In the heart of the country

Because we saw Perry at Tanner's house, we opted to not meet him at his house near Dallas.  He very kindly sent us photos of his workshop anyway!  Thank you Perry.

Our first stop after seeing Tanner was in Oklahoma to see Rob Yarger and Mark McCallum. Sorry, I know I spelled that wrong. Anyway, we drove for 6 1/2 hours to get there around 2pm.  I don't know if I made a mistake on the distance, or if traffic was heavier than normal.  Anyway, Rob met us in the driveway and we had a wonderful tour of his workshop. He even showed me the soap stains on the ceiling.  

We went into the house and got to see Rob's puzzle collection.  It is small, but very precious.  Every puzzle in here was a gift from a fellow puzzler.  

Mark showed us a number of puzzles he has been working on and gave us a gift of one. Rob showed us his latest project, but I'm not allowed to show it. It's a beauty though.

George spent a great deal of time working on a puzzle while the rest of us chatted.

Jenny even showed us her doll collection!  OMG!  I've heard of rooms like that but have never seen one.  This was amazing!  Totally full of dolls from floor to ceiling.

I wanted to be in Sterling Kansas by nightfall so we had to leave around 5.  

Sadly, I was exhausted and we didn't make it.  I stopped for the night an hour away from Rob's and passed out.  

The next morning we woke up at 7 to go to our friends in Kansas.  That didn't work out as I wanted it to. Of course I let George sleep in then we had breakfast, then we messed up the time and before we knew it, it was 11:30.  

Rod and Merry are a couple we met on our Around The World cruise.  We truly enjoyed their company and were thrilled when they said we could come and visit with them.  

They have a truly beautiful old victorian house which Rod is fixing up by himself.

The price they paid for it was an absolute steal!  I'm envious.  Not of the location, it's too cold for me, but of the home.  My photos don't do it justice. 

Rob made their front door and the coffered ceiling.  They have an old fashioned tin ceiling in the kitchen which he bought from a local store and installed himself.  The house has a total of 23 leaded glass windows.

To do all of this work, Rod of course has to have a workshop.  He humored us and took us into the basement to see it.  

He also repairs clocks and has a workshop area dedicated to that hobby.  

He even took us up into his attic to see his model train. This is a man who never slows down!

We went on a tour of the local area and had a few good lunches while we were there.  Merry is a fantastic cook and made us two lovely dinners.  Now this last part is a bit odd.  I'm not a SOAP by any means, and knitting and quilting, and that other girly stuff doesn't do anything for me, but I had to add these photos of a quilting shop we went to.  It is in the middle of Kansas in a town 8 miles from any other town and it is impressive!

We awoke Saturday morning at 6:30 after a truly short visit to continue our journey. On to Illinois and a visit with my family.

Driving and an all too short time with Tanner

 We spent Friday night in Ozone Texas. It is not a big town, but it did have a nice hotel.  We had to laugh.  George went in to book the room.  He asked for a senior discount. they didn't have one, but the lady behind the counter told him to ask for a veterans discount so he did and she gave it to him.  Yes, he was in the service, but we never think to ask for these things.  After a good nights sleep and a nice breakfast, we got on the road at 8:30.  We expected to be at Tanner's by noon, but the gps on my phone kept rerouting us.  Eventually I worked out that George had hit the "No highways" button.  No wonder we went down a dirt road yesterday!

When we arrived, we were greeted with a big hug from Tanner followed quickly by one from Kathleen.  When we went into the kitchen we saw a slew of friends we haven't seen in years.  Perry, Robert, Matthew and Eric were all in from the local area, Brent flew in from Nashville, and Lee flew in from Portland. It was great to see such a crowd of people.  

We spent the afternoon puzzling and catching up.  After all, it had been over 3 years since many of us saw each other. Lee brought a bunch of puzzles for people to take home, He also delivered clutch boxes to us here.  As with every other puzzle person we have seen, we made a short video of him discussing a project he was working on. Sadly, he doesn't want me to publish it.  It is safe for us to say now that it was used in Christmas Chronicles 2 and in the most recent Glass onion.  Well, a portion of it that is.  You will recognize it I'm sure.  

Eric brought along a number of his fractal prints that he and Bob Hearn have been working on. He very kindly gave us all one and even signed them for us. 

Kathleen has been working with Lego as well and was thrilled to know that it's not just her who has been enjoying them.  Perry brought some lovely little cakes and a beautiful wooden puzzles along to show everyone. Matthew brought what he called tiny pies for all to share in.  We had wonderful conversations with Brent and Robert.  And a good chuckle over George forgetting that Brent has been to Boca to see us before. 

They put on a massive BBQ spread and there were left overs to last days!  It was a very good day.  I would have to guess that around 10 most people had headed back to their hotels.  Tanner, Lee and I stayed up for a while and chatted by the puzzle pit.  Around 1 George called and told me I needed to sleep.  He was right of course.  All that driving did me in.  We awoke the next day at 10! 

Matt came over and we all had a nice brunch of eggs and leftover meats.  Matt and Tanner worked on a project of his while George putt a Coffin puzzle through Burr tools. Geneva, Jessie, and I went into Austin to a Daiso and a few other asian stores to se if there were any petit blocks that I don't have.  Score!  But even better, they discovered a new place to shop, an amazing asian grocery store, and I have never laughed that hard.  It was a wonderful afternoon. We also saw a rabbit sculpture that tickled Geneva.

At the asian grocery we bought food for dinner and put on a real feast. The guys went back to 3d printing.  I think George gave Tanner a few lessons on using CAD and printing.  Jessie got Geneva ready for bed and I cleaned up the kitchen.  By 10 we were all in bed.  

On Monday we had another lie in for a few hours then got up and George spent the morning working on burr tools, Tanner had a doctor appointment and Jessie, the poor dear, had to work.  I did the dishes, our laundry and put together a few Nanoblocks. In the afternoon George and Tanner went to the asian grocery we found while Jessie and I did a bit of shopping. I really liked the wine selection at the HEB and I wanted to pick up a few gifts for some kids along the way.

We had a very late lunch after which George and Tanner took naps. When Geneva came home from school we put together a Lego rabbit that we gifted her.  All in all it was another fun day.  The only downside?  I messed up on some of my dates, but it all worked out in the end.  

Tanner very nicely made dinner for us and it was delicious!  Shrimp with coconut milk over rice.  He's a fantastic cook.  

The next day we spent puttering around the house, George and Tanner again did some work on the computer.  After school we went to Geneva's gymnastics practice.  The kid is good.  All in all it was a great fun trip. On Wednesday morning We had to say our goodbyes.  That was a sad day.  But we shall see each other again in Italy.