is there any more pie?

wednesday, day 2, 575 miles

Posted on September 23, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Yep, we drove 575 miles today. From Billings, Montana to Chamberlain, South Dakota.

We were on the road at 7:45 AM. I had my coffee, Banjo Man had his green tea. We were ready.

It turned out to be one of those perfect days in Montana and Wyoming. Sunny and cool, empty roads, beautiful scenery.

I took photos but my camera is still in the car and because it is raining very hard and I am so strangely disorganized lately, the camera is going to stay in the car tonight.

It was an uneventful day. Banjo Man became fixated on the large number of dead skunks he saw either on the road or beside the road. I tried to look up “Wyoming skunks” on my I-phone, because Banjo Man said he didn’t realize Wyoming was home to so many skunks.

I did not find an explanation. But it killed about an hour.

Which is always a good thing.

We stopped at a Subway and took our lunch back to the car to eat while we continued down the road.

The last hour the rain pelted down. We didn’t have much choice as to where to eat, so Taco John’s for salads (taken along to the hotel) was the solution.

We were in our room, in front of the television, at 7:00 to watch the opening episode of “Survivor”.

We’d talked about it on and off all day, you see. Because it was more exciting than counting skunk road kill.

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tuesday and we’re on the road

Posted on September 22, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Packing up early this morning.

We were up at 5 AM, and on the road at 9 AM.

How Banjo managed to get all of our stuff–including 5 dozen jars of jam and salsa–into the car I will never know. I only hope my dobro is in there somewhere.

We stopped one last time at the Pantry. Banjo Man bought an apple fritter fresh from the oven and about as big as a dinner plate. He ate it for 100 miles, I swear. I bought a cinnamon roll. I figure if I nibble carefully I can make it last four mornings.

By 7:30 PM MDT we arrived in Billings, having stopped for gas once. We were very pleased with ourselves.

Some pictures from the road:

Banjo Man loves driving through Montana.

Montana highway.

Tomorrow we drive across South Dakota. I doubt we will drive another 540 miles, the way we did today, but Banjo Man seems to be recovering from his cold, so who knows?

See you tomorrow night…

Posted in road trip | 2 Comments

see you next year

Posted on September 22, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Posted in lake | 1 Comment

putting the brakes on

Posted on September 21, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Well, we’re supposed to be in Montana today.

But we’re not.

Last Friday, after taking Sarge to the airport, we heard a bad–a really bad–scraping sound coming from underneath our car.

We think we have a brake problem. It was a long weekend without wheels, but Banjo Man has now driven the Highlander back into town to hear what a mechanic has to say. Hopefully it’s a simple brake job and we will be on the road to Billings tomorrow morning.

We’ve thought about leaving the car here for next summer (no more road trips for us because we’ve decided to fly from now on) and buying a “new” (well, not really new) car here to drive home.

Or… buying some extra suitcases and flying home.

We even test-drove a 2013 Honda CR-V Saturday, but we think it’s too small for us, though it was a beautiful car.

In the meantime I have been cleaning and packing. I have cleaned out cabinets and freezers and refrigerators and closets. I have washed floors and bathtubs and ovens. Banjo Man has stored kayaks and tables and chairs.

Busy days here, with or without a car.

UPDATE: Definitely is a brake issue, though we might have to wait for parts from Spokane later this afternoon. Looks like a good chance for getting on the road tomorrow morning!

UPDATE #2: The brakes won’t be finished until after 5 PM today, so Banjo Man–still sick with a head cold– is in town hanging out at the library for the day. Looks like we’ll be lucky to get to Missoula Tuesday night… but at least we don’t have to buy a new car.

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september with sarge

Posted on September 13, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Last week Sarge arrived. Uncle GL and Banjo Man were very excited, because having Sarge around means getting stuff done.

See how happy they are?

There were lots of hugs.

(I took these pictures on my new I-phone. I can’t believe how much fun it is, at least I get back to Rhode Island and the Dead Cell Zone).

There was work.

Getting ready to go up the mountain.

Banjo Man makes sure the sandwiches are stored safely in the back of the car.

Is it possible to have any more fun than this????

Up at four, in the woods all day, a big meal and then…a nap.

I’m happy to have Sarge around, too. He is eating all of the food in the freezer and I need to empty the freezer as soon as possible. The days here at the lake are winding down and there is a lot to do before heading back east.

I was up at four-thirty this morning, making lists in my head and needing to write it all down so I wouldn’t forget.

Coffee tastes really, really good at four-thirty in the morning.

And now I have a list for Sarge…if I can get him off the mountain for a couple of hours.

Posted in family, lake | 2 Comments

big sigh of relief

Posted on September 9, 2015 by is there any more pie?

It has rained here.

At last.

This picture was taken the fourth day of rainy, cool weather. I was leaving my French Friend Janou’s house and heading home. I had brought her a 25 pound bag of sugar and she had given me a jar of her freshly-made plum jelly.

And then she beat me at Canasta before returning to her next batch of jelly.

She’s multi-talented.

So after trying not to hit seven deer roaming around her driveway, I saw this.

So grateful.

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where did the summer go?

Posted on September 3, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Random pictures…

Posted in family | 1 Comment

smarter maybe

Posted on August 31, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Saturday I dropped my “basic” cell phone on the tile floor. The back flew in one direction, the sim card in another. I put it back together again and…nothing happened.

It had died.

On one hand I didn’t care. I never liked it–well, except for the sliding keyboard that let me text—but I had so much trouble turning it off. I used to resort to slapping it, something that amused Banjo Man and my children. I would see them exchanging looks and rolling their eyes. I didn’t care, because I only used it when traveling, because back in Rhode Island we live in a Dead Cell Phone Zone, where nothing gets through. I forget I even own the darn thing.

A broken cell phone would not have been stressful except that I was to pick up Banjo Man at the airport 100 miles away later in the afternoon. We were going to take advantage of the Cell Phone Lot for the first time. We had a plan: I would wait for Banjo Man’s call and then drive right up in front of the airport and whisk him into the car.

We were both looking forward to this because I always get lost trying to park at this particular airport. I won’t tell you how many times I have tried to navigate the parking situation–it is too embarrassing–but I liked the idea of not having to park. Just in case, though, I had a sandwich bag filled with quarters for the outdoor meters.

But a couple of hours before I was supposed to start my trek west, I had no cell phone. Which meant I had to stop in town at the local Verizon store and get one (or have to get to the airport early enough to park… and repark…and repark). My Samsung was officially declared dead by the sweet young girl behind the counter, and then she told me that I could have a free I-phone (last year’s model, I’m sure) if I extended my contract for the rest of my life (or until I was hauled off to a nursing home).

No problem, I said, totally giving up on years of resolve to avoid the smart phone trend. The I-phone was “free” and the basic phones started at $169 (refurbished).

I was hooked.

So now I can take pictures and put them on Facebook.

(Don’t hold your breath).

I can do Face Time, once I figure out what that is.

I can check the weather.

And my email.

And I can terrorize my grown children by sending selfies!!!

Posted in a more pie opinion, family, just for fun, lake, shopping | Leave a comment

threads and stuff

Posted on August 30, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Last week I was driving to my physical therapy appointment (the frozen shoulder is thawing! Hurray!) and I missed the turn into the parking lot. I had to drive another half mile until I found a place to turn around.

I was daydreaming.

About thread.

The possibilities are endless. The world of thread has changed since the old days of Coats & Clark. It is a huge business now, due to quilters being slightly obsessive about colors and content. There are silk threads, metallic threads, silk, cotton, polyester, along with variegated threads, too. There are super fine bobbin threads (my favorites), along with invisible threads and disappearing threads.

So on Wednesday, when I should have been thinking about driving to my physical therapist’s office, I was instead thinking about thread colors and thread weights and bobbin threads for the latest quilt project.

I just finished a complicated quilt top. It’s big and modern and so unlike what I usually sew. Thread colors matter. Stitching mistakes will be glaringly obvious.

I actually created this top with solids, not the wild floral prints that always call out to me.

Back home in Rhode Island I have more thread than I ever want anyone to see. One Christmas Banjo Man lost his mind in the local quilt shop and bought a jaw-dropping number of spools of variegated threads for me.

I always liked those quilt-store Christmas gifts, but as of two weeks ago the women who owned that shop retired. There are no more local quilt stores now and I have no idea how far I will have to drive for supplies and thread and fabric. Where will Banjo Man shop now???

Anyway…

On the way to the airport to pick up Banjo Man, I stopped at the Gorgeous Huge Quilt Shop sixty five miles from here and shopped for thread.

Heaven, I tell you.

Threads at Bear Paw Quilts.

So today, while it is raining (RAINING!!!!!!) I am going to play with thread. Samples have to be made, tensions adjusted, bobbins filled and threads tested.

So much fun!

Banjo Man and I are happy to be together again.