We spent a wonderful weekend in Kalamazoo with our son, daughter-in-law, and three very busy and smart grandchildren.
Sleeping-in felt so good. We leisurely ate breakfast at the Hampton Inn in Rochester and then Tu-Na Helper prepared for his virtual conference. I sewed on my hexis, determined to finish all I had brought along. If I did, I would complete approximately 2/3 of what was needed for the project. It’s been my travel project for over a year now. I was ready to move this to the next step—appliqueing them to the background.
About the time the sun started to rise, that cicada decided he was done partying for the night and quieted down. As his tired little voice gave way to sleep, I heard another sound—the alarm clock. (Remember he was stuck in the air conditioner unit—read about it here if you haven’t already done so).
This was going to be an exciting day. There was a new shop to explore and a region to check out of which meant prizes!
Today would be a busy day visiting many shops. With the help of the Route 4 Me App, Tu-Na Helper had determined our route the night before but I wasn’t so sure I agreed with it or him. We would be leaving the state in a few days driving to Michigan to attend our granddaughter’s baptism and I wasn’t so sure we’d be finished with the state hop by then.
The big excitement for the day happened at breakfast.
We awoke early again. We needed to leave the motel by 7:15 in order to arrive at our first shop of the day by opening time. Tu-Na Helper had consulted the routing App the night before and the first shop on the list wasn’t open until 10 although it was closer to our present location than any others.
Because time was of the essence, he decided we’d go to the second shop on the list first since they opened at 9 and backtrack to get the first shop second hoping to arrive shortly after their opening time. Google said they were 37 miles apart but required 59 minutes of non-stop driving time. That plan sounded like a lot of extra driving miles on slow, winding, lake country roads. But I went along with his plan.
Morning came early on opening day which would not have been so bad if I had made it to sleep at a reasonable hour the night before. If you remember from my last post, I only had two days to prepare for this trip and I needed every minute I could find to finish getting ready.
We’ve returned from our sixth consecutive year of participating in the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop. Tu-Na Helper survived another year of hopping with me. And do I ever have stories to share.
Thanks Marian for hosting this event.
You’ll find the complete schedule below. There are several giveaways to enter, too. Be sure to check Marian’s blog at Seams to be Sew each day for a free pattern, too.
Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats 