Block 8 in the Adventure Quilt quilt along hosted by Kate and Tammy is all about the Road Less Traveled.
After Dave made a career change six years ago and became self-employed, we worked long and hard to get his business up and running. It required a lot of physical labor to do upgrades and improvements to our property and the shop, as well as learning new skills to be able to create and launch a professional web-site and learn marketing tricks to grow our business.
We worked tirelessly for two+ years before we had the opportunity to enjoy a vacation. Things were still a little tight financially, and to take a week to 10 days off and not continue to complete the work he had in-house to keep generating income was a little concerning. However, thanks to the growth in our faith and the generous offer from a good friend to let us use a condo in Sun Valley, ID we scheduled some time away. We made it a point to avoid inter-states whenever possible, both to and from the Valley.
You can read about the entire story (4 parts)of our journey to and visit in Sun Valley, ID, but one of my favorite days was when a local art gallery manager suggested we take a two-lane dirt road out of town through a National Forest and joined up with a back highway.
We made a detour when we saw a point of interest sign pointing to a fissure that was caused by an earthquake in 1983.
We had no clue what we were actually looking for, but we trusted our road atlas (no gps device or app again). Amazingly, the little county road was on our map and we continued to follow it until we came upon a highway that followed the Salmon River and led us back to Sun Valley.
We enjoyed a picnic lunch along one of the farms...
It really was an adventure on a road less traveled! Ever since that trip we now prefer to take a slower pace and take two-lane highways. You never know what you might find!
Now, not every trip can allow the luxury of no time lines or destination deadlines. As we have learned in our (ahem...) maturity, sometimes it really is okay to take time to smell the roses... even extend our stay for a day or so.
When need to get away from the crazies of the world, where do you go?
What road less traveled to you navigate to?
Maybe it is just an escape to your sewing room... maybe it is a mountain cabin... or a beach cottage...
Leave a comment, with your email address. I really enjoy conversations with my readers.
Sew Piecefully,
Melva
Melva Loves Scraps - home of the Quilters Through The Generations series
Linking with:
BOMs Away at What A Hoot Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
UFO Busting at Tish's Wonderland
Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting
What I Made Monday at Pretty Piney
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
I love to travel...usually driving by myself to visit my daughters. Especially my middle daughter since she is in the Army and moves every three years! My travels to see her have taken me to Seoul, Texas, Florida, Washington and Hawaii. Right now I am caring for my 97 year old father and can't leave, so looking at cruises online is my distraction!! Sun Valley, Idaho is so beautiful...I'm glad you had the opportunity to visit there. The back roads are fun for exploring our country, but the freeways do move you to your destination faster.
ReplyDeleteHi, Melva. Wow! raised NINE FEET. That's a lot for one movement! Normally, my get-away time is a long soak in the tub with a good book, or very unusual day-time TV movie while hand appliqueing (normally only happens for an hour after dinner with my husband). This year is very different for us, as our family and our daughter's inlaws have been saving for 5 years to go on a Caribbean cruise together in May to celebrate Heather's medical school graduation. It's a goal of hers that has been in the making for 12 years, so we all came up with this idea when they got married 5 years ago. And then in August, I'll be meeting up with our other daughter in San Diego, where we'll do a little survey of Souther and Central California around a bicycle event she's riding in. We'll have dinner with some of my high school friends, see a desert sculpture garden, spend a couple nights at Big Bear, then go visit General Sherman (largest tree in the world) and stop a night or two in Wine Country. Will be a super eventful year for me. :)
ReplyDeleteI love this post. Paul and I are huge side trippers and always struggle to keep to a schedule because we get so sidetracked. But we do find the most amazing places, and your little trip sounds like it was fun.
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