If today is Thursday, this must be WEst Virginia, or Virginia or ...

This is the day of the seven states. Hard to believe you can be in seven states in only twelve hours but it can be done. we started the day in Massachussetts at 5am...skipped breakfast till it became a reward for doing well and getting where we wanted to be in the dark. It's dark at 5am and some signs are small. Found that out pretty quick and ended up going five miles out of the way and then back but did well on the second try. And have you forgotten just how big a mile is???? It's WAY bigger than a kilometer, which ticks off pretty quickly but ten miles is ten minutes! So eventally we ate at an IHop. Now I am seeing eyes roll but Mike loves Ihop and we had a great breakfast there around nine thirty. Already at that point on the road for over four hours!
So back to that STATE thing. Massachussetts, Conneticut, New york, Pennsylvania, Delaware. West Virginia and Virginia...a little of some and a lot of others. We are now in Richmond VA at a great Country Inns and Suites that we like very much. Stayed here last year also. Just had a quick supper at an equally quick diner but we have been eating our way down the Eastern Coast and a light supper is all we needed. Car food is important but we have eaten most of what we brought, with the exception of the oat cakes from JoLynn (which I have been rationing...thanks again, JoLynn!!). We will be fine tomorrow and then will arrive at the house on Saturday and will do grocery shopping and be fine then too.
The trip has been great so far but this Day two is really greulling. You seem to be driving and driving and just not getting anywhere. That western swing out of the way of the major cities takes some time and psychologically you feel you ought to be getting closer but you are heading west and southwest for a lot of the time. Not much traffic. Some of course in Hartford and that string of small towns/cities in Conn and of course that tear through Wilkes-Barre. No precipitation at all today, Thank You Jesus.
And THE TRUCKS! You know how when you are driving to Hfx or to Truro and you get behind a truck and you say "gotta get past this guy" and you do, and then you have  smooth sailing. Well you don't do that on this drive. You pass a truck and there are eight more in front of you. And one by one you pass them only to find there are six more in your sight. We actually wondered if the trucks out numbered the cars but of course they dont. But there would be a quarter the number, as a guess. They never stop coming at you or passing you or appearing in front of you. Part of the scary situation is how fast they drive. Yikes...you are driving along at 120km/hr and trucks and cars are zooming past you like you are standing still.
So here comes day three and we think we have about 1300 km left. We really won't try to do that in a day and hadn't anticipated that possibility at all. We don't plan to be on the road tomorrow till seven so that's two hours later than the past two days. NC, SC, a bit of Georgia and then Florida. Still a lot to go; always fun driving through Jacksonville.... I think this geography lesson is getting dull so I'll sign off for now. We haven't seen anyone we knew yet. Shopped at Target for a break in the action this afternoon and got a tshirt. We just needed to get out of the car.
Hope all is well with all of you. Thanks for reading and I'll be back!! No pictures yet...sorry on that. Will try tomorrow.

So here we are in Massachussetts

Day one is done and we are just settling in for the night. We don't really check the time, but just go to bed when it's time and get up when we are ready to hit the road. We left 124 this morning at five o'clock and had a great start, all the way to Waterville Maine. It was sunny and bright and just the best drive we have ever had till mid afternoon when the snow and rain closed in and rather made a mess of the roads and our mental condition.
I will say that the State of Maine doesn't spare the snow plows. We met five in a very short space of time and we encouraged to know that their salt quota was still unsurpassed. They were pouring it on for miles and miles. By the time we got to the liquor store in NH the snow had turned to torrential rain which is just barely better to drive in than snow. So we stocked up at the LC and moved on to Westford MA or something like that. It starts with W and ends in d so it's close. Dinner at the BBC - British Beer Company and I would like to come back for that place alone. Actually we stayed here last year on the way home and tried to get into the BBC but the place was  packed that night too. Tonight we got there just in time and got the last two seats. People were standing out in the rain when we left.
So an uneventful day I would have to say. We stopped at Mardens and I got some theme pieces and not much more. Their double wide quilt backings were plentiful but all the wrong colors. I got a dark brown piece of backing for a brown quilt I have in mind and then several pieces for napkins. I really didn't have a plan when we got there and so that can make for an unsuccessful trip. Nothing really jumped out at me.
We are planning another early start tomorrow, the dreaded day 2. This one is all business; just get in the car and go. Some traffic is unavoidable on this stretch but hopefully we will be safe and sound somewhere close to Richmond this time tomorrow night. Thanks for stopping by; I'll be back!

Saturday things

REally just counting the days away right now and doing laundry and ironing so that the clothes that have been in drawers or storage are ready to wear in a week. I always bring too much along with me and I am going to try to take less this year, some of that completely out of my hands. I had a JOckey Person 2 Person home party over a week ago and although my items were ordered last mOnday, they have yet to arrive. I had planned on taking most of those things with me and my hope is that they arrive on Monday but that's likely over optimistic. Tuesday perhaps. Right now we are targeting Wednesday as our lift off day which gives us four days to arrive in Davenport. On that...

Two days ago I thought I had better contact the home owner and get the final details in print for our stay. I sent email to her and it was returned, so I sent it again and again and again, every two hours, for 24!! NOTHING! By this time Mike was certain we had been taken and suggested I start looking for another place. I made a few contacts and then last night, mail from Debbie. Her email address wasn't working and that was the reason behind the email silence. I told her I was practically frantic by this time and she was quite sympathetic, but we are good to go now with all of the information and codes in our pockets. Also called the US bank today and straightened out a couple of details with them so all we need now is good weather and a bit of a tail wind. I will make a great lunch to have on the road with lobster sandwiches and plenty fruit and some of JoLynn's oat cakes! I have my Florida shopping list made and it's a bit shorter than usual. No LeCreuset casserole this year but perhaps a frying pan. It would be just wrong to come home without another piece albeit a small one! Can't really think about shopping just yet though.

So it's still winter and quite cold at 124. Chris says it's in the 80's in the Sunshine State. Chores and details to take care of this weekend so I am off to check a couple of items off the list. Stay tuned if you can stand the tedium!!

Getting Ready to Go!

I don't know if it's really too early to start the preparations for the Florida trip but with two pets, one has to be aware that they cannot stay home alone and fend for themselves. The ideal situation would be them staying home alone. I could imagine they would get up early, listen to Information Morning and gaze out the window at the bird feeder and chortle away as the chickadees giggled at them through the patio door. Then a little nap because we all know birdwatching can take a lot out of one. An early lunch perhaps and then a video designed to entertain cats. There are plenty of them available, in case you didn't know. Afternoon exercise as Leo would chase The Jazz around the house several times, spitting out the fur he collected from biting her on the back would be next on the agenda. Another nap and a check of the birdfeeder and then dinner. Someone would be arriving to give clean water and sweep the litter and then... one day over. Not all that complicated. But not the case. This year The Jazz will be going to stay with Mary and Leo will travel to Halifax to stay with Lynn. Really it could work if both behave themselves. I will have my fingers crossed the whole time in the Sunshine State. Leo will be a year old in May and he has become one handsome dude of a cat. The alpha cat here at 124, much to the chagrin of The Jazz who has been here for nine years. She could tolerate him if he would only stop jumping all over her. He didn't get that memo, unfortunately. So, the cat situation is under control, or as much as it can be.

The list of "to-do's" is on the kitchen table and those details will be taken care of this coming week. I have a couple of quiting projects to finish before lift off. One in particular comes under the heading "what was I thinking??!!" Every year or two the Canadian Quilting Assn has a national quilt show and a part of that show is called the Trend Tex Challenge. Members of the CQA buy five fat quarters of fabric and are challenged to produce a project made from this fabric and to submit it for auction. There's a bit more, but that's enough info if you aren't a quilter. If you are a quilter, you already know about this anyway. Now I will tell you that if you show me how to do something, I will be able to do it. If you give me a pattern, I can follow it. If you give me five pieces of fabric and tell me to design an original piece with the theme "Sunshine and Vines" (???!!!) , that could be a bit of a problem. I won't tell  you how long I sat looking at that fabric and trying to "design" an ORIGINAL  piece to submit to this challenge.  Eventually I simply decided not to do it. That's called the bail out. I might have got away with that if Kate hadn't called me and said "...so how's that Trend Tex challenge piece coming along?" TRAPPED. You can run but you cannot hide. So back to the drawing board and the piece is coming along but now just needs to be finished and it has to be finished by the time I leave 124 as it has to be mailed in March and...........I am not home in March so mine has to be done in Frbruary. But it will be and I will post a photo when it's done. Soon.

I am moving through the things that absolutely have to be finished here and those that can travel, will travel. The short line is that I really waited a week too long to start getting ready but I will be set to go on the morning of the 25th....or 26th, depending on weather.

I changed the background of the blog so that you might think it's a brand new one but it's just a new look. Last year's "stuff" is still there and more than likely you read all that in 2012. I read it all again last week and I will say one thing.........I am not going to be on the hop every day in the SS this year. Nosiree!! A bit of vacation will be included.

So thanks for stopping by. I am off now to make a list or two and to work on a list or two... I'll be back!!