Road trip Oregon -the last leg

Sheila had been eyeing the bridge across the Columbia River, seen in the background here…

She did some research and discovered there is a quilt shop in Long Beach, not too far from the end of the bridge in Washington state. So, off we set… eye to the prize…

Would you believe there was construction work on the bridge?

And here is the object of our search, Boardwalk Quilts, just a block from the ocean.

After doing a little shopping we went to see the sea. It just happened to be International Kite Week. Apparently the real action was yet to come but there were plenty of kites to make a colorful picture.

We got back on the road and headed back to Astoria over the four mile long bridge…

Next stop was the Astoria Column up high on the hill overlooking the town.

Sheila was braver than me and went up the 164 steps to the top. I was concerned for the people who would have been stuck behind me on the descent. I do not like spiral staircases!!

There were yet more plans for the morning and we made our way to the trolley stop to await the Riverfront trolley.

The one hour round trip was highly entertaining with the very informative conductor giving us a full history of the little town. You will be glad to know we obeyed the posted sign and no fines were levied!

Of course I took lots of pictures of the buildings along the river’s edge. Many are built on pilings standing in the water. I don’t know how safe this old packing shed is?

Back in the car we got on the road towards Portland. Surprisingly enough we made a couple of stops along the way.

The Quilted Dandelion is in Clatskanie, right on Rt. 30. Eagle-eyed Sheila spotted the sign.

The quilts hanging on the rail were a dead giveaway!

We stopped a little further along the road, at Fibers and Stitches, in Warren.

This patient man and his dog had obviously been waiting a very long time?

We didn’t find his wife in the shop…

We got back to Portland into the middle of the rush hour but nothing could get in the way of our plans. We took the I5 south to our next destination. The book gave us an address just on block off the highway but we could not find the shop we were looking for. So, we gave them a call and discovered not only had the shop moved across the road but it had also altered its opening hours… We mentioned Sheila’s quest for row-by-row blocks and the lovely lady opened up especially for us.

A Common Thread in Portland gets a big thumbs up for friendly service beyond the call of duty!!

We knew our last shop stays open until 9 so we stopped for dinner and then set off to the Fabric Depot in North Portland.

Not too pretty but we managed to use our discount coupon!

So, that was the end of our trip. All that remained was to find our hotel, check in and repack our bags ready to return home… My purchases filled the space left by the class supplies used up at the show.

After a good night’s sleep Sheila left for her morning flight to California. I took the hotel shuttle at mid day and arrived at the airport in plenty of time for my flight. The family checking in in front of me had six children so attention was off me as I moved things between bags again…

I had a little adventure when the original plane had to return to the gate with a faulty warning light resulting in a change of plane and an almost three hour delay… Steve was in Baltimore but Brenda met me at the luggage carousel. I do have the best friends. There will come a time when I have to learn how to take a taxi like a big girl?

And as for all that shopping… here it is, all in one frame!