Fan Girl February and What I Did on my Summer Vacation.

Groundhog Day

Sumi-e saw his shadow as the sun woke us up this morning. 6 more weeks of winter. I actually hope that we get 6 weeks of winter. 6 days even. I want to play in the snow. It's snowed once and it was heavy and wet not good for playing and all melted by noon.

Fan Girl February!

Of the knitting almanac of last year this month is too good to miss. I've started it off by joining a Shakespeare swap. Shakespeare and a secret pal package. Two of my favorite things.

Another of my favorite things is the Midwest Weaving Convention. I went last year (I never miss it) and only now am I sorting the photos. 2011 was 10 days of yarny goodness in Michigan's upper peninsula.

It all started with finding a kennel for Joey. I don't travel much and Joey is great at coming along for the ride. But no dogs allowed in the convention dorms so Joey couldn't come.

He had a nice doggie spa to go to back in Illinois but the few places I'd tried since moving back had been horrible experiences. But with this trip I found the great place we use now.

How I found them is not important (recommended by my vet). The important part is how very many places I called before I found a place with room. Father's Day weekend and the doggie inns were full.

I start my drive Saturday afternoon with a car full of spinning supplies and 46 hours of books on tape from the library. I made it through my first two books. A really bad Doctor Who, although it was read by David Tenant, and the really great Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander. That's right, 6 hours before my first stop. Traveling alone is the best.

I'm on my 3rd book, The Sword in the Stone, when I decide it's time to find a room. It's almost 10:30pm. I pull off at the next exit and everyone if full. I pull off at the next exit and everyone if full. I pull off at the next exit and everyone if full. I pull off at the next exit and everyone if full. This is a long and reoccurring theme.

I've never had a problem finding a place to sleep before. It's after the 4th town that I realize the correlation of the doggie inns being full and the lack of people inns too. Lesson learned.

A little after midnight I've decided that I'm just going to have to sleep in the car in a rest stop but I'll keep on trying until I find a non scary one. Thankfully, two towns later I see a vacancy sign. It turns out that a person that had booked a 2 night stay didn't want to run his marathon in the rain or wanted to go home after running his marathon in the rain. Anyway, he had canceled his second night at the last minute leaving a room for me.

Oh, right, it was raining. It rained every day of this trip. And it was cold. Colder than it is today. The coldest last week of June I've ever experienced.