I have a tradition of cranking up Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again as I cross the Colorado state line headed out on a road trip. Although, unlike Willie, I am rarely “going places that I’ve never been.” It still seems appropriate.
This trip is going to be different. For one thing I don’t have a set time I need to be back. It will be nice to spend quality time with my aunt and cousins and my mom’s cousin, who is 96. We will start in Burr Ridge, Illinois and then head up to Lake Cora just outside Paw Paw, Michigan.
Lake Cora is where my mom and her siblings spent part of their summers. There have been members of Grandpa Nelson’s family living on the lake for at least a hundred years. Today my aunt, her cousin Tootie, my cousin Carol, and at least one more distant relation have houses on the lake. Maybe that’s why it always feels like coming home when I turn down the lane to paradise.
This trip I am also packing up a mini-version of my studio so I can work while I’m in this wonderfully inspiring place. I am bringing my Featherweight to do all my piecing and quilting. I’ve spent more time thinking about what I want/need to bring for the studio than I have clothes or other necessities. Part of my problem is the number of ideas I have bouncing around my head that are still fuzzy and not well formed. And then there is the issue of not really knowing how long I will be gone. I have to remember I won’t be out in the desert with nary a fabric store in sight. In fact, I have already found a quilt store in Kalamazoo that even carries replacement parts for my Featherweight. How perfect is that?
So back to pondering and packing. Until next time, from the road . . .
“I just can’t wait to get on the road again.”