The Big Move, Day Two

The day started as early as we could get the Kid out of bed. We went for the continental breakfast and hit the road about 9:30am. By 11:05, we were fueling up again, at $3.99/gallon.

At 11:47am we reached Ohio, leaving the beautiful state of Pennsylvania behind us. What was the most interesting change? Well, Ohio seems to police up their road kill quite effectively.

The next stop for gas was about 279 miles down the road, at $4.00/gallon.

At 4:58pm we finally left Ohio for the wonderful state of Indiana. Indiana cares about their road kill. They have sensors on the side of the road, complete with flashing lights that indicate that something larger than a raccoon has wandered into the road.

The weather decided to turn foul, not too long after we headed into Indiana. Giant raindrops pelted the cars, making everyone wonder if the tarps would really keep everything dry. I wonder what I’ll have to replace. Okay, not really. I can just buy another one.

About 7:00pm we pulled off the interstate and went in search of a place to spend the night. We had a little trouble finding the Super 8 Motel. After a phone call, and some driving in circles, we found that it had been converted to a Motel 6. Quite possibly, the worst Motel 6 I have ever stayed in. The Kid: “This is classic. It just gets better every time I touch something.” The outlets in the room are dodgy, the paint is peeling, there is a dog barking next door, the towels are dingy, the TV doesn’t get signal, there is no alarm clock or coffee maker, and housekeeping didn’t really do that good a job cleaning up after the last tenant. By time I was really disgusted by the state of the room, we really weren’t in the mood to leave. It was already 8:00pm. We’ll leave the light on for you.

Oh, yeah, have I mentioned that we don’t get the Internet in the room? That’s right, I had to create the draft and then walk down the hall to get a connection.

Miles Traveled: 438 (Approx.)

Road Kill Statistics

Unknown: 13

Possum: 3

Raccoon: 1

Just for the record, I do not count splatters, or lumps too small to identify as having been an animal.

The Big Move, Day One

After a rocky start of loading the rest of our stuff into the truck and the trailer, we got out on the road about 9:30am. By 10:00am, my dog had decided she really didn't like riding in the car, nor did she want to keep down her breakfast. Not even thirty minutes into the drive and I was cleaning up dog vomit at the first gas stop. How much was the gas at that first stop? BJ's Club price at $3.91/gallon.

I had convinced Honey to buy a small tarp, only to find that it would indeed have covered the bed of the pickup, but not the stuff in the bed of the pickup. After the vomit clean-up and the fueling, we stopped at Home Despot to pick up another tarp and some more line. I spent about 30 minutes trying to ensure the trailer would keep the contents inside. I also had to tie down the tarp on the pickup again.

After the tarps, we broke for breakfast. Denny's is a wonderful place, if you know what you want and what you want is breakfast. We left the first of the nomadic bunny-men at the Denny's in Rhode Island. I hope the server gives him a good home.


Back on the road by 11:30am. More vomiting before noon. We hadn't even left the state of Rhode Island before she had completely ruined her dog bed, wagged vomit onto me and made me nearly puke in sympathy. By Connecticut she had decided that the best way to deal with her motion sickness was to sleep.

Our next gas stop wasn't far away, just the other side of New York. It seems the trailer ruins the gas mileage on the Taurus. Price: $4.03/gallon in New Jersey. New Jersey is afraid of credit fraud, or something. That is the price for credit, the cash price was lower by about $0.15/gallon.

About 3:00pm, more dog vomit. At least she is keeping most of it in her bed, on the clean towel I put down to soak up the massive amounts of drool that seems to proceed vomit.

On the other side of New Jersey, finally into Pennsylvania, another gas stop at $3.97/gallon.

Our final stop for the day, somewhere in Pennsylvania. Gas for everyone at $3.98/gallon.


Last nomadic bunny-man is dropped off at the Dutch Pantry, a family diner across the street from the Super 8.

Interesting statistics that you can't do anything with:

Roadkill counts (your results may vary)
1 Raccoon
1 Polecat
3 Deer
5 Unidentifiable critters, most likely not deer

Miles traveled: 448 (approx.)

Lastly, here is a wonderful picture of Pennsylvania. I wish I had a digital recorder so I could record the wonderful sounds of the big trucks making their way down the interstate.

The Big Move... Beginnings

As most of you have noticed, it has been quite some time since I posted. Some of that has been work related. Well, okay, most of it has been work related. I really haven't had much time to work on much of anything crafty. Most recently, we have been gearing up for the big move to Montana. Yes, Montana. Yes, yes. I really said Montana.

So, to keep everyone updated, you'll see occasional posts, assuming I can get the Internet from my hotel room. Follow us, virtually, as we traipse across the North American continent.

As of today, we have cleared out as much of the house as we can. We have loaded one trailer, one pickup and two cars with as much stuff as we dare. Tomorrow, along with our two mutts, we will begin the monumental task of travelling from point A to point B.

Oh, a project? You wanted to hear about a project? Well, the only project I still have with me (everything else is in a box, on a truck, on the way to Montana) is the never-ending Doctor Who scarf. I'd love to give you a pic, but I'm afraid to measure it. Very, very afraid. I do have this picture, but you can't really tell much about that pesky, never-ending scarf. It is the kind of green blob sticking out of the top of that knitting-project bag. I have to really work to get the thing in there. My estimate? About 80% complete.


Who is this little guy? Well, you will have to wait and find out.

Pattern Drafting... for little people.

This weekend, I've been using some pattern drafting skills to try to get my growing population of Tonner dolls into clothing that 1) I've made myself and 2) lookes better than if one were to wear a paper sack.

The first thing I tried, was the A-line skirt. That's the one the red-headed, sitting Tyler is wearing. I stitched it up quickly so I could test the pattern. Decided that the pattern was good enough and added the embroidery stitching (with the thread already in the machine). Simple, simple. I think it came out quite nicely. I also started on three more of these, in full-length. I didn't finish them, I got distracted, as often happens. She is also wearing a hand-knit top and matching socks. Silly as that is.

I pulled a pattern from one of my many books for the gown the brunette Tyler is wearing. Considering how long I fought with my computer on the correct sizing, it did work out pretty well. The patterns in the book are scaled 1" to 1/8" which is easy to double for working with the dolls. The computer, however, didn't think I should be allowed to print anything that big. I worked around it. It would have been too big at that size, anyway.

The last one, is the bodice portion of the dress, with 3/4 sleeves. I really like how this one came out. I'll be using this pattern again. Maybe I can make t-shirts, complete with silly logos on the front. My wonderful "Bonnie" was kind enough to model this for me. She also wears hand knit socks (I did make two that matched, but lost one), a hand knit hat (don't talk to her about the fact that it covers up her lack of hair, she's sensitive) and a cute pair of shorts I made months ago.

If anyone sees a particularly interesting fashion, that would translate well to the doll world, please, send me an email. I usually just wade through my fabric, pick something, pick a pattern at (mostly) random and start working. Granted, I'm to the point of putting clothing aside, instead of covering up naked dolls, but I'm open to new ideas.

I realized that I have been leaving out an important part of this whole blog thing... What do I listen to when I'm doing all this work? Well, primarily my iPod. No one listens to the radio, at least that's what we keep telling the survey people when they call (they call every month or so).

For the last couple weeks, I've been listening to J.C. Hutchins 7th Son trilogy. I learned about J.C. while listening to Scott Sigler. To be kind, I'll say I like J.C. better than Scott. His podcast was also recommended by the good folks over at The Signal. I've listened to all of books one and two. I will also listen to book three. I think he puts a story together very well.

If I say I've read better, it is no surprise. If I say I've read worse, it's really no surprise. I can say that I'm interested in the story, I like the characters and I care what happens to them. That's about the best recommendation you'll get from me. If I don't care about the characters, I'm not reading (listening) to the whole thing. If you have room on your mp3 device, check out the first couple chapters. If you aren't interested... at least you tried.