After leaving Michigan, we got back on the road home. The weather was pretty bad when we left Howell, but by the time we got to Indiana, it was clear and sunny. We stopped in at a gun store/fishing emporium to do some shopping.
What on earth would two peacenik commies want from a gun shop? Why, fiber arts tools and supplies, of course. Like this reloading scale, perfect for measuring out dye powder.
Technorati Tags: cats, chickens, crafts, dogs, fiber, travel, weather
Or these fishing supplies:
The binders fit my Knitpicks organizer pages nicely, don't you think?
The deep sea swivels are for another project I have percolating in my head. More on that when it's fully brewed, if you will.
I did make some purchases at the Spinning Loft. One of them, perhaps the coolest one, was this fine oil pen. Spinning wheels like to be oiled, and a nice little pen like this makes it fun!
OK, maybe not FUN, but convenient. It's even printed with Beth's shop's name, should I forget. And I like the extra cap to protect the needle tip -- the one on my Schacht oil bottle is a little bent from travel.
Anyhow, from Michigan to Alameda is pretty much a haul. Google estimated it at 37 hours of driving, and we actually did it in about that much, which the occasional stop for a little scamper for the girls.
Most rest stops are too heavily trafficked to let the dogs off leash, but sometimes you will find one that is pretty much empty and has a good layout were they can get out of the car and really stretch their legs. And inevitably they will spend the whole time walking sedately and sniffing things near you, saving the urge to run for times when they have to be on leash.
Nebraska had some pretty weird public art going on at the rest stops.
Actually, that was one of the cooler ones. The little petals and flaps moved.
We had pretty good weather from Indiana through to the western part of Wyoming, when we encountered this weird inversion layer:
Beyond the inversion layer was a nice blizzard combined with a dust storm, so as the snow hit the windshield it left behind a white splotch. I basically washed the windshield all the way to Utah. Yay, fun.
We also narrowly missed chain controls in the Sierras. When we checked the road conditions Wednesday morning in Winnemucca, NV, there were chain controls. By the time we got to Donner Pass, the road was clear. When we came down the mountains to Sacramento, we hit the second half of the storm coming through, which would drop 2 ft of snow in the mountains behind us. Yay for timing!
We got home to find Mr. Kitty mostly alive and well (he'd destroyed only a few things and was very very lonely, so he was all sweet and purry for about 24 hours).
We had one casualty: Liza had been looking unwell the day before we left, and she died while we were away. Our neighbor who was checking on the chickens kindly buried her for us. I will miss her.
