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows.  I tried to get the hot chocolate out of my mind knowing I'd wake John up.  (nothing ever keeps him from sleep, ever)

I kept track of the weather on my new Droid X and at 7:30, saw that another storm was moving in, so I woke John up and suggested that we get on the road before it reached us.  It was good that we did leave at that time.  We arrived in Adel, Iowa just as they were allowing vendors to set up.  We were able to pull our motor home right next to our display area and unload.  What a blessing! 

The Festival was great.  We had a ball and now are back on I 80 on our way back to Indiana.  We will stop off in Moline, Illinois to visit the place we lived when we were first married.  We actually lived in East Moline and I am eager to see the house again.  It was a cute Cape Cod across from a park.  The park had a large pond where in the winter, we ice skated.  Late summer, we collected walnuts put them in the basement where we promptly forgot them and the worms hatched.  Lovely, just lovely!  Little did I dream that someday, many years later, we would collect walnuts  and I would use them for dyeing wool a beautiful chocolate brown.  As I "cooked" the walnuts I thought of those pesky worms and kinda felt sorry for them simmering in my stew that I would use for dyeing. 

Well, we are about one hundred twenty five miles from Moline.  Will keep you up to date....Bye for now