Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Spring or Winter?

DH and I decided to slip away for a few days and hit the open road - one of our favorite things to do.  One of our favorite roads has always been the 395 with amazing scenery and little traffic.  Spring weather can always be risky and this time was no different.  Once we hit the Sierras we were in snow flurries - in mid May!  It was not sticking to the road, but it made for such pretty sights around us. 



We drove as far north as Walla Walla, WA.  Delightful spring weather surrounded us there with everything in bloom - tulips, iris, dogwoods, lilacs, azaleas everywhere.  While in Walla Walla, I had a fabulous day spending time with Stephanie (IG sadunphy) of Loft Creations and Candace (IG mrssquash).  We had lunch, visited their local quilt shop and then I was treated to a visit to Maple Cottage.  It was such fun to see it in person after following the progress on IG and her blog AND I got to meet the well loved Abby.  Following that we took a short drive to Candace's and saw her beautiful home and stunning gardens.  She and her husband have amazingly green thumbs.  Those two gals have so much fun together and I discovered they are both black licorice lovers like myself.  Who knew???





Leaving Walla Walla, we headed east to Stanley, Idaho.  The scenery was glorious with lots of full streams and rivers, snowy mountains and lush meadows. 







At one of our nightly stays, this greeted us on the tub.

What stress???
 

Heading back south through NV, we enjoyed still more open roads and a desert in full bloom until we reached the I-15.  UGH.  It was back to the dreaded traffic again. 




What we enjoyed for five days!

UGH!!!!


We arrived home in time for Mother's Day weekend where we celebrated with everyone here for a BBQ.  Even momma tortoise laid her eggs for Mother's Day.



We always need a "grandchild fix" when we get home so it was nice to have a few little ones come visit. 

Pretending to sleep.


While in the car, I was able to hand stitch the binding down on En Provence and get a photo of it with a snowy mountain backdrop in Idaho.  Of course, the wind was blowing and DH and I were laughing at ourselves trying to grab the picture while it was calm.  He eventually stabilized it with rocks but it was still blowing. 



The only other sewing that has gone on was my Mother's Day postcard for my mom.  I am hoping to make my way to my sewing machine later today.




22 comments:

  1. Sounds like a dream road trip to me. I'm so happy you, Candace and Stephanie had a chance to spend some real "face time" together.

    I love the picture of your En Provence with the snow in the background. And the Mother's Day postcard is stunning.

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  2. Beautiful country, and you're right about the traffic, I'll take the open roads any day. En Provence is a beautiful finish!

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  3. Gorgeous pictures from what sounded like a wonderful road trip! Our fun to see your En Provence in such beautiful setting! Thanks for sharing it :-)

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  4. Your trip must have been glorious with everything slow and beautiful and happy. We have had Winter for the last several days! Cold and Blustery Winds and just enough sprinkles of rain to spot and puddle the horrendous Yellow Pollen we have this year. Sweet Grandbaby. Time...<3

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  5. I so enjoyed your travelogue and all the beautiful photos. You Mother's Day postcard is a beauty ..... and I tell myself I must start making these again. ;)

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  6. So lovely--I feel like I've had a little escape! You did a lot of driving and saw a lot of landscapes, and I love all those flowers peeking up from the desert floor. I can't believe this snow in May--Utah ( where I'm headed next week) also had a snowstorm! But hopefully, it will be warming up before I get there. Thanks for the armchair traveling.
    :) E.

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  7. What a wonderful trip. You are quite the travelers. That is a whole lot of driving. Your pictures are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. What a lovely trip. The scenery is gorgeous. Walla Walla, WA!!! Then to Stanley, ID? I am envious of the beautiful scenery that you experienced. Fabulous picture of your En Provence quilt.

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  9. Such a FUN time together! Come again and we'll take you to the black licorice store. LOL! You had amazing scenery and certainly hit more than one of the four seasons during your trip. The photo of your En Provence quilt is really stunning...quilt and backdrop. Darling little pretend sleeping grand babe. Sooooo wonderful meeting you.

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  10. Sounds like a great trip with great company all around! My niece is attending college in Walla Walla and all her photos show it to be a lovely little town.

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  11. Thanks for sharing your photos of your road trip. We sure do have some beautiful sights in our country. It's good to get away and always good to get back home. Congrats! on your En Provence finish... it's gorgeous.

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  12. I always enjoy going on your road trips Mary. Such gorgeous scenery and how nice to spend time with Stephanie and Candice.
    Love the photo of your La Province . I can real age to the wind. I often have that problem here.
    WOW lots of turtle eggs there.
    Lovely to be home for Mothers Day and have the cute little ones stay.. sweet photo of the sleepy 😌 one. LOL....
    Beautiful Mothers Day postcard....

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  13. What a fun trip, and such beautiful scenery. I haven't seen much of Washington or Idaho, and hope to get back out there some day. Nice photo shoot with your beautiful quilt!!

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  14. Looks like you had a great roadtrip. I was excited to see you had visited Walla Walla. We knew a lovely family from there, and kept in touch for many years. They even stopped by here on their European holiday and spent a few days with us. This is all many years ago, and sadly both parents are deceased. At least one of the girls still lives in Walla Walla, and I keep up with her on Insta. Small world.

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  15. Sounds like a fun trip. The picture with your quilt is fabulous! I don't think the wind ever stops blowing in Idaho.

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  16. That looks like a beautiful trip. 395 is my favourite road too! I am so glad you shared the photos. The dusting of snow is beautiful. It has been such a good year for California. Pretty flowers in the garden and in the wild. I bet all of you had a great time talking about gardening. Oh you reminded me how much I hate the traffic jam of I-15 after all the wonderful empty roads. That must have been a fun surprise see the tortoise lay eggs. What do you do after they hatch? The little one looks so cosy under the little quilt and the postcard is beautiful. The En Provence quilt photo looks like it’s out a magazine. I love it! A lovely post, Mary!! I really enjoyed it. Oh and now you have put Idaho in my list of places to visit :)

    -Soma

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  17. What a nice trip I had with you via your photos! I love the snow pics but I have to say my favorite was the one of the long open road with the wide open spaces to the sides...........reminds me of New Mexico and Texas! And black licorice???? echhhhhh! Funny thing though, I love cooking with Anise....love those Christmas Biscochitos made with the licorice spice.....hmmmmmm

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  18. Congratulations on finishing your En Provence! It looks wonderful in that scenery.

    The dogwoods are beautiful. I've planted one and hope it survives here.

    Thanks for commenting on my elephant - I didn't get an email notification of the comment or I would have replied before now.

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  19. What a great trip! Wonderful weather changes... snow to spring wild flowers! Thanks for sharing the journey!

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  20. What a gorgeous trip, thanks for sharing the pictures! I think your quilt picture was definitely worth the extra work, it looks gorgeous in that setting! Tortoise eggs, wow! I have a few robin's eggs in my garden, lol!

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  21. It was a wonderful day for sure, Mary! Thank you so much for your kind words! Looks like your trip to Stanley was beautiful! You certainly got a gorgeous photo of en Provence! What an adorable photo of your granddaughter under Stephanies Paper Dolls, too. We look forward to another get together!
    Cheers!

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  22. Beautiful scenery and I love your En Provence quilt.

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