On June 17th I left Boise for the Black sheep gathering in Eugene Oregon. This was my first trip to the gathering after years of hearing how wonderful an event it was I decided that this was the year. I was not disappointed. Over the next few posts I will talk about what I saw, learned and bought. Then I will talk about the next two week that I spent in Oregon.
On the 17th the plan was to have everyone that was in our group meet at my house at 8 AM. because I live so close to the freeway. The trip normally takes about 8 hours. Ours took much longer and for half the group it really was an odyssey. There were 4 in our little group, two in each car. Well my ride arrived on the dot of 8, the other two not so much. So we waited and waited and waited. Thankfully we live in an age of cell phones, so a call was made. The hold up? a bad zipper on a suitcase. We will be there in a minute. So we waited and waited. they must have gone on with out us, so lets go and catch up to them on the freeway.
The trip began.
Now I have been to many fiber fairs and events with my car partner so we got into the rhythm of the drive. Surely we will meet up with them in Burns. Not so much. After another cell phone call with no answer, we figured we would meet up with them in Bend, so off we went again.
On the drive finally a call from car number 2. We are a bit behind you we will meet in Sisters at the Stitching post. We must be ahead so why not stop at Trader Joe's and eat lunch. By the way the Cesar chicken wrap was wonderful.
At the stitching post another cell call. We are a bit lost we will meet up with you in Eugene.
A small note about the Stitching post. If you ever get the chance to visit do stop. If you are a quilter you will love it, if you are a knitter you will love it, if you are a gardener you will love it. I did happen to see the newer book The Alchemy of color by Gina Wilde, and low and behold I am in the credits as part of the knitting team. Way cool. So if you have the thought to give it a look over there are some great patterns.
So after many many miles several stops and a few phone calls car one arrives at the fair grounds at about 5PM one hour later then planned, but after all we did spend an hour at the Stitching post waiting for car number 2.
Well lets go find the hotel I will be staying in with those in car number 2. When we arrive a call comes in from car number 2. We just got to Sisters, go ahead and check in. We will be there soon. Yea right. So off to diner car number 1 goes. The good food was great had a bit of trouble with figuring out where and what to recycle. Back to room to rest and wait for car 2 to arrive.
10:30 Car two arrives. Oh what a day they had seen way more of Oregon then first planned Baker City was not in the original plan, but still nice to see. Pooped! So off to sleep and wait for the gathering to begin.
Cryptic post card arrives at my house days later, family confused. It seems Lewis and Clark have gotten a bit off track and will see me in Eugene. Thank goodness The real Lewis and Clark didn't get so lost and we can all see the humor in having to wait for the gas truck to stop and gas up car number 2. And the Black sheep gathering hadn't even begun. More to follow.
