Nice to See You In Person

It's been far to long since we gathered our goodies and headed to a fiber festival. The excitement of getting ready is nearly overwhelming. So many details to iron out one of which is the game of Tetrus than insues as we attempt to get it all into the SUV. Before heading to BSG, Don decided we needed to rent a trailer to carry all that had been created in the past two years. Unfortunately he decided to find one the day before we were to pack. He managed to find the last one in Northern California and headed down the hill to get it. Three hours later as he is headed back home when the check engine light appears on the dash. According to the mechanic we are good to go as the code has something to do with the body of the car not the engine. We pack the SUV and Trailer in the scorching 104 degrees. It all fits and we head out,12 hours later than planned which means we will be driving all night rather than resting up in the Airbnb I've booked. We no sooner hit the freeway when a driver is honking to get our attention to tell us the back is open. Yup, the latch didn't and the back of the trailer was wide open. I'm picturing purple fluff being sucked out along U.S. 50. We pulled over, shut the door again, making sure to catch the latch this time. We head back home to retieve someone's hearing aids (this explains why he didn't hear the noise from the back of our car that I was hearing) and a few other things that were forgotten. We follow the same road looking for missing items, thank goodness there were none. I have to say the man knows how to bungee stuff and why nothing flew out of the trailer. We are now investors in Harbor Freight due to the number of bungee cords we have purchased. 

On our way down I-5, we pull off at the Costco in Woodland to top off the gas tank, at nearly $6 a gallon, when the drivers door won't open. Remember the code that had nothing to do with the engine...we found the problem. Apparantly, in 104 degree heat the pins that hold the door panel in place melted causing the panel to slip, interfering with the latch. After forceful pushing he gets the door open, gets out and tries to open it again. This time the entire door panel falls off and is hanging by a few wires. Everything in the door pocket hits the ground. Hand sanitizer, napkins from Dutch Bros., Five Flashlights (two weigh about the same as a brick phone from the 80's). This is traveling with a retired cop...Lt. Security's motto: Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Well, we manage to smack the door panel back in place with four or the eight remaining pins and out came the gaphers tape to hold it in place. The interior burl wood handle was hanging and unusable to close the door. The ML320 was looking very Beverly Hillbillies. The rest of the trip we had to roll down the window and pull the door closed from the outside. By the time we arrived to set up at BSG the traditionally 8.5 hour drive had taken us 14 hours including napping along the way in Weed and again in Ashland. One trip in from the trailer, Don heard a chirping bird and then felt the deposit land on top of his head. He announced this was the capper on the trip another vendor said,"I think you mean crapper on the trip." The vendors around us were doubled over in hysterical laughter! So glad we could entertain. 

Attendance was low and it may have been the price of gasoline, food, lodging, or fear of the new variant! It's always a guessing game why one show will be great and the next show isn't. We have decided it's all too much for us and this will be our last year of face to face shows. Our sales are better through teaching classes and FB live sales co-sponsored by the Wool and Fiber Arts Group on FB. 

So we hope to see you this weekend Oct 1-2 at the Lambtown Festival and then in two weeks at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival!