A Visit To The Past

On the way down from Ann Arbor to Indianapolis, I stopped in Auburn to visit the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. This had special significance for me as in the late 60's my dad managed the Gamemaster Coat Company, which was then housed in the old Auburn Cord building. This same building has been refurbished and turned into the ACD Museum, but most of the details that I remembered seeing when I was a six year old kid, running around like a maniac in my own private art-deco playground, remain the same.

It was my first visit in 40 years, it was very odd. Walking in the side door (we never used that door, we always used the front door), walking up the big staircase, visiting my dad's old office - the feeling was indescribable. It was exciting to see it, but I felt very lonely knowing that my mom, dad and brother, who would have enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful cars so much, are all gone. I took massive amounts of photos, but because I can't upload them I won't post them right now.

I also stopped by our old home - a lovely foursquare brick which looked, as expected, much smaller than I remembered.

I hung around Auburn for about an hour, then drove on to Indianapolis. It was good to arrive in this beautiful midwestern city and check into a hotel for some rest after a long drive!

I hate that I have to pay for internet in the room here (and not even wireless...) but the room is pretty nice. I also hate that the cable is terribly limited (no Comedy Central, TCM or History Channel) but the bed is soft and the sheets are lovely.

TNNA - Day 1
I arrived at the Artyarns Booth this morning (at the end of rows 4000 and 3000) but I was a little late because due to some mix-up my name wasn't on the AY list to receive a pass. Annoying, but easily remedied. I meant to walk around and visit a lot of booths, but I barely made it to three or four in my down time from Artyarns! Tomorrow I'll take some time and visit the places I really NEED to visit -

I had lunch with Pam Allen, it was so good to get a chance to sit down with her and just talk for an hour! What a luxury, something we haven't had in 3 years! I got to see some old friends, meet new ones and put some faces to email addresses! My editor at Potter hadn't realized I'd be here, so I'm hoping that explains why my invitation to the Potter party came from one of the Mason Dixon Knit girls (I got to meet both Ann and Kay today - that was so cool, they're SO funny and nice!)

It was lovely to get a chance to spend time with Iris and Elliot at Artyarns, to see the new Cashmere and so many of Iris's great designs for her upcoming Lace book. I also got a good amount of work done on a tank top for Romantic Knits while walking around, talking to yarn shop owners and other folks at the booth.

Tomorrow more of the same - I hope my feet hold out!

For dinner I met up with some good friends from Lambikins Hideaway, Donna (my hostess), Sara (my long lost sister) and Kathy (who calls herself a new knitter but is spectacular) and we laughed, drank, ate, and laughed some more all the way through dinner. Most excellent! Afterwards we went back to their suite for some more chat, and now I'm finally 'home' in my own room with a $3 Diet Coke and $4.50 bag of chocolate almonds to cap off an exciting Saturday night in Indianapolis.

Pictures to follow when my camera is talking to my computer again!