Big Ride Across America 2011

Thurs, July 7--Happy birthday MaryBeth!!!

I don't know what happened to my last post, but I'll try to catch up.

July 4 was Hardin, a smallish town with no quilt shop, but there was a quilt show in the library--nice quilts, but nothing spectacular. I did stop at the Ben Franklin for elastic, since some of the riders are shrinking, and I managed to buy a few pieces for my trip quilt, and some batiks. We stayed at the KOA, which had a pool. We passed winter wheat, sugar beet, and behind the KOA was Coors and Budweiser barley. Lots of goldenrod. Tried to identify birds, but there are few places to pull off the road with Baby, so I was frustrated. Many of the riders went to the rodeo, a first for those from the East. We were again catered by Beyond Basil--another fantastic meal!

July 5 was Hardin to Sheridan, 87 miles. Another green day. When we crossed into Wyoming the roads changed from gray to red! I got an adapter for our fan so that we can run it on 12 volt. We've really needed it the last few days. Spectacular lightning storm at night, but no rain. Got to swim again at the KOA, and when I asked someone in the pool where they were from, they said, "Marysville WA". It was a whole family on their way to the grandpa's family reunion in Nebraska. I have seen so many greens on this trip that I have decided to do a small Trip Around the World quilt titled "Trip Around Montana". The greens continue to amaze me. I wrote "BF" in my notes, but I can't remember what it means. I guess I'd better use better abbreviations in the future.

July 6 Sheridan to Gillette WY, 112 miles! I left Sheridan so early that I didn't get to either of the quilt shops, but I did go to the Salvation Army and bought a tank top. I'm still looking for a lightweight skirt to replace the one I forgot, and for commemorative dish towels for my broken dishes quilt. The countryside is changing from lots of green to desert and green, still very beautiful with mountains in the background. The advantage of driving the back roads instead of I 90: In the teeny tiny town of Clearmont, pop 142, was The Best Kept Secret Quilt Shop, the only business in town. My first Kaffe Fassett since Odessa, lots of batiks, lots of half price remnants, $4 a yard fabrics, including Kaffe, $1 fat quarters, 3for$1 fat eighths, and a perfect RV fabric for the border of my journey quilt. She also had lots of felted wool, hand-dyed and others. I asked her why she wasn't in the quilters' travel book, and she said she was for about 5 or 6 years, and only one customer had found out about her from the book, so she saves $800 a year. She has a website: www.thebestkeptsecret.com, but she says she gets more in-store customers. Her prices are quite low. Everyone stopped at the Spotted Horse Cafe at mile 51, a tiny place with one woman running it. As we were leaving, I congratulated her on completing her marathon--it was the first time she smiled since we arrived. Passed our first coal strip mine--what a blight on the otherwise lovely countryside. We stayed at the high school, where we could have electricity. Ate at a restaurant. On restaurant nights each rider is given $12 for food. Noel, Dick and I have been buying our own dinners, which allows the group to buy beer--everybody loves us!