*Chapter Next*
In Which Our Intrepid Traveler Returns Home

And I really do want to be back in the green, green mountains of Vermont! Coming home was rough. Going back to work
today and cleaning up the mess left by the folks who worked in my office while I was gone was tough. Ah well, to be expected I guess!

So, Thursday my friend Margo and I lit out of here, bound for places north. The five hour drive to Montpelier felt like it only took about two it went so smoothly. Once there we checked into Betsy's bed and Breakfast. To our delight we discovered that we had access to a full kitchen, so that made meal planning so much easier! A trip to the grocery store and we were set for the weekend.

Friday was spent at the Quilt Festival! We got there at 10. We left about 4, brains completely fried! My favorite quilt was by the artist Christine Fries (which, unfortunately, is not shown on her site yet!) The pictures of her quilts do not do them justice! Not even remotely close! I could have stood in front of her current quilt for days.

Saturday we consulted our schedules ("Schedules? We don't need no stinkin' schedules! We're on Va-caaaa-tion!"), and decided to take the hour trip to Shelburne and the Shelburne Museum. Granted, our main motivation was the fact that a quilt exhibit was going on up there too, but the place was so much more! Easily the favorite was the Ticonderoga. Walking around a hill I honestly did not expect to be coming face to bow with a 200+ foot long boat! In the middle of a field! Very cool.

Dinner Saturday was at a Montpelier favorite (and I don't think I'm giving any secrets away here. This place is popular!), Sarducci's. If you ever get the chance to go there, do. Just go. Wait however long you have to for a table, it is worth it! Two words: Lobster Ravioli. Ohmigawd, was it good!

Back to the quilt show we went on Sunday, trying to figure out what we missed the first time around. We had only planned to stay a short time, but ended up spending another four hours gawking. The creativity and imagination was just stunning.

And then it was home again on Monday, a five hour drive that felt like it took ten! We really were not ready to come back to the real world, but what can ya do? But I did do dome shopping, and picked up some quilt patterns and souviners. And, no, I could not go to Vermont without buying one local product near and dear to this knitting fools heart:

That's thirty (yes, 30) skeins of yarn at 220 yards each, and two 1750 yard cones of lovely Vermont wool! I was happy that the people I had bought the yarn from that I had used for Irina's Kokopelli sweater were back this year in the Vermont vendor's tent. And before you think that I maybe went a little nuts with the wool, it all cost me *under* $200.00! Ok, yes, maybe I did go a little nuts. But at that price, wouldn't you? (Like I have to explain! You understand, right?)

So now I'm trying to catch up with life, but I'm not pushing it too hard. I'm still moving at that slower pace that is Vermont.