Tag: travel

Independent bookstores, Knit and Crochet Away!, Thrift Shop Adventures, tierneytravels

West Village Wander, the Tiniest Yarn Shop and More

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I love New York City (NYC) and I’ve been there many many many times. This is a continuation of the post Time in Times Square about the couple days that my sister, John and my nephew L spent in NYC in October 2025. This post is a little bit about our wander from Soho to Chelsea one day, with most of the time spent in the West Village.

I grew up in Long Island, NY and Albany, NY. I remember when I was 14 years old in the late 1970s taking the train from Long Island to NYC with a high school friend. We were two teens wandering around NYC unsupervised. Perhaps not the safest idea nowadays but it seemed okay (maybe back then).

Because I’ve been to NYC so many times, when I visit, which is usually with my sister who loves NYC also, we like to focus on a specific neighborhood(s) and just enjoy our times like locals. We are very “un-touristy”.

Some Background on NYC and How I’ve Visited Over the Years

If you are not familiar with New York City, it is comprised of five (5) boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. The boroughs are then divided into neighborhoods.

For examples some of the well known neighborhoods in Manhattan are Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca, Chinatown, Upper East Side, Central Park, Hell’s Kitchen, Harlem, Meatpacking District, etc.

Image credit: Wikipedia

The challenge with visiting NYC is there is SO MUCH TO DO and SO MUCH TO SEE that you have to narrow your visit to just a specific section to really enjoy it (at least in my opinion). Here are some examples:

Back in 2017 when I attended Quilter’s Take Manhattan (see posts from my blogging category Quilters Take Manhattan), I pretty much only spent time in the Garment District and Central Park area (I spent the most amazing day on my own at the Metropolitan Museum of Art one of the most magical places in the world in my opinion).

When my visited NYC Spring 2024 we didn’t even visit Manhattan (see post Springtime in Brooklyn ), we just stayed in Brooklyn. Primarily hanging out in the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Dumbo and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

When my sister and I attended New York Fashion Week in Manhattan in 2021 we primarily hung out in Soho and accidentally discovered the “Little Paris” micro-neighborhood that we didn’t even know existed (a cultural heritage project and micro neighborhood occupying the stretch of Centre Street between Grand Street and Broome Street – Wikipedia).

So what I am trying to explain in a very long-winded manner is when I visit NYC I focus on a small part of NYC each time I visit.

And that’s what we did in October. We stuck primarily to the Manhattan neighborhoods of West Village, Soho, and Chelsea.

The Tiniest Yarn Shop

While in West Village we discovered what I call the “tiniest yarn shop I’ve ever seen” – West Village Knit & Needle. There maybe smaller ones but was impressively small!

We took the narrow stairs down to the shop in a brownstone’s basement:

There was barely enough room for John, my sister, my nephew and I to maneuver around (they were great sports stopping at bookstores and craft stores whenever I came upon one) but here is a little tour:

The staff was very friendly and one of them was working on an amazing cabled cardigan:

That is some serious cable knitting. I tried to learn to knit cables when we were visiting Ireland in October 2022 in a class taught by Helen of Knit with Helen but I have yet to finish the cabled knitted headband project she gave me to take home!

Helen is the one who knitted the tiny cabled sweater worn by the tierneycreates Beastie:

tierneycreates Beastie with Mattie Beastie (both wearing tiny cable knit sweaters by Helen) and John Beastie in Dublin, October 2022

(By the way we are returning to Dublin in 2026 on our way to visit London for the first time. Aer Lingus flies out of Denver now and we can fly directly, for a reasonable price, to Dublin and then hop on an hour and a half flight to Heathrow. We had such a wonderful time in Ireland 3 years ago we want to stop there again for a couple days before heading to the UK)

I am all over the place in this post, what was I originally blogging about? Oh yes – wandering around the West Village in Manhattan.

We Snuck in Some Thrifting

While wandering around West Village we came upon a charity thrift shop – Housing Works Thrift Shops and just had to peek in.

My sister and I love thrifting (we usually find a thrift shop or two on our sister vacations) and I seem to have corrupted John, who at first appeared to be tortured whenever asked to accompany me into a thrift shop. He now seems to enjoy them and was excited to pop into this thrift shop for a wander.

Yes that’s John in the photo above buying something at the thrift shop.

And a Couple Other Places

We didn’t just torture John to thrift stores and yarn shops, my sister surprised him with a visit to the famous Garber Hardware a family owned and operated hardware store in business since 1884.

John was happy wandering this cool hardware store!

We also visited a couple independent bookstores and this one was my favorite – Three Lives & Co.

I had a wonderful chat with the bookstore staff who told me that surprising a lot of people from Colorado has visited there store recently (what?!?! are a bunch of fellow Coloradans all sneaking over to NYC?!?!). John bought a book as did my nephew but I just bought some postcards and bookmarks, as I need another book in queue to read like I need a hole in the head!

We also ate our way through the neighborhoods we visited picking up little treats, snacks and tastes here and there. There is SO MUCH GOOD FOOD in NYC its difficult to even put into words.

For example while wandering we stopped at a wonderful little tiny sushi counter and got a little sushi roll snack to fortify us for our continuing adventures.

Okay you might be asleep now but that’s the end of this post 🙂

Postscript

I misled you, there is a little bit more to this post.

In this post I mentioned the tierneycreates Beastie (Beastie Adventures). I realized she has not “guest blogger post” for a long time on my blog. She used to be quite active. I used to also have Mike the Miniature Schnauzer (who passed in July 2024) “guest blogger post” quite a bit. I think when he passed I just stopped with the “guest blogger” postings.

But in the future I will be bringing back the tierneycreates Beastie as a guest blogger. She has been primarily hanging out in her “apartment” in my studio and I realize it’s time to take her on some adventures again (I have to give her stuff to blog about!) 🙂

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Tooling Around Townsend

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Before we sailed out of Port Angeles, WA to Victoria BC for 24 hours (minus sleep) of fun in July 2025, (see posts A Delightful Bead and Button Shop in Victoria, BC and 24 Hours in Victoria, BC) we spent a lovely afternoon in Port Townsend, Washington.

It been countless years since I visited Port Townsend, WA…not since when I lived in Seattle, WA for 8 years and would stop there on the way to British Columbia (which we visited as much as possible)…. Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Washington state known for its beautiful waterfront and natural scenery at the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula; and many historic Victorian buildings remaining from its late 19th-century heyday. It is also a hub for numerous annual cultural events, and a maritime center for independent boatbuilders and related industries and crafts. (Wikipedia).

John and I had a delicious lunch at thr Sirens Pub with a wonderful view of the water:

Then we wandering around the shops in downtown Port Townsend including a fiber shop – Diva Yarn & Trim.

A shop with yarn and fabric is always my kind of place.

While walking in the waterfront area we came across two ladies playing guitar and accordion and singing in French. Their music was so wonderful I tried to find their tip jar to give them a little something but they said they did it just for fun not for any money.

They didn’t mind if I filmed the area with their music in the background:

It was a glorious day in Port Townsend, WA!

Postscript

When we first arrived in Washington State via the Seattle (SeaTac) airport, we stayed in Olympia and the next day drove to Port Townsend and then on to Port Angeles to take the ferry to Victoria, BC. On our way to Port Townsend, we stopped in Shelton, WA and visited one of my favorite Washington state quilt shops – Annie’s Quilt Shoppe.

I hadn’t been there in years, not since I used to attend an annual quilt retreat in Shelton, WA (see posts A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part I, A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part II, Guest Blogger: Quilt Retreat Report from the tierneycreates Beastie, Part I, Guest Blogger: Quilt Retreat Report from the tierneycreates Beastie, Part II, and Riptide Retreat 2022 in Black and White ) and it was nice to return and chat with Annie the owner.

I bought some very reasonably priced fabric to support this awesome shop (that perhaps I did not. need, ha!).

I always get a kick out of this sign in front of the shop that some of the quilters reading this post might have seen in front of other quilting shops:

tierneytravels

24 Hours in Victoria, BC

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Thought I would finish up the story of our 24 hours worth of adventures in Victoria, British Columbia which I began sharing in the posts A Delightful Bead and Button Shop in Victoria, BC  and Smelling the Roses in Victoria, BC.

We visited John’s cousin in Bremerton, Washington in July 2025 and made an impromptu decision to take the ferry from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) for an overnight adventure.

The ferry ride was smooth until we crossed into Canadian waters and then it got pretty rough but luckily I had taken Dramamine for sea sickness and was okay.

I was pretty happy when the ferry docked after the 90 minute trip from Port Angeles to Victoria!

We stayed at the lovely Chateau Victoria Hotel and wandered around the Inner Harbour area/Downtown Victoria during our 24 hours in Victoria before taking the ferry the next day back to Port Angeles.

We had a lovely breakfast and delicious tea/coffee at Murchie’s Fine Tea & Coffee:

They had an amazing tea shop attached with lots of beautiful tea pots and tempting teas. I did bring some tea home!

We went to several “tourist trap” shops and John enjoyed having his photo taken in with various shop mascots:

We spent a couple hours at one of my favorite museums in the world the Royal BC Museum (where many years ago when I lived in Seattle and would visit Victoria, BC I saw the most amazing Leonardo DaVinci exhibit).

In front of one of my most beloved museums

We saw two wonderful exhibits: 1) Global Threads: The Art of Fashion of Indian Chintz; and 2) Beyond the Beat: Music of Resistance and Change.

John couldn’t refuse having his photo taken on the simulated musician stage with a guitar in hand at the Beyond the Beat exhibit:

We didn’t see 1/2 of what we wanted to see in Victoria and plan to visit next summer.

John fell in love with Victoria and we discussed visiting it every summer!

John has never been to Vancouver, BC and area I also love and we will also plan to visit Vancouver next summer too!

tierneytravels

Wall Drug

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

While on our ambitious Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska road trip in July 2025, we stopped at the iconic Wall Drug.

From Tripadvisor.com:

Once a humble small-town drugstore that offered free iced water to weary travelers, Wall Drug is now a buzzing 76,000-square-foot roadside attraction that draws travelers to this small city in South Dakota. Here, you can shop for Western-themed apparel at the shopping mall, snap a photo with an 80-foot brontosaurus in the kids’ area, and grab a 5-cent coffee and one of the best donuts in the U.S. at the restaurant. And don’t leave without getting the iconic Wall Drug bumper sticker—it’s free! Wall Drug is a great stop along a tour of the Badlands National Park. – Tripadvisor Some of our stores and the café may close earlier than our main store.

We ended up spending a couple hours wandering around and eating at one of their restaurants (and we did get a Wall Drug free bumper sticker for John’s toolbox).

John loves to sit for photos on benches with characters and here is John posing on a couple of their benches with their Western themed characters:

I first heard about Wall Drug in 2020 when I saw the movie Nomadland and the main character Fern (played brilliantly by Frances McDormand) stops along her travels to work at Wall Drug.

This movie is really tender to my heart and deeply touched me when I saw it in 2020. The main character Fern is a recent widow who has also lost her job when the town’s factory closes. She deals with her tremendous loss by putting everything in storage and embarking on an epic roadtrip across the US in an old van and exploring nomadic life.

There was a moment before deciding to move from Oregon to Colorado after my husband died in 2018 that I had considered such a journey. I watched a lot of “living in a van/RV” and “nomadic life” videos as I contemplated this option. It would have been Mike the Miniature Schnauzer and I on the road.

I am nearly done with my stories from our ambitious roadtrip in July, one more to go – Frontier Days in Cheyenne Wyoming. Here are the other posts to date related to our trip:

Carhenge 

A Wander About Downtown Rapid City, SD 

Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks 

Mt. Rushmore National Park, Believe the Hype 

Crazy Horse Memorial 

Deadwood, South Dakota 

tierneytravels, U.S. National Parks

Crazy Horse Memorial

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

While we were visiting South Dakota in July, we discovered that 17 miles or so down the road from Mount Rushmore (see my recent post Mt. Rushmore National Park, Believe the Hype) is the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Since we were already in the area to see Mount Rushmore it made sense to see the Crazy Horse Memorial (which is a memorial in progress)!

According to Wikipedia:

“The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization.”

Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. His most famous actions against the U.S. military included the Fetterman Fight (21 December 1866) and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (25–26 June 1876). He surrendered to U.S. troops under General George Crook in May 1877 and was fatally wounded by a military guard, allegedly while resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members..”

Image credit: Crazy Horse 1842, nativepartnership.org

Before we took a bus to see the Crazy Horse Memorial in progress, we first stop at the Visitor Center and wandered around the Indian Museum of North America, “a large collection of art and artifacts reflecting the diverse histories and cultures of over 300 Native Nations.” (crazyhorsememorial.org/the-museums)

Then we got on the bus to travel to the Crazy Horse Memorial carving site which is on a private road.

Here are some of our photos from the site and I bet you can guess that the photos do not do the experience justice of seeing it in person, but unless I can teleport you all to the memorial this will have to do! 🙂

At the Visitor Center they had a model of what the completed memorial will look like someday:

As far as completion of the Crazy Horse Memorial – so far the head and left hand are completed; and according to Google AI:

“There is no definitive completion date for the Crazy Horse Memorial, and it is expected to take many more decades, with estimates suggesting a potential completion around 2037 for the horse’s head, arm, and hand, but the entire monument is considered a long-term project with no firm deadline, according to Summer Creek Inn and Wikipedia. The monumental scale and funding challenges, which rely on donations, have contributed to the lengthy construction time.” 

I’d like to visit it when it is complete someday, it will be spectacular.

tierneytravels, U.S. National Parks

Mt. Rushmore National Park, Believe the Hype

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As part of our ambitious and kind of epic roadtrip to Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska, we stopped at Mount Rushmore National Monument in Keystone, South Dakota.

John had been there before I said it was a “must see”, I trusted him but I wondered if it was worth the hype.

It is worth the hype.

Carved from a section of the granite face of 5,725 feet (1745 meters) above sea level Mount Rushmore are the 60 foot tall figures of four former U.S. Presidents: George Washington (1789-1797), Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) and Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865). These four U.S. Presidents are very significant in U.S. History. (A full listing of U.S. Presidents by year if you are curious is at The Presidents Timeline website).

According to the U.S. National Park website: “…surrounded by the beauty of the Black Hills of South Dakota, tell the story of the birth, growth, development and preservation of this country…”

Here was our view of the national monument when you first enter the park:

Actually when we first arrived it was very cloudy and misty and we couldn’t see anything on Mount Rushmore, and then it suddenly cleared to reveal an amazing view.

We walked through the State Flags of U.S. States and it was fun to try and locate the State Flags for states I lived in my lifetime: Pennsylvania (only briefly), New York, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.

After walking through the State Flags we walked down into the amphitheater area where very few visitors were (it felt like we had Mount Rushmore to ourselves compared to the busy upper areas) to spend time just looking at the Mount Rushmore National Monument.

It made us very reflective. After a while of sitting before these mammoth carvings it made us feel as if these four historical U.S. Presidents, each with major contributions, are looking over the U.S. today, watching.

I keep away from political discussions on my blog because I want to respect the different political opinions of others which stem from their life experiences and values, but I do want to share that we just started to wonder: “What would George Washington , Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln this of the U.S. today?. Would they be proud? Did the U.S. become what they hoped it would become?”

Not try to spur any political discussion, I just wanted to share some of our musings as we sat reverently and studied the monument.

After sitting with the monument we went back upstairs and visited the amazing museum exhbit that shared images, history and equipment from the carving/creation of Mount Rushmore October 4, 1927 – October 31, 1941. The exhibit shared photos of the workers who translated the vision of the the Chief Carver. (If you’d like to read the carving history of Mount Rushmore, which involved lots of dynamite see this link Carving History)

This placard in the exhibit particularly moved me:

To close out this post I just want to say that I like to imagine that the “Mount Rushmore Crew”: George Washington , Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are looking over the U.S. and are hopeful that it will transcend the current political situations and the “principles of liberty and freedom on which (the U.S.) was founded” will prevail.

tierneytravels

A Wander About Downtown Rapid City, SD

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

The week of July 22 – 25, 2025 we went on an ambitious Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska road trip to the following events/landmarks:

I will blog about Frontier Days, Mount Rushmore, Wind Caves and Badlands National Parks, the Crazy Horse Memorial in separate posts, but for this post I will share some photos from our wander around downtown Rapid City, South Dakota.

Before heading to Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park, we stopped for a break in downtown Rapid City. It was my kind of place as it had a USED BOOKSTORE and a QUILT SHOP!

AGAIN BOOKS & BAZAAR

At Again Books & Bazaar I bought some used CDs (a future post about how I’ve rediscovered our stereo and CD player) and enjoyed looking at their large collection of used books.

QUILT CONNECTION, ETC.

What a lovely surprise to find Quilt Connection, Etc. quilt shop in downtown Rapid City! The staff was welcoming, helpful and friendly and they had a wonderful fabric selection.

If that wasn’t enough to be a friendly quilt shop with a lovely fabric selection, they had a surprise area downstairs…

That had this rack…

And if that wasn’t enough downstairs also had this magical tub…

I am always up to a challenge so I immediately worked on how many fabric scraps I could shove into the bag!

I made my way back up the stairs to see John patiently waiting in “The Husband Seating Area”:

They had many quilts on display and I really liked this Mount Rushmore quilt and this teal quilt which makes me thing of the teal quilts that Kate @talltalesfromchiconia coordinates each year for annual the Ovarian Cancer fundraiser.

But the quilt that really made me smile was this “Mrs. Bobbins” quilt with very humorous panels that only a quilter or someone who lives with a quilter can related to:

So what did I buy at the quilt shop? Well I got a $5 fill a bag, bag of fabric scraps stuffed to the max; and this Riley Blake National Parks Map panel:

It was a fun wander 🙂

Special Events, tierneytravels

Birthday Colorado Roadtrip Part II: Leadville and an Emotional “Divide”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing the story of the Colorado roadtrip we took in early June 2025 to celebrate my birthday. For Part I of the story see the post – Birthday Colorado Roadtrip Part I: Glenwood Springs.

After leaving Glenwood Springs, we headed to see Leadville, Colorado  where John’s paternal grandmother grew up and he’d not return to since he was a young child.

To get to Leadville, we crossed the Tennessee Pass, elevation 10,424 feet above sea level, and crossed over the Continental Divide.

An Emotional “Divide“

As shown in the image above, the Tennessee Pass section of the Continental Divide is home to the 10th Mountain Division Memorial.

My late husband, Terry (aka “Terry the Quilting Husband”) was a HUGE military history buff, with a focus on the Napoleonic Wars (we visited Waterloo in Belgium), the Civil War (we visited Gettysburg), and World War II (he didn’t want to visit Normandy/Omaha Beach in France and I always suspect he stormed the beaches in a past life by how much the thought of visiting deeply disturbed him*).

*An interesting little story about Terry: His older sister, who helped raise him in a family of 7 children, told me after he passed, that when he was a young child he would set up very elaborate battles with his toy soldiers that were far beyond the knowledge, skill and understanding of a 4 year old child. She always suspected he was a former military person reincarnated or something.

He read/studied/engaged in historical miniature wargaming and military strategy gaming (historical battle reenactment on paper/tabletop game) extensively related to World War II battles and was quite the amateur historian when it came to the United States Army’s 10th Mountain Division which is based out of Fort Drum, New York (Terry grew up in NY and when he served in the US Army as a Medic he spent time at Fort Drum). The 10th Mountain Division had an significant role in the European Theater of World War II.

I was very familiar with the 10th Mountain Division as Terry and I had many historical discussions during the 33 years we were together.

So when John and stopped at the memorial on our way to Leadville I was completely emotionally overwhelmed. Not only because of the memories of discussing the 10th Mountain Division for years with Terry; but because I knew Terry would have so loved to see the memorial. It would have made him very happy and moved him deeply.

I spent some time alone just being with the memorial and my thoughts (John was very understanding). It was a very emotional (Continental) Divide experience…

Leadville, Colorado

We continued on to Leadville and explored the town.

Exploring included wandering around downtown Leadville and visiting an independent bookstore and antique shop – The Two Dog Market; and a yarn/craft shop – Fire on the Mountain:

As well as a very quirky hardware and antique shop – The Western Hardware:

I got a little emotional again during our visit to this hardware store as in addition to historical miniature wargaming, Terry loved fantasy wargaming (like Warhammer 40,000 and Dungeons and Dragons). They had a display of the same type of fantasy wargaming figures that Terry had a collection of and liked to paint (see image above). I then had to spend some alone/emotionally reflective time with this display.

It seemed that the Universe was providing me with quite the memory and grief tinged day!

We also paid a visit to the famous (at least in Colorado) adventure clothing factory store Melanzana while in Leadville.

Here I am in the image above with my new Melanzana “hoody” and cap made with leftover hoody fabric.

After Leadville we headed to Breckenridge, Colorado and then home. I didn’t take any photos in Breckenridge but here is a post from 2024 on on my first visit there – Breckenridge and the Continental Divide (we crossed a different section of the Continental Divide – Loveland Pass – on our way there during of 2024 trip).

Closing the post with a random photo – somewhere that we stopped near Leadville.

Even though it was early June, there was still snow on the ground!

(As a I mentioned in the previous post: Leadville is the highest incorporated city in North America, sitting at an elevation of 10,152 feet/3094 meters above sea level)

Outside Adventures!, Special Events, tierneytravels

Birthday Colorado Roadtrip Part I: Glenwood Springs

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing the story about how I celebrated my 60th birthday that I began in the post Birthday-ing with Bruno.

After our trip to Las Vegas (see post Birthday-ing with Bruno), the next part of my birthday celebration was a Colorado roadtrip in early June 2025 to Dillon, Glenwood Springs, Leadville and Breckenridge, Colorado.

I love Colorado and I want to get know as much of the state as I can/see as much of it as I can.

On the way to Glenwood Springs: Dillon, Colorado

We started out heading to Dillon, Colorado a small mountain town 10 miles from the Continental Divide; and is located 9,111 feet (2,777 meters) above sea level. In addition to Dillon, we stopped in the neighboring town Silverthorne, Colorado another small mountain town and visited the best Habitat for Humanity Restore (Thrift Store) I’ve ever been to!

Image credit: alignable.com

We spent an hour there wandering around and I found a lovely African basket there which I now use in my studio, along with a bunch of awesome CDs (I’ve rediscovered the CD player stereo component and have taken to listening to entire albums in the living, old school style!).

Glenwood Springs, Colorado

After Dillon and Silverthorne, we headed to Glenwood Springs and stayed at the awesome Hotel Maxwell Anderson.

Image credit: maxwellandersonhotel.com

John and I spent a lovely evening with our cocktails sitting in the room above on one of the sofas chatting about life.

During the day we wandered around Glenwood Springs (famous for it’s Hot Springs, which I refer to as “the community bathtub”*) and had a wonderful lunch at the historic Hotel Colorado which in “1905 became the temporary home for the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt and his assistants during a three-week bear hunting expedition. Already a fan of the state of Colorado, Roosevelt stayed at the Hotel Colorado on multiple occasions” (History of Hotel Colorado).

Here’s some photos from our lunch:

I love this quit when you enter the Hotel Colorado – any place with a quilt displayed when you walk in is okay by me!

Here are some of the “community bathtubs”* (the Hot Springs) that Glenwood Springs is famous for:

I love Glenwood Springs and have visited several times including taking the mind-blowing 6 hour train ride from Denver’s Union Station to Glenwood Springs (see posts Weekend in Glenwood Springs, Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part I, Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part II, Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part III, and Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part IV). It is one of my favorite places in Colorado, so far!

*You might be curious as to why I refer to the Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs as the “community bathtub”. Well the two times I’ve visited them and soaked in them, they were bath water temperature and it was like taking a bath with a hundred other people!

A Stop in Minturn, Colorado

On our way back towards home we stopped in Minturn, Colorado which is near Vail, Colorado the famous resort/ski town, and visited a tiny whiskey tasting room in a little house for the distillery the Minturn Whisky Company.

We had an awesome time sampling the spirits and John bought home a bottle.

From Minturn we continued onto Leadville (the highest incorporated city in North America, sitting at an elevation of 10,152 feet/3094 meters above sea level), crossing another section of the Continental Divide which I’d not been to before and then onto Breckenridge and back home.

I’ll share our adventures in Leadville and Breckenridge in the next post, but to close this post here are a couple photos from our roadtrip when we stopped at various scenic areas for a break from being in the car. Sorry I do not remember where these are located but they were lovely (smile):

Finished Quilts

“Pieces of Colorado” Now Hung in the Guest Room

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I love Colorado and I’ve been lucky to live here for a little over 6 years.

In 2019 when I was considering the move to Colorado and not sure if it was the right thing or not, the Universe gave me a sign, and this ad was the first thing I saw when I opened a magazine to read while I was still deciding:

That ad did not lie, I feel “truly alive” here!

I want to share that feeling and my love of Colorado with friends and family who come to visit, so I placed my completed Pieces of Colorado quilt in our daylight basement guest room:

In addition to celebrating Colorado, I wanted to celebrate the beauty of the U.S. National Parks some of my country’s most beautiful and precious lands.

So throughout the guest room I have framed posted of National Parks especially those that John and I have visited (together or in our previous lives) and ones we plan to visit in the near future. I thrifted the pictures – got them from a book on the art of of National Parks posters that was not in good condition but most of the pages were.

I also thrifted all the other art/decor in room, including the beautiful rug which I found for $12 at a Goodwill Outlet (we cleaned it very well).

And John made the bedside tables which include built in outlets for easy access to charging devices for guests.

He also built a little bookshelf for the “guest library” where I keep books that I’ve already read and want to keep for guests to read while they visit and/or take with them home.

Here’s a tour:

Here’s a closer look at some of the cool Colorado and National Park art I found at thrift stores (many for under $5):

I struggle with buying anything new these days and there are so many treasures at thrift stores (plus I am keeping stuff out of landfills and giving them a new home).

On the desk in the guest room (we did buy the desk years ago new), I have a collection of thrifted books on National Parks below a thrifted radio:

Yes that is a National Park (Grand Canyon) thrifted mug holding pens for guests to use (I have a thrifted note pads in the desk drawer).

I also have a basket where we are keeping any maps, brochures or pamphlets were pick up while visiting National Parks for guests to look through (along with some unused slippers for them we’ve collected from hotel stays):

When designing our guest room I wanted to have the things I wished people would have for me when I visit and so we stocked the guest room closet with two (relatively inexpensive) bathrobes so our guests can feel cozy:

I hope this doesn’t sounds like a “soapbox” but I feel strongly that if people spend their money and time to come and visit you, you should make them feel VERY welcome. When traveling it is challenging to be away from your comforts of home so we try to give them as many comforts as we can.

We have our guest bathroom well stocked with what we think guests might need so if they are visiting us they don’t have to worry about bringing a lot of toiletries. We also make sure there are plenty of fresh towels. We’ve even put a little hamper basket in the guest room closet for their dirty towels, etc.

People might think we are “over the top” in our hosting but we want to honor each person who visits our home.

I guess this thrifted sign in our guest room we hung above one of the windows sums it up:

Oh wait, this post was supposed to be about the Pieces of Colorado quilt being hung, I think I digressed – ha!

(By the way if this post left your eyes rolling in your head, just accept that John and I are weird…ha!)

tierneytravels

Oregon Coast in October 2024

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post is a follow up to yesterday’s post 2024 Travels. When writing yesterday’s post looking back on my big travel events in 2024 I realized I left off a significant trip, an Oregon Coast road trip with our friends MJ and J.

This trip was significant because it was the first time I was able to return to Cannon Beach, Oregon, where my late husband and our dogs would visit yearly for vacation.

First John and I flew into Portland, Oregon and visited his son who lives there. It was awesome to see the quilt I gave my stepson on the sofa in his apartment, apparently being used and enjoyed 🙂

After a day and a half in Portland we drove our rental car to Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast.

It was awesome and emotionally overwhelming to return to Cannon Beach. With John’s support I was able to visit many of the favorite places that my late husband Terry and I used to always visit including Center Diamond Fabric (the wonderful little quilt shop); the little cafe across from Center Diamond Fabric; the awesome bookstore the Cannon Beach Book Company (with a sofa!); and the Screw & Brew – a hardware store turned into a brew pup!

Although it was a bit of am overcast day, we also walked over to the beach so John could see Haystack Rock:

It was quite the emotional experience to return. Here is what I share on the Instagram post I did back in October 2024 on this return to Cannon Beach:

(I returned to) Cannon Beach for the first time in six years since my life changed forever in 2018. It was hard to be there, but it was good and healing. I got to return to my favorite quilt shop on the Oregon coast and have delicious hot chocolate in one of the cozy cafés of Cannon Beach. The library had a book sale AND we stopped at the bookstore! (Public library + independent bookstore in the same day = Bliss) 

After our jaunt to Cannon Beach, we drove to Pacific City, Oregon to meet up with our friends MJ and J who we rented a home near the beach with for a couple days. After we got checked into our rental house we all walked to the beach to enjoy an amazing sunset:

From Pacific City we went on various days trips, roadtripping along the Oregon Coast for a couple days and returning to our home based in Pacific City. We went on some wonderful hikes, checked out various areas of the coastline, had lots of delicious seafood (Colorado is landlocked so whenever we are near the ocean we eat as much fresh seafood as we can!), and spent one morning doing some beach clean up and returning a jellyfish to the sea.

It was a memorable trip and I think it was healing to return to Cannon Beach. In the spring this year I am going to do something big (and hopefully healing) and return to Central Oregon/Bend, Oregon for the first time in 6 years. Until now I’ve been emotionally unable to return to the place I lived for 14 years and where I left a piece of my heart (and maybe my soul) when I moved away in 2019 after my husband suddenly passed at my home there in 2018.

But as I’ve mentioned to my other widow friends (both online and in person): “Remember: We can do brave things, and we are stronger than we realize!”

A Crafter's Life, Special Events, tierneytravels

Christmas in Miami

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

We spent the week of Christmas (12/22 – 12/27/24) in Miami, Florida with my family. One of my stepsons joined us along with my siblings, their kids and my sister-in-law. We came from Oregon, Virginia, Delaware and Denver to meet up for Christmas week!

Here is John on his way to get our rental car in the Miami airport with the artificial Christmas tree we brought along on his back!

John and I rented a couple loft condos in a converted former industrial building so the 8 of us would have plenty of space; and made our condo the main Christmas area with the tree, stockings and meals served there. I put on a fireplace video with Christmas music from YouTube and hung the stockings on the entertainment center for ambiance – ha!

Here’s what our condo looked like with a view of Miami’s skyline:

John made several wonderful meals and it was so good to sit down with the family from all over the country and share his yummy cooking:

I spent an evening on Espanola Way in South Beach with my siblings and their kids wandering around and it was magical!

John got to go on several rented bike rides along South Beach with his son Z who is an avid cyclist in Portland, Oregon (they didn’t appear to take any photos).

Miami was beautiful and decorated for the holidays:

I got to spend a morning wandering around downtown Miami with my sister and visiting the really lovely Brickell City Centre shopping area.

We stopped for some amazing pastries at the Rosetta Bakery.

Our family was so sweet and the day after Christmas they threw a surprise party in the afternoon for John and I at the other condo to celebrate our love and our commitment to family. They decorated the table with my favorite – sunflowers!

My brother, sister and stepson all made amazing speeches and John and I got pretty choked up! It was a very special afternoon.

On our last day in Miami, before heading to the airport, a couple of us went to Coral Gables and spent time in a delightful independent bookstore – Books & Books. It has a cafe, a bar, and endless rooms of books! I didn’t want to leave but eventually we had to head to the airport – ha!

I loved the cozy looking windows looking out to the outside dining at the bookstore.

The week flew by fast and we didn’t get to do all the things we planned (like go to the beach!) but it was a very special Christmas!

Hope your holidays were wonderful, I’ll be catching up on my blogging buddies’ posts I’ve missed in the near future 🙂

Independent bookstores, tierneytravels

I Fell for Greensville!

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is the last installment on the series of posts I’ve shared about our trip to the Carolinas (Charlotte, NC and Greenville, SC) earlier this month. You can check out the previous posts Men Hypnotized by a Computerized Longarm…  and Visit to the Upcountry Museum in Greenville, SC for background on this trip and some of our other adventures while in the Carolinas.

In this post I’ll share some photos and experiences from the  Fall for Greenville Fall Festival that we attended during our 2 day trip to Greenville, SC. The “Fall for Greenville” Festival as is known by the locals as the “Fall Down” festival as it is 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday) of wine tasting, craft beer tasting, “bite of Greenville” food festival, and in general one huge downtown Greenville outdoor party!

According to the Visit Greenville website:

This family-friendly three-day smorgasbord of food and entertainment showcases 50+ local restaurants serving some 250-plus dishes with more than 50 beers on tap, wine vendors, and over 80 musical acts on six stages—it is an absolute must-do for food and music lovers alike. Sample wines, and learn about local beers. Sample wines, and learn about local beers. Top-name acts shine a spotlight on Greenville’s robust music scene with free entertainment on stages along downtown Greenville’s charming Main Street. Consider yourself invited to the Southeast’s most popular outdoor street festival

We spent two days at the festival and wandering around downtown Greenvile and here are some highlights.

Awesome Bookstore

During our first day at the festival we had a nice wander around M. Judson Booksellers, an amazing independent bookstore in downtown Greenville inside a historic courthouse building.

The coffee shop inside the bookstore had book themed drinks!

Nighttime at the Festival

The festival was so cool to wander around at night and it got really crowded at night (it was basically a huge community party). The weather was wonderful, we only needed a light jacket at times and we had fun joining in the community party!

If you are claustrophobic this would not be the festival for you at night!

Wine Tasting

We attended a wine tasting festival inside the festival (yes they had “festivals” inside the main festivals including a craft beer festival) and we even discovered some wine with quilting themed labels (photo is difficult to see but I put in arrows).

Cool Shops

Downtown Greenville is filled with lots of cool little shops including this one – Vintage Now Modern that we had a wonderful little wander through.

We loved the sign in the image above!

So Much Good Food

We had samplings of so many tasty dishes as the festival which was also like a “Bite of Greenville” festival with 50+ local restaurants showcasing their best dishes. Below is John enjoying some exceptionally tasty taco samples; and John and E posing with their new free aprons they got from the local newspaper’s booth (they both love to cook).

The Beauty of Downtown Greensville

Downtown Greenville was very picturesque and here are a couple photos showcasing some of the lovely sights including an image of the downtown area taking from a rooftop restaurant we ate dinner one evening.

After the Festival

After two days in Greenville, SC, the next day we headed back to Charlotte, NC (where we originally flew into from Denver/our friends live in Asheville, NC and they drove from there).

In Charlotte, after a joint lunch in downtown, the men and the women headed out on their own separate adventures. S and I went thrifting and the John and E met up with some of E’s Charlotte-based friends and went to a cigar and bourbon bar.

S and I also discovered a wonderful shopping, business and dining area created from an old industrial area – Camp North End.

While there we had delicious vegan ice cream (S doesn’t eat dairy) and a wonderful stationary shop where I indulged in some nice pens.

I fell for Greenville while visiting for the first time – awesome trip!

Special Events, tierneytravels

Visit to the Upcountry Museum in Greenville, SC

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is sort of a continuation of the posts Variegated Yarn Surprise  and Men Hypnotized by a Computerized Longarm… about our trip in earlier this month to the Carolinas (Charlotte, NC and Greenville, SC) to meet up with our Asheville, NC based friends E and S who needed a break from their post Hurricane Helene life in Asheville.

While in the Carolinas, we roadtripped (E and S brought their temporary rental car as their car had been totaled by a tree in the hurricane) to Greenvile and visited the he Upcountry History Museum to view the traveling show Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West. My quilt, Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet is part of that show.

Here are some photos of the museum’s interesting interior:

We headed upstairs to see the show and I discovered my quilt was on display as you first enter the exhibit!

I filmed a walk-through of the exhibit and uploaded it to YouTube (and I was so proud of myself figuring out how to add music so you wouldn’t have to just listen to my breathing!):

While I was there they museum’s Special Projects/Media Relations Director Meg Hunt came up to meet me, chat with my group (John, E, S and me) and take some photos.

Yes I am terrible at selfies…

I really appreciated her taking the time to visit with us.

Okay next post on the trip will be about our fun time at the  Fall for Greenville Fall festival.

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Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Breckenridge and the Continental Divide

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Well it’s time to start catching you all up on our travels this Summer into Fall. It might justify why there’s been very little “tierneycreating” except for projects that I can take on trips!

It’s going to be in random order as I think of what adventure I want to share when I write the post. So this post I feel like sharing our trip in early August 2024 to Breckenridge, Colorado with a stop at Loveland Pass on the way where we stood on a section of the Continental Divide.

Loveland Pass

The Continental Divide as defined by Wikipedia :

The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Hudson Bay

Here we are at Loveland Pass at 11,990 feet above sea level (yes the air felt a bit thinner up there!)

It was a gorgeous day and we hiked a bit around the Continental Divide area:

We even found some patches of snow in early August!

Breckenridge, Colorado

After a couple hours at Loveland Pass we headed to Breckenridge, Colorado one of the many skiing towns of Colorado (like Vail, Telluride, Keystone, Steamboat, Aspen, etc) for an overnight visit.

Here are some photos from our time in Breckenridge:

I also found some cool old structure that were just screaming to be Black and White photos 😉

tierneytravels

Springtime in Brooklyn

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

At the end of April my sister and I met up in New York City and spent a couple days together in Brooklyn, exploring the Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-stuy) neighborhoods.

I always get a kick out of the “I love NY” sculpture at La Guardia airport where I flew into from Denver:

(if you check out this post you will see John and Tierney Beastie on this sign on our their way to Ireland a couple years ago – Guest Blog Post: The Beasties’ Ireland Travelogue (Part I))

I do love New York. Although I was born in Pittsburgh, PA, I grew up in New York State, living in Long Island and in Upstate NY. I’ve been to NYC a zillion times and I remember being 14 and taking the train with a friend all the time for the day from Long Island to NYC (I wonder if parents nowadays would let their teenage daughters do that?). I always feel like NY is my home state, it holds a special place in my heart. When my late husband Terry died, I did consider moving back to New York State and explored with my sister Tarrytown, NY on the drive back from the celebration of life with Terry’s family in Upstate NY. (For some not-light reading…me as a new widow in late 2018…about the road-trip across 7 states with my sister here is the post – Stories from the Road, Part I)

But it seemed Colorado was calling me and besides John was waiting for me in Colorado (smile).

While visiting the NYC area my sister and I stayed at an Airbnb apartment in Bed-stuy and we had these hysterical narrow and steep stairs to climb to get to our apartment. Here is my sister doing the climb (we got use to it after a while):

We spent a day at the Brooklyn Waterfront/DUMBO area shopping, checking out the Brooklyn Bridge, and enjoying delicious food.

We spent a couple days wandering around the Williamsburg Brooklyn area and found the best little tea shop (which we visited twice!) as well as a wonderful indie bookstore. We were naughty and enjoy some amazing pastries at an exquisite bakery.

We also explored the Bed-stuy neighborhood and had a wonderful breakfast at an outdoor French-style cafe as well as got to see Director Spike Lee’s original studio.

The name of this Vegan eatery in Bed-stuy made us laugh- Slutty Vegan!:

It was definitely Springtime in NYC and we enjoyed seeing lots of flowers (and lots of tulips). I also went for a walk through one of the parks in Brooklyn and ran into a woman walking two adorable miniature schnauzers on a beautiful Spring day.

One evening wandering around Williamsburg, we stopped at an Irish pub for a pint of Guinness and met this awesome Willimsburg based couple that we spent the evening chatting with and sharing a meal. They might be visiting Denver in the future and we plan to connect again.

New Yorkers are definitely my people – I connect so easily with other New Yorkers!

It was a memorable trip and I just enjoy hanging out with my sister!

I’ll close this post with a poster on someone’s window in Williamsburg that made us smile:

I did ask my dog Mike but he is not ready to start up his Presidential campaign just yet…

tierneycreates

April Adventures in Hollywood and Miami, Florida

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As I mentioned in the post Rock & Roll Icons’ Guitars and Outfits, John and I recently returned from a trip to Miami and Hollywood, Florida where John attended a poker tournament.

Before John played in his day long poker tournament, we spent a couple days wandering about in Hollywood and Miami (South Beach), Florida.

Here’s a little photo travelogue of some of our fun adventures.

HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA

We stayed at the Marlin Beachside in the Hollywood Beach area, right on the beach:

Images credit: Tripadvisor

They had free bikes for guests, so every morning we went for a 8 – 10 mile bike ride along the beach on the boardwalk and then to breakfast:

Nearly every evening there was a free rock concert on the boardwalk by a cover band. Some of them were kind of “cheesy” but one evening they had an amazing band that did excellent Classic Rock covers. Here we are enjoying the music!

SOUTH BEACH, MIAMI, FLORIDA

We had a rental car to get around and we spent an afternoon in the South Beach Art Deco Historic District in Miami.

Our wandering about the outdoor shopping district began with a visit to an amazing German bookstore – Taschen Books. There are only two US bookstore locations for this store – in Hollywood, California and in Miami, Florida.

The store featured mind blowing oversized coffee table books, which started at around $80 USD in price. My favorite of their books was one about the world’s most beautiful libraries:

They had on display an amazing book on Ferrari race cars that retailed for $7500 USD and was encased in a special display case, which John, a race car buff, enjoyed looking through with the required white gloves on his hands.

Image credit; Taschen Books website

Wandering around the shopping area, we came across a very cool window display at one of the many art galleries around the Art Deco District – a display of human sized matches with human heads!

We had paella for lunch under a tree in one of the outdoor courtyards in the Art Deco Historic District. While waiting our food, beautiful flowers keep falling from the tree about onto my plate.

Something special about flowers falling from the sky and arranging themselves on your plate while you await your delicious meal.

Finally the paella arrived and I removed the flowers from my plate to make room!

Towards the end of the meal a rain of a liquid substance came down on John. Turned out a HUGE Iguana in the tree above was spitting at him or something!

We didn’t realize at the time it was only a harmless Iguana – our mind went to other things like a poisonous Gila Monster! So we paid the check quickly and got out of them – ha! The restaurant staff gave John some clothes with some type of cleaner on them to clean his arms where the “Iguana-rain” had fallen!

After that we wandered over to a jazz concert in the park in front of the beach area and then wandered along the beach

It was nice to put my toes in the Atlantic Ocean!

We had a wonderful trip and thanks for reading!

(IFor someone who lives very far away from palm trees, it was cool seeing palm trees bending with the wind at dusk along the beach!)

Thrift Shop Adventures, tierneytravels

Sisters’ Trip to Englewood, Florida

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Back in early January in the post 2023 Recap: A Year in “Makes” and WIPs Going Forward, I mentioned I might do a 2023 Recap of my travel in 2023. Since we are now halfway through February I decided to skip that 2023 recap, but I will share a trip I went on in early December 2023 with my sister that I didn’t post about in 2023.

So my awesome sister, who knew that December is always a challenging time for me (12/13/23 was the 5th anniversary of my late husband’s passing), came up with the idea that we should go on a “Sisters’ Trip”/do something fun in December to distract me.

She randomly selected Englewood, Florida because it is near the coast, had nice Airbnbs (she loves to stay in Airbnbs) and seemed to have a low touristy/laid back vibe. My sister loves to visit places are on not highly touristy but have a cozy vibe.

We stayed at a cottage above a garage at a house near the beach and was called “The Tree House”. The charming elderly proprietor lived on site and had decorated it in a quaint vintage “shabby chic” style with Asian influence:

The house’s garden was amazing and had a little pool as well as lots of scenic seating and wandering about areas:

And there was a garden kitty to pet:

We were able to walk everywhere including the charming downtown and only used our rental car a couple of times. One of those times was when we went on a thrift shopping excursion one day (my sister LOVES thrifting and introduced me to it years ago).

Here I am with a fantastic Marimekko purse I found for $5 at one of the thrift shops:

We visited a giant resale and flea market type of shop where we browsed for hours it seemed and ended up getting ourselves each a teddy bear as a souvenir of our fabulous time together:

It appeared to be a family run shop and we made the teenage boy running the cash register laugh when we were checking out our bear purchase, by making the bears talk to each other and him. It was fun to be so lighthearted and silly with my sister!

This sign at the shop made us laugh:

Ha!

We ate lots of seafood, as I live in a “landlocked” state and whenever I am near fresh fish, then fresh fish and I are together!

We also went to the beach and had a lovely afternoon wandering about the coastal area:

Because it was not a high touristy area we got to hang out with “the locals” and spent each morning at an awesome coffee shop walking distance from our cottage. We hung out one morning with an elderly gentleman (Englewood appears to be a large retirement community) who was from Colorado and his very friendly dog who seemed to know every other local that came into the coffee shop. We had fun chatting with people while eating our breakfast in the living room like seating area at the front of the shop:

You can see in the first photo that the dog is getting his regular “pup cup” of whipped cream.

It seemed like a wonderful and friendly place (with a super laid back vibe) plus the temperature was wonderful in early December – 60s to 70s F (16 – 21 C) – but I was attacked by a zillion mosquitos (they seem to love me) and I do not think I could live in Florida unless I walked around with a mosquito net on – ha!

I’ll close my little travelogue with a magnet that was on the refrigerator of the cottage we stayed in that made me smile!

Guest Blogger, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures, tierneytravels

Guest Blog Post: Humans Traveling and Dog Camp

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is Mike, the Miniature Schnauzer that lives with Tierney and John. If you are new to this blog I guest blog post time to time. It’s January 31st and Tierney has not posted on her blog since January 15th (ScrapHappy January 2024 – Update on Table Runner and More ) and I needed to intervene and jump on her laptop and write a post (even though I don’t have opposable thumbs so typing is challenging).

I need to figure out the dictation feature…

Tierney has been busy doing some purging in her crafting area and quilting table runner she discussed in her January 15th (so long ago) blog post. Also she and John have been doing some traveling and recently returned from a trip to Las Vegas where John was in a poker tournament (he didn’t do too bad in the tournament!)

Since I am on her laptop I was able to find a couple photos from her trip to Las Vegas to share with you including a meal they had at Hell’s Kitchen (Chef Gordon Ramsey’s famous restaurant) of the renown Beef Wellington and Sticky Toffee pudding on the menu.

But what is more exciting than their trip is the time I had at “Dog Camp” where I stay when they go out of town. “Dog Camp” is only for dog’s my size and I have a group of dog friends (like my Miniature Schnauzer friend Bandit is a regular at “Dog Camp”).

Here’s Bandit trying to manage one of the humans that run “Dog Camp”:

And here are more awesome photos of me recently at “Dog Camp” (the humans that run it take photos and send to Tierney so she knows I am having more fun that her and John while they are on vacation):

Yes I need to nap, as do my friends, after all that fun!

Well that’s all I had to share, but I am going to talk to Tierney and ask her to get caught up on her blogging friends’ posts as well as start writing her own posts again!

A Crafter's Life

“Human Storage” and Airport Lore

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

A little humor and lore to close out 2019…

Human Storage

For four years (2013 – 2017) until her passing in December 2017, I helped manage the blog for my miniature schnauzer Sassy, the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer – SCHNAUZER SNIPS: MUSINGS FROM A HIGHLY OPINIONATED MINIATURE SCHNAUZER.

In February 2017 Sassy posted about Human Storage– how humans are always getting dropped off at this place called “the airport” where they appear to be stored for a period of time and then get picked up.

t-h-chia-PEGEebZZPtQ-unsplash
Photo by T.H. Chia on Unsplash

Keep in mind she viewed life from a dog’s perspective!

I’ve traveled a lot in 2019, likely the most I’ve ever traveled in my life.

For my trips to the airport in 2019 while I lived in Central Oregon (January to April) and then after I moved to the greater Denver metro area (April), I’ve tried to have Mike my miniature schnauzer be in the car taking me to the airport and picking me up.

2019-08-15_14-38-15_154.jpeg
Mike wonders why humans do not just stay at home and relax instead of going into storage

Mike seems to understand when I am going into “human storage” and when I am being retrieved! It appears to lessen his anxiety when I am missing from his home for a couple days to a week – he knows I am just in storage!

Airport Lore

Speaking of airports, I did not know about this until I moved to Denver, but the Denver International Airport (DIA) has quite a bit of lore about it.

westinHeader1
Photo credit: flydenver.com

This lore includes conspiracy theories such as that it contains secret underground bunkers.

You can read a summary of some of the common theories on this page – “5 Conspiracy Theories Surrounding the Denver Airport” on mental floss.com.

Some of the biggest DIA lore surrounds the airport “mascot” and the strange murals around the airport. Here is an excerpt from mental floss.com:

Conspiracy theories aside, it’s hard to deny the weirdness of DIA’s unofficial mascot—a massive horse statue called “Blue Mustang” that has already killed at least one man. At 32 feet tall and 9000 pounds (it’s made out of fiberglass), “Blue Mustang” is huge and imposing, and its glowing red eyes don’t help matters. This thing is giant and really scary—and it killed the man who made it. Really. Artist Luis Jimenez died in 2006 when a piece of the sculpture’s head broke off and severed an artery in his leg. 

Leo Tanguma’s two murals, which take up wide swathes of wallspace in DIA’s baggage claim, might have some nice names—they are called “Children of the World Dream of Peace” and “In Peace and Harmony with Nature,” respectively—but their actual content is terrifying. Death-masked soldiers stalk children with guns, animals are dead and kept under glass, and the entire world looks to have been destroyed. As if being at the airport isn’t bad enough. 

I’ve spent a lot of time at DIA since moving to the Denver area in April 2019 and so far it just seems like a large airport, nothing creepy. I’ve seen a couple of the controversial murals in person and they just seem odd and like they were created by someone on a LSD trip!

DIA has been under going a remodel and the airport leadership appears to have a sense of humor about the conspiracy theories familiar to locals.

TunnelsDIA_LizardMustang

You can’t say people in Denver do not have a sense of humor!

Postscript

For some of my readers it is already 2020! For me in Colorado, 2020 is about to shortly begin.

I’ve already begun formulating my 2020 resolutions and look forward to reading some of yours. I have a lot of sewing (and more traveling/human storage at the airport) planned and looking forward to sharing my adventures with you.

Happy New Year!

jamie-street--d6kTMGXV6E-unsplash
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Feature image: Photo by Ruchindra Gunasekara on Unsplash