Long day today.
Started off with a quilt exhibition at my aunt’s church in central Michigan (photos below), then I was on the road by 11am. It was a 3-hour drive (on state roads) to a town near the Ohio border and Toledo where I caught up with with someone I’ve known online for years, his wife, and their grand-brood. After an hour with them, I was back on the road (interstates this time) into Ohio, swinging past Toledo and Cleveland, then on to Erie, PA just after sunset.
Nut nearly all the hotel rooms were booked, and those in the chain I have membership with were fully booked! Why? Fall colour tourists! (guess I’m one of them – d’uh!). I was able to get a room at one of the suite hotels but all they had was one with a Jacuzzi (yeah, right), but the reception staff were good and knocked it down from the $179 rate to the military rate of $129, I think ‘cos I said I was just going to use the shower, bed, and free wifi 😉
I’ve learnt my lesson and just booked a room in upstate NY for tomorrow night – it’s about 10 mins from a place I want to go, so after I see another friend in Rochester, NY, I’ll head there, knowing I have a place to stay.
The fall colours are starting – depending on where you are, they vary from about 10 to 40%, but not full colour yet. Which is good as I don’t want to take photos when I’m driving! It was 80F today, and expected to be mid-70s tomorrow, so it’s t-shirt weather for me!!
I’m pooped after 6.5+ hours driving – that’s probably going to be by longest day, I hope. But the weather and the traffic were both great, so that helps a lot. Even though I was on I-90 through Ohio and PA, the traffic was steady and sensible, with lots of long gaps between vehicles. Perfect driving conditions.
Quilt exhibition
In addition to the quilts in the main hall, there were quilts draped over the church pews too. And there’s a commemorative quilt for the 100th anniversary of the church, made up of ‘bricks’ of fabric, with some of my relations names on them! There were quite a few antique quilts in the exhibition — the red and white one is dated 1879! The feed sack one is dated from the 1930s.
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 