Vacation 1: the FAB Retreat

At the beginning of the month, DD and I headed to Portland, Oregon for the first FAB Retreat Gathering. A few of the ladies had met *in person* but this was my *first* time for the *in person* meeting! If you ever have a chance to meet up with fellow bloggers~do it! The meetings are so much fun and to put a face with a name is just awesome! :) Some of the other FAB's have already posted about the trip, along with pictures that I don't have. Take a minute and check them out! Cher (our hostess), Norma, Linda and Pam (although she has been busy and hasn't posted about the retreat! I can so relate!)

We spent 6 days in Oregon so our trip was divided into 2~3 day segments. One part was the sightseeing and the other was the sewing/retreating.

The Sightseeing:

Day 1

We went to Tillamook Cheese and viewed the cheese packing process. I found this interesting since I have been around the dairy industry for about 25 years yet I don't know very much about cheese making. I had more questions than answers after my visit :)

Next DD and I went to the town of Newport, Oregon and the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I just love looking at all the different fish and ocean/water life. I never tire of this.

DD asked to visit the tidepools and beach. Well we went to Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, although we saw a few tidepools, unknown to us, it is a cobblestone beach. Hey, I'm from Wisconsin...all beaches are sandy, right? wrong! this beach was rocks...all sizes...big, little and very hard to walk across! later we found out that this beach was like one of a handful of cobblestone beaches in Oregon. The clerk at the hotel was very surprised that we had stumbled across it!

Day 2:

DD and I spent all day at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Or the OMSI. They had a CSI exhibit that was pretty fun to solve a murder mystery based on some clues.

We toured the USS Blueback sub that is docked there and is a museum. We watch the IMAX movie. We visited the exhibit halls about the human body and dinosaurs. I think DD's favorite part was the two banks of Brain Teasers displays.

Day 3:

Our FAB meeting day!

Our first destination was Fabric Depot. I was too busy yakking to do much buying or picture taking :) Then onto Cher's where she had made us a yummy chicken and noodle dinner complete with Tillamook Dairy Ice Cream and pie!

Day 4:

Sewing Day.

I worked on my Strip Twist Christmas blocks. We also exchanged the blocks/parts we had made for each other.

We had a field trip to a quilt shop, Fibers in Motion and lunch. Norma has pictures posted about lunch. Again, too busy yakking for picture taking! :)

Day 5:

Sewing Day.

I worked on my green crumb blocks. A pretty good start on another quilt.

Thanks to Cher for sharing her green strips and Linda for sorting through Cher's scraps. They will be a great reminder of our time together!

Day 6:

Sightseeing.

DD and I went to Cannon Beach in search of a sandy beach! We found one at Tolovana Beach on the south side of town. Not many shells to be found here but we did manage to put our feet into the water.

Day 7.

Travel home.

After a 5:30 am pickup of Linda at Cher's, we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Dropped off the rental then ate breakfast. DD sat by the window and was able to take pictures of Mt. Hood as we passed by. In our row was a woman that had lived in Portland for a long time. She was a treasure trove of information about many things to do/see in the greater Portland area. I can hardly wait to visit again!