Road weary

I just returned from a road trip from Minnesota to Oregon and back, all in one week. I'm definitely sick to death of my car! It needs a real scrubbing inside and out . . . oh the bugs! The trip went well; there's really nothing like a road trip. We traveled through Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Washington and Oregon . . . and then back. I should say M . . . O . . . N . . . T . . . A . . . N . . . A because it is such a big state!

We saw lots of fun sites along the way - here are some of my favorite photos.

North Dakota is home to the Enchanted Highway - which I guess is a road that features lots of metal sculptures. We never venture off the interstate to check it out, but there is a sample sculpture along the interstate intended to lure you in. It's awesome . . . but didn't work on us. Try harder North Dakota! Just kidding; if we didn't have so many hours of driving ahead of us I'm sure we would check it out.

Once we get into the foothills you see beautiful scenery like this:

One place we stop every year (we seem to be creatures of habit) is Wallace, Montana. It's an old mining town full of little shops and great old buildings like this:

We spent one night in Everett, Washington on my sister & brother-in-law's boat. They just returned from a 4 year trip sailing around the world so we were so excited to see them! They are currently living on their boat so we were able to get a taste of boat living (a very small taste) and they made us feel so welcome. I was surprised to learn that my sister wanted to ride back to Minnesota with me so that she could see the whole family! That worked out great because I had planned to drive by myself (which I've done before) but having her along made it so much more fun! We had 4 years to catch up on and we managed to talk the entire way. Seriously!

I got my daughter all settled into her college house in Oregon. Of course they were having record breaking temps (100+ degrees) while we were moving her in. I love IKEA and their furniture selection and price, but I'm not such a big fan of their directions. We spent lots of time pondering the pictures they provide (no words) and sweating like crazy! We got it done (just don't look too close. Ahem.) and she's ready to start her junior year. Yikes!

I'll post some crafty news very soon . . . but after a week away from home I have a few things to catch up on first. Back soon!