Well sort of – but only a day trip.  Since our camper was totaled last December, cancelling our winter trip, we haven’t done much traveling.  But now that the warmer weather is just around the corner, we’re planning on taking more day trips in Central New York.

Today was a perfect excuse for the first one this year.  We picked up my new car, a Ford Fusion, and just had to take it on a road trip.

We decided on a drive to the Finger Lakes, specifically Seneca Lake wine country.  We’ll be hosting a nature photo tour of Finger Lakes Wineries this summer and needed to line up some of the photo shoots.

So of course I packed up my current applique project to take along. Any hand work, especially needle turn applique is so portable and easy to bring along on any kind of car trip.  I like to work on projects while riding or whenever my photographer husband ‘finds’ the perfect picture and just has to stop.

Everything neatly fits into a small satchel that can easily fit in my purse.

The weather could have been a little warmer.  The temperature seems to be stuck in the 20′s lately(should be in the 40′s this time of year).  It was a mostly sunny day with only had a few snow flurries to accompany us; not the multiple ‘inches’ of snow that we’ve had to contend with lately.

Yes I did drive the car off the lot but turned over the driving to my husband after our stop for lunch.  I needed to make sure that I could comfortably quilt in the car.  I was pleased that the passenger door has two decent receptacles to hold my quilting notions.  What luck!

I thought when I took this car for a test drive that  it was perfect for me as a driver and now I’ve found that is also fits my needs as a passenger whose passion is ‘quilting’!

Hooray!   In less than two months we’ll be heading south to spend nearly three months in Texas.

As always we’ll begin the trip with a week stay at my son’s home in North Carolina.  It’s become tradition for us to leave the Syracuse area a day or so after Christmas and head for a visit with my son and the girls.  We’ll celebrate Christmas with them on New Years eve and on New Year’s Day we’ll have a traditional Italian meal (for good luck in the coming year) featuring lentil soup and maybe even some homemade bread made by Grandma.  Who knows – maybe we’ll be able to watch the SU football team at a bowl game also – You never know!

We normally leave his home on January 2 and head to our winter destination.  This year it will be Mission Texas (on border between Texas and Mexico) and about 40 miles from Gulf .  We’ll cover about 1600 miles after leaving North Carolina and plan to take up to two weeks to get to our final destination.

So now I mapping out our route and stops along the way.   Our focus is to find places that provide photograph opportunities for Tom and quilting opportunities for me.  I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going to start until I picked up the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of Quilt Sampler. It features three quilt shops that are along the way to our final destination

• A Stitch in Time, Franklin NC.  boasts that it has thirteen-foot ceilings that make it possible for the shop to display a sample for each quilt in the shop.  I can’t fathom just how many kits a 3,200 sq. ft. store can hold.  We’ll probably travel along the Blue Ridge Parkway and I’m sure that well end up in the Smoky Mountains National Park .  They also recommend a stop at B. Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ.  How can you visit the southeast  without trying some authentic barbecue?
• Our next stop will be Tiny Stitches Quilt Shop, Marietta GA.  Since we live in Marietta NY this is a must stop also.     Needle turn applique is one of the owners favorite techniques, and mine also.  I’m anxious to see just what she carries specific to applique.  I just love the technique because it is so portable.  Apparently activities in the shop are not limited to quilting. There may be ice cream sundaes or a costumed shop owner dressed as Scarlet O’Hara also.  I’m anxious to see if they have anything that eclectic going on while we’re visiting and  I’m hoping that the project, Fall for Color, that was featured in this issue of the magazine is on display.
• Lastly Quilters Emporium, Stafford Texas.  (15 min SW of Houston)  This shop seems to be all about color to enliven the senses.

Now I have to finish my homework, check out happenings near the time we’ll be in the different areas and determine how long we’ll stay at each stop.  Too bad we only have two weeks to travel.  I’m sure we could spend more than a month just getting to our final destination!

Well our last full day on the Cape was Tuesday- and didn’t it have to rain!.  As a matter of fact we had quite a thunder and lightning storm during the night.  So we spent a quiet day getting the camper ready for the trip home on Wednesday.

We decided to treat ourselves to one more dinner out at a restaurant in town, Winslow’s Tavern.  We enjoyed dining outside on the terrace  (thankfully the weather cleared up after 4pm).  Our  delicious meal began with appetizers of Gorgonzola stuffed figs for me and Wellfleet oysters for Tom.  We don’t normally have an appetizer, but this just seemed the thing to do to end our vacation.  For our entrees I had baked cod and Tom had lobster.  To end the meal,  we shared an apple tart with vanilla ice cream.

On the way home we stopped by Sturbridge Village and toured the houses in the center of the complex that we hadn’t seen on our first visit the week before.   We saw some more handiwork.

Whole Cloth Quilt

Needlework Sampler

In addition, I was able to finish my  Tumbling Leaves quilt top.  This is  the third in the series of Fat Quarter Quilts that we’re working on as a guild project.  Luckily I’m able to needle-turn applique while riding in the car.  It certainly makes the drive  seem to go a lot faster.

Now I’m trying to decide just how to quilt it.

It’s common knowledge that what you are looking for is probably in your own backyard.  We’ve been disappointed on this trip that we hadn’t seen the ‘quaint little villages’ that Cape Cod is noted for.

But today that changed.  The weather was very cloudy and the threat of rain showers persisted all day so we didn’t want to plan any all-day outside activities.  Instead we decided to walk around the town of Wellfleet.  We are camping just outside of town.

The town has an “abundance of quaint rural seaside character and charm.”  Just what we had in mind with the beautiful landscaped homes that line the narrow streets.

Wellfleet Homes

Beautiful Landscape

Another Beautiful View

Many of the houses have been converted into art galleries showing upscale artwork from pottery to original paintings.

The first gallery we came upon was Glenns Gallery.  It houses a unique display of oil paintings along with handmade lace.  I couldn’t believe it – something for both Tom and I in the same place.  We enjoyed talking with the artist, Maria Lopata who shared her appreciation and love of nature with us.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of her paintings and the original lace she had on display

Art and Lace

Well the song is partially correct.  We have seen many, many and dunes and have plenty of salty air – but ‘..quaint little villages… – I think not.

We spent the past two days traveling scenic route 6A in Cape Cod.  While you can appreciate that at one time the villages of Chatham, Hyannis, Orleans, Provincetown were small fishing villages with narrow streets and  charming homes belonging to sea captains, they have unfortunately fallen into tourist traps.  In many cases the unique homes remain, but they have been commercialized.  Too bad!

Luckily President Kennedy did preserve much of the shoreline as a National Sea Shore.  The vista’s are beautiful.  We’ve spent a lot of our time hiking the trails and walking on the beaches. The salt air is so pure and clean!  What a treasure we have here.

I was able to visit a quilt store in Hyannis, Heartbeat Quilts.  It’s called a ‘quilter’s candy store” – and that certainly fits.  I spent more than an hour just meandering through the rooms and admiring the quilts – and yes – touching the fabrics.   I was lucky to have my friend, Mae, give me a gift certificate to the shop for my birthday.  She was visiting the area earlier the year and knew that we had plans to come here this month.  I think I made good use of the certificate.  I purchased the book Accidental Landscapes by Karen Eckmeier along with some fabric that reminded me of the sea.

What a perfect way to interpret  the landscapes of Cape Cod.  I took some pictures today with that is mind. 

This may very well be my next quilting challenge!