Just What I Needed

Our weekend getaway was just what I needed. In so many ways. Being away from work. Being away from the phone. Being away from the news. Being away. Being with Joe. Being someplace beautiful. Being in new environments. Being in a fabric store. And, frankly, just being.

We left home on Friday morning, starting with breakfast out, right here in town. We headed up the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and stopped in the town of Jim Thorpe, a place we'd heard about but never visited. It turned out to be terrific! After an hour of sightseeing there, we went northwest to Lewisburg, where we met Bob and Pat for a most delicious lunch at a unique restaurant that I'd recommend unconditionally, Reba and Pancho's. After catching up with family, we continued north to Wellsboro.

We spent two comfortable nights at Arvgarden, where we thoroughly enjoyed the company of our hosts, Keith and Hilma, and met some other delightful guests. Hilma's breakfasts were delicious and Keith was a wealth of knowledge on almost any subject. The home is Swedish in style, beautifully decorated, with this terrific quilt in the sitting area of the guest wing.

This isn't a very good picture of the sitting area, but it shows the beautiful view a little bit. The Wellsboro area, as well as the roads leading there, is view after view. Just lovely. On Friday night we had dinner at a place in downtown Wellsboro -- at lunch Bob and Pat mentioned that they had camped near Wellsboro and when I asked if they could recommend a place to eat, Pat told us about "a place with a terrible name and terrific food," Timeless Destination. Golly, was Pat right -- about the terrific food part, especially. And surprisingly inexpensive. With a cute young waiter, too!

The town was all geared up for the Laurel Festival. The square had been taken over by a humongous crafts fair. It was rainy so we didn't loiter long. The parade was scheduled to begin at 2:00 on Saturday, "rain or shine," and already on Friday evening people had set up chairs along the parade route. And somehow we knew that those chairs would remain undisturbed, no matter how many more people came through the area. It was just that kind of place.

On Saturday, with a forecast of heavy rain, we made an executive decision to bypass the parade and see what else the area had to offer. Which turned out to be plenty! A scenic drive took us out towards Coudersport where we spent more than an hour at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, of all places! Joe had heard about it and wanted to visit, and it turned out to be a fascinating place. Expansive and educational, it began with an orientation video, and then a self-guided tour of the various components of the museum and the outbuildings. It would be a terrific place for a family to take kids.

After lunch we drove to the western rim of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The rain was still fairly intense, so we only got out of the car for one viewing spot. But we were very glad that we did, because the view was gorgeous.

We got back to Arvgarden in time for a nice afternoon nap and then drove over to nearby Mansfield, where community players were putting on a fine production of "Plain and Fancy," a rather silly story set in Amish country, but with good acting, really nice sets, and some excellent voices.

On Saturday morning, I spent the better part of an hour at Needles, the LQS for Wellsboro. I have to tell you it is probably one of the top five quilt shops I've ever visited! The people were so friendly and helpful. The fabric was gorgeous and abundant and priced fairly. They had kits for this quilt. I didn't buy one on Saturday, but I certainly did write down the name of it because I just might have to do it! Isn't it stunning?

We drove home slowly, stopping at at kennel where we saw some sweet English Springer Spaniel puppies. We were not looking to buy a puppy at this time, but I wasn't closed to the possibility if we found precisely the right dog. We are both aware that we have another little vacation scheduled for later in the summer and didn't like the idea of having a little guy for a few weeks and then boarding him to go away. There was a little liver and white male that I could quite easily have brought home had the timing been right. But it wasn't. Joe's main reason for stopping was to meet the owner and see the adult dogs at the kennel. We'll stay in touch with Mrs. Leshock, because her kennel does seem like a very good place. This time next year, I suspect we'll have a new family member.

We visited briefly with Joe's aging aunt and his cousin close to Bloomsburg, and then started homeward. We decided to go back to Jim Thorpe for dinner on the way, and had a nice meal there.

Did I mention that I bought some fabric? Did I need to mention it?

I needed some additional light CWs for the Melanie Wilkes quilt, and Needles had a very wide selection. Mary had mentioned that her study had shown that CW fabrics were often a little brighter than what we are currently thinking of as CWs, and I liked that idea, so I looked for and found some very nice brighter lights for Melly's quilt.

I also needed some shirtings for Caroline's big girl bed quilt (more about which later) and picked them up at Needles, too.

We got home around ten o'clock last night. And guess what -- I have two more days of vacation! Lady, start your Bernina!