In my entry about finding my camera, I mentioned I was on a road trip. I’ve been back a couple weeks now, so it’s about time I jot a few notes about that trip. Unlike the previous road trip, this one was a solo effort, unless you count the sock monkey and stuffed octopus that accompanied me. Here they are with a view of Lake Pend Oreille just a little ways from home (this is the same lake we can see from our mountain).

My first destination was northern Illinois, to visit Mr. K’s mom, Joan, in the rehab place she’d gone after a recent hospital stay. I chose the more scenic route through Montana, then swung down through a corner of Wyoming, then across South Dakota and Minnesota before turning south through Wisconsin. Along the way I saw some beautiful vistas, including the Wisconsin farm scene below, and made a brief stop at Wall Drug, where I finally got some Free Ice Water socks after pondering them the last few times I’d visited.

 
I spent some time with Joan, then went to an arts and crafts conference in suburban Chicago over Memorial Day weekend before returning to spend a few more days with her, taking care of some things like doing laundry and having spare house keys made.
Then it was off to Michigan, where I caught up with some but far from all the friends I wanted to see. Some highlights: a nail polish ladies meetup, Indian food and a yarn shop visit with Denise, eating Buddy’s pizza and hanging out with Brenda, eating Middle Eastern food (yeah, lots of eating things I can’t easily get here in northern Idaho, as per usual for a visit back to my old stomping grounds), lunch with Tracey at “our” Thai place (I can get Thai here, but none of the places here have those same shrimp chips).

 
After Michigan, I crossed the border to attend Indie Expo Canada, a nail polish event I went to the inaugural iteration of last year. I stayed one fewer night this time, which meant I left the expo early to get on the road, but I still got to do the parts that were most important to me, like the nail polish making workshop on Saturday.

 
I headed back to Illinois after the polish expo, spending another day or so with Joan, who had been released from rehab to home while I was off gallivanting. Then it was time to make the long drive home, which I did via the northern route, which veers off from the southern route in Wisconsin, meaning I saw a different part of Minnesota, the breadth of North Dakota, and the full width of Montana on my way back. I stopped for my second night at a motel in Billings next to a bar that had a tropical motif, complete with a mini-forest of palm trees outside.

 
Finally, nearly a month after I’d left, I was home again. The last remaining snow behind the house had melted away and the green of spring had taken over.

 
All the photos I felt fit to upload from my trip are over on Flickr in this set. Lots of scenery and sunsets I didn’t post above, along with a lot of other less inspiring stuff that caught my eye.