When we left Borrego Springs in February 2024 we went to Sacramento for a bit so we could go to the dentist and take care of some medical appointments. While we were there we made a quick trip over to Reno to attend a lecture by two of Carrie’s favorite knitting designers, Arne and Carlos. They are from Norway and were on a North American tour. They are funny and entertaining, so even non-knitter Charlie enjoyed it. We left Sacramento for Winslow, Arizona, to spend a few days with a group of close friends. We stayed at La Posada, a beautifully renovated old Harvey House hotel next to the railroad tracks. In the days when rail travel prevailed travelers would stop at Harvey Houses all along the route. We made day trips with our friends to Walnut Canyon National Monument (Native American ruins), Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert, and Petrified Forest National Park. The hotel also has a small museum that contains the world’s largest Navajo rug. Finally, we enjoyed wonderful group dinners at the hotel restaurant and at the great little Mexican restaurant across the street, the Brown Mug (great sopaipillas!). Click on the first photo in each block to view larger images in a slideshow.
From Winslow we drove to Austin, Texas, to spend a few days visiting with Carrie’s brother’s family. Andy came down to Texas for a few days, as well as two other family members, Theo and Rachel. We rented a house in Dripping Springs that was big enough to hold us all. We enjoyed visiting with our Texas family and spending some time in downtown Austin, a big and vibrant city.
From Austin we headed northeast to Crofton, Maryland, near Annapolis, where we settled into a condo for about ten days. Carrie wanted to attend the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, one of the premier knitting and fabric festivals in the United States. The weather was rainy all weekend but we had our umbrellas and made the best of it. Fortunately, most of the vendor booths were indoors in the county fair buildings.
We took advantage of being in the DC area and made a few day trips to local attractions. Carrie wanted to see the special exhibit titled “Woven Histories” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. It featured a large and varied collection of woven artwork from all over the world.
On the way to the art gallery we drove past the United States National Arboretum which looked intriguing, so on another day we spent the afternoon in the arboretum. It was a weekday and not very crowded, and we enjoyed several hikes through the bushes and trees with springtime flowers. We arrived past peak azalea blooms, but perfect for the dogwood trees.
On another day we drove over to nearby Virginia and spent the afternoon exploring George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon. We were able to tour the main house, several workshops, and the slave quarters. It is always interesting to get a glimpse into what life was like in the past.
We left Maryland headed for Raleigh, North Carolina. Along the way we traveled through Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Shenandoah is an interesting and unique National Park because it is long and thin, about 100 miles long but only a few miles wide. It was established to feature Skyline Drive, a scenic highway along the crest of the Appalachians. We were heading to Raleigh to housesit and dog sit for friends while they went to France for a month, but when we arrived in Raleigh we learned that their trip had been cancelled. Hence, we stayed in Raleigh for just a few days, but we did have a chance to see a special exhibit on Native American art at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Like the textile exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, the NC Museum of Art Native American exhibit also melds past Navajo style with new artists’ techniques.
Since we weren’t going to be staying in Raleigh we decided to spend a couple of weeks in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of our favorite places. Heading west, we spent part of a day in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the most beautiful parts of the Appalachians. Great Smokies is the most visited National Park in the United States, but we were there on a weekday during shoulder season so the crowds weren’t too bad. On the Tennessee side we passed through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and we were somewhat horrified by the crass commercialism of all the tourist traps. We were on our way to Nashville to visit a friend who lives there. We had brunch with her at a great Southern restaurant and then we went to the Johnny Cash Museum in downtown Nashville. We’re all fans of Johnny Cash so it was fun to see the mementos of his great career. Later we walked down Broadway in downtown Nashville. It’s an amazing street. For about five blocks it is lined with music clubs, each with a live band playing, and this was midday on a weekday. At one end of the strip is the big hockey stadium, home of the Nashville Predators.
As we neared Santa Fe we took a slight detour to Las Vegas, New Mexico, to take a look at another old Harvey House, the Castaneda Hotel. It is being restored by the same people who restored La Posada in Winslow, so we wanted to see it. The Castaneda is smaller and sleepier than La Posada, so we were glad we had spent our time in Winslow. We made our way over to Santa Fe and settled into a little house in Tesuque, about six miles north of Santa Fe but way out in the country. It was a pleasant, quiet spot to spend a few weeks. While we were there we visited the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and the adjacent Santa Fe Botanical Garden. Coincidentally, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture had a textile exhibit displaying modern indigenous artists’ work which draws on centuries-old themes and patterns. Our third textile exhibit of this trip! We also enjoyed frequent walks in Santa Fe. We had spent five months in Santa Fe at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 so it was fun to revisit some of the neighborhoods that we had gotten to know so well.
In June we spent a few days in Camarillo to visit family and friends. We also spent part of a day walking around campus at UCLA, where we both went to college in the early 1970s. A lot has changed in the ensuing 50 years, but a lot is still familiar, too.
