Northbound again!

 

 

I drove to Canada this past week. It's my annual trek north to visit with my family!!

Leaving early on Thursday was the only way that I could drive the 775 miles that I drove. Of course I stopped at Hancocks in Paducah. It's traditional that I stop there because the fabrics are just gorgeous!! They had some batiks on sale....I plan to sew a quilt using my batik collection....

Got as far as Platte City the first day. If you pretty much drive most of the day with just a few stops, you can easily get there. I think I stopped before 8pm and found a room at the Super 8 (again, as usual!)

The second day I drove only on I-29 heading north. The night before DH and I had both been on our computers looking for a room in Grand Forks. Normally I stop in Fargo because it's impossible to get a room in Grand Forks, especially on Friday evening!All those Canadians crossing the border to stop plus there was a car show (probably a bit like in  Forge on weekends!) However, we did find one at a Super 8. Price was kind of high but going that far meant that Saturday morning I wouldn't have to drive as far. So we took it and I drove the 649 miles to the motel.
When I opened the door to the room, in front of me was a king size bed and then I looked to the left and saw:

 I guess I got the honeymoon suite. Called my husband and we both had a huge laugh!! What a hoot! It was a huge room and nice. If we ever drive up together, that'd be a fun room to be in. The only down side was that the air conditioner blew right onto the pillows of the bed. You'd have gotten a cold from all that air! So I turned it off and opened the window. The weather this year has been amazingly wonderful!!
Then Saturday morning I crossed the border before 9am. My first stop was in Altona where my parents used to live. I thought about stopping to take a picture but it was too tricky. This weekend was the Sunflower Festival there and at 10am is the parade. So as I drove in there were alot of chairs already on the side of the street with some people already there, the rest waiting for their owners. This is a small town, 4 way stop kind of town. When the parade starts the town shuts down til it's over. I needed to get to the store to buy the Pioneer farmer sausage and New Bothwell cheese before it closed, and, get out of town before it started. So I didn't get a picture but you can imagine! It's a great little town and I love to drive through, but during the festival time it's not a good idea to stop. You'll be stuck awhile!
My other tradition is to drive to Steinbach to visit my high school friend Betty. We meet every year and she feeds me lunch. It's good to catch up. Then on to Winnipeg where some of my family lives. It's important to stay in contact with family and catch up with what's been going on in their lives. The drive was a short one, only 237 miles!
This first picture was on the way to my friend in Steinbach. It was my first glimpse of canola blooming. It's such a beautiful sight!

 Leaving yesterday afternoon from Winnipeg, I stopped at the side of the road to snap a picture of a field. It's hard to stop because often the farmers or someone has planted trees as a buffer near the highway but this was a good view.

 Just imagine field after field of glorious yellow flowers!

There were probably alot of other spots I could have stopped but if I was going to drive the 413 miles to Moose Jaw (and I only left at 1pm) then I needed to just drive!
So the total is over 2000 miles in 4 days with stops to visit good friends. I got to Moose Jaw about 7pm their time (9pm Knoxville time) and I'm ready to unload my van and stay awhile! It'll be interesting to see what happens the 3 weeks that I'm here!!
So, keep on weaving while I"m thinking about what to weave when I get back and I'll be helping my sister with our Mom.
Oh yeah, may end up having to pull out my jeans yet. It's a bit cool at times up here this year!!
Until next week..
hug your family!!
Carol