HOWDY!

Tonight we lay out our bedroll in Amarillo Texas. The picture above is courtesy of
www.butlerbags.com. and although I am just joshing you about a bedroll, the background snow may be a strong possibility in some oqf tomorrows photos, because the forecasters are calling for snow here tomorrow morning...I sure hope they are wrong because I had the impression we left all that white stuff back home and were moving to warmer climes...

Day 4: Miami Oklahoma to Amarillo Texas

A lovely sunny day. Lots of new things to see, new ground to cover. The countryside is changing. We drove through part of the Ozark Mts. yesterday, and through plains and rolling hills today. Yesterday corn fields and farm land, today acres and acres of grazing land for cattle. We saw the occasional little pumpers, because of course we are entering oil country.
Actually Mr. O said the landscape that we saw driving through Oklahoma reminded him of Australia.

Although these pics don't really do the countryside justice, but you can get a bit of a feel for what it is like. The red sand reminds me of Prince Edward Island.

The last two photos were taken while whizzing through Groom Texas at 75 miles per hour...and yes that is the speed limit on that section of Interstate Hi way 40. One is of a leaning water tower and the other is of a 19 storey cross that is visible from over 30 km away.
(Oops I accidentally deleted one of the photos and I stuck it in at the bottom of the post)
Groom has a population of about 587 and if it were not for those two structures hardly anyone would even take note of Groom...if you are interested you can get filled in by the good people at Wikipedia again
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom,_Texas

Boston Methodist Church in downtown Tulsa is prominent example of Art Deco architecture, but this is what caught my attention ....

We followed leads to dead ends for the first 2 addresses we got on line; one was in a sub division in someones home and the other was in a pretty dicey neighbourhood and was just a rundown room with a long arm machine inside...apparently they do quilting but are not a quilt/fabric shop...I was ready to admit defeat because Mr. o had been more than patient driving all over the city, but he said, let's try one more and three times a charm they say, because we hit it big with the next one...apparently there were 2 more in close proximity but we figured we had done enough damage for one stop and continued on our way. The ladies in the shop were very pleasant and helpful and encouraged pictures. Mr O said, "see if they have the book Quilter's Companion", they did so he said "put it on the tab and I will go to the car and read while you shop". Well! He didn't have to tell me twice...

I will show you around the shop, but you have to wait to see what I bought because unfortunately I left the bag of loot in the car...

This shop is 5600 sq.feet and has 4500 bolts of fabric, not to mention oodles of samples. So much more I could show you, but I really don't want to over stimulate you and I am only half way through my day at this point...
We stopped for a quick lunch at Popeye's. another first for me, because as far as I know we do not have these in Canada. I jokingly commented on the menu...no spinach and no burger for Wimpy, but the fried chicken would put the Colonel to shame and the butterfly shrimp were crispy outside and lovely and juicy inside...did I mention the hot biscuits, cajun fries, corn on the cob, rice with black beans or mashed potatoes with gravy were options for a side?
Definitely not low cal but a girl does need to keep her strength just in case there is another quilt shop to browse after lunch...
We continued on down the hi way to Oklahoma City and BINGO! We hit a winner...I was so excited I forgot to take a pic of the store front, but here is a pic of some of the loot I scored there

This shop is called Oklahoma Quiltworks, and I have to tell you that from the front door to the bathroom there was eye candy!

Reading material, a bulletin board with announcements and for sale items and upcoming shows and classes...these gals thought of everything! Ok, out of the bathroom and on to the quilts and fabric...

See that pretty quilt with the yellow fabric and butterflies and birds, yup! I got the kit...

See that sample quilt hanging there, well the kits were sold out but they had a pattern left, so that baby is coming home with me!

It was hard to limit myself to 2 books but I did!

The girls that served me could Not have been any sweeter, I hated to leave. I mean how can you make "old " friends in just an hour...but quilters seem to have no problem connecting like that.

Laura on the left, Gigi on the right and Me in the middle.
It was a wonderful stop and you can be sure of one thing that I will be stopping by if I am ever back in this neck of the woods!

I really must get to bed though because I need to be fresh for tomorrow but how can a girl get any rest with all the visions of quilts and fabrics and shops dancing through her dreams?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......


P.s. the "oops" photo is below