Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part III

I am sitting my hotel room in Wilmington, North Carolina as I’ve joined my partner John for the week on his business trip. It’s been a surprisingly very busy summer of travel (and we’ve careful, safe and are vaccinated). I wonder if all this “make up” travel post 2020 pandemic is only a brief moment in time as things may return to 2020 lockdown levels. I am thinking of/sending good thoughts to my blogging buddies in NZ and AU and anywhere in our world else facing 2020ish lockdowns again. I do know how fortunate I am right now to be able to travel.

This post I am continuing my series of posts on my partner John, my Miniature Schnauzer Mike, and I attending our first Rocky Mountain Shop Hop (which included quilt shops from Englewood Colorado to Pueblo Colorado). If you are just joining us, here are the links to the two previous posts:

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I 

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II 

So in the previous post we had traveled to the wrong quilt shop (First Stitches in Canon City) which was not part of the Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop and returned to Pueblo, CO to stop at the correct shop:

Here was their version of the completed 2021 shop hop quilt using one of the large panels I mentioned in the first post on this series:

I do not remember if I mentioned it or not, but I did buy both the large panels from the 2021 shop hop – the “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” one; and the Colorado Map one.

Then it was off to lunch on the Pueblo Riverwalk, which according to puebloriverwalk.org:

The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo (HARP) is a 32-acre urban waterfront experience open to the Public daily. The Riverwalk returned the Arkansas River to its historic location at the heart of downtown Pueblo, after being diverted in the 1920s due to a devastating flood that destroyed much of Pueblo. The Riverwalk’s current location serves the community by revitalizing a segment of the downtown area that was previously unsightly and unusable. This urban development transforms the community and has been vital in attracting new businesses, thereby helping to stabilize the economic base of the city. The Arkansas River has been the lifeblood of Pueblo for over 300 years. Native Americans followed the river for hunting and trapping. Early settlers came as sheepherders and cattlemen. Agriculture blossomed in Pueblo’s warmer climate and the steel industry used the bountiful water resources to build a massive manufacturing center.

Before eating lunch on the patio (so Mike the Miniature Schnauzer could join us) the Brues Alehouse Brewing Company, we went for a walk along the Riverwalk in Pueblo and were surprised how cool it was (I love the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas and I did not think it would be as cool as that one).

Here are some photos from our stroll on the Riverwalk in Pueblo:

We wander the Riverwalk while waiting for our table to become available at the Brewery and were sort of disappointed when we got the text that the table was ready sooner than they originally said. We wanted to explore the area a little longer.

We had a delicious lunch at Brues Alehouse Brewing Company, I had the vegan tacos with fried avocados and John had a local speciality called a “Slopper” which is an open faced hamburger smothered in green chili.

Mike had some doggy snacks were brought and glared at his imaginary nemesis – another dog dining outside on the patio (Mike I guess wanted to be the only dog on the patio).

It was a little warm in the shade of the patio so we put an ice cube on Mike’s head to help him cool down from walking the Riverwalk:

Here we are enjoying our craft beer at the brewery:

I know, I know, another masterfully snapped selfie by me (should find an online selfie snapping training program!)

After lunch we headed to Colorado Spring, CO to continue the shop hop and arrived at High Country Quilts, one of the friendliest quilt shops I’ve ever been to!

I had fun chatting with the staff at the shop as well as other quilters/shop hoppers. I spent much longer in this shop than I had anticipated (and bought more than I had anticipated, ha!)

Little did I know that the second shop in Colorado Springs, CO closed at 3 pm and I was about to miss out crossing it off my shop hop list because I spent too long at the first shop I went to in Colorado Springs!

When we arrived (too late but did not know it yet) to Ruth’s Stitchery in Colorado Springs, my partner John (whose hobby is woodworking) was greeted with a wonderful surprise: the quilt shop is next to Woodcraft a woodworking shop!

He and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer (in his backpack) headed into Woodcraft for a wander and I headed over to the quilt shop to discover it was closed. I was so disappointed as it meant we would have to drive 70+ minutes back to Colorado Springs before the shop hop ended on August 21; but I was able to entertain myself while John and Mike were wandering the woodworking shop – there was a large charity thrift shop in the same shopping center!

After Colorado Springs we headed home from day one of the 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop – we were tired and I had reached my limit (too many quilt shops in one day makes going into quilt shops less special).

However there are more quilt shops to come in the next post in the series as I was determined to visit all 11 and complete the shop hop!

Here are summary of Day One – 4 shops total (red stars):