Snowy Travels

We recently did a show in Spokane, WA. We drove from there to Gardnerville, NV. As we were driving though Northern OR we encountered our first snowfall for this Fall/Winter season. We actually had a bit of everything - sun, rain, sleet, hail and snow. I feel like the postman - "Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds".  It seems like it started a little early. Maybe it is going to be a wet winter. There are definitely a lot of areas that can use it.

We stopped in Lakeview, OR for the night. There was snow on the ground and it was about 28 degrees. When we woke up in the morning, there was about 2" of snow on the ground. Alan had to scrape the windshield and windows. I was in the hotel loading up the luggage cart so I missed that fun.

Sunrise at Goose Lake on the Oregon and California Border

This picture was taken about an hour after we left. It was slow going for a lot of the drive. The road was quite icy and slippery at times.

This is just outside of Alturas, CA. When we left there was far more snow on the hood of the truck.

This area is very rural with lots of farms. We saw barns overflowing with hay. I want to do a series of Barn Quilts. You can see some of the pictures that are the inspiration for that on my Ideas for Future Quilts Board on my Pinterest page. We passed several barns with snow covered roofs which opened up another set of options when I start designing the quilt. Here are a couple of them. There were no cars behind us so I asked Alan to stop so I could get fairly decent pictures.

Now all I have to do is find the time to turn my idea into a quilt or quilts. Someday :)

Carol

Aquatic Park in Paradise, CA

Our last show was in Paradise, CA. As usual we got to the venue early for set up. We couldn't get into the building for a couple hours so we went to the park behind the school. It was a beautiful tree filled park, but it was so hot we couldn't really enjoy it.

On Sunday morning, we got there about an hour before the show opened. I decided that since I had some free time, I'd go down to the park for a few minutes. There was a fire about 30 miles away and the area where we were had a great deal of smoke. So I braved the smoky air and took a walk. Some days you just need a little down time and that was one of those days. I'm so glad that I did that.

The park is called Aquatic Park. There  is a large fishing pond with a spray of water in the center of the park.

There is something about the sound of a fountain or waterfall that has a very calming effect on me. I walked around that pond three or four times. As I was walking I discovered new things every time around. This interesting bird, I think it might be some kind of duck, caught my eye. He stayed in that same spot the whole time I was there.

Another nice feature of the park is that all along the path around the pond are Memory Benches. They have plaques on them with names of loved ones. What a wonderful tribute to someone special and for those of us who didn't know the person to know how much they are loved and remembered.

Areas for picnics and barbecues are located throughout the park. There's a rock water feature off to the side. The water from this trickles in a little stream into the main pond.

The park was designed by Northstar Engineering in Chico, CA for the Paradise Recreation and Park District in June of 1991.

I'm so glad I took a few minutes of "Me" time to explore this gorgeous space. What a wonderful way to get centered before a long, busy day.

Peacefully Yours,

Carol