One of the things we learned early in our trip was not to trust Google info about the hours any particular place was open or even whether it was open at all. This is especially true to restaurants but other shops as well.

Staffing shortages, illness (Covid, right?) and other factors contribute but, whatever the reason, we learned the hard way that, if you are counting on it, CALL before you go to make sure they are open. 

Google,  like many of us, is having trouble "keeping up" at this time. Just call.

And...for those hours in the car, bring a book or, better yet, don't forget your knitting!!! Need a new stitch marker or two "for the road"?? Go HERE to take a look at beautiful handmade sterling silver stitch markers!! 

Food is an issue if a) you want to eat and b) you don't want to go inside to do so. Here are my top four tips:

1. Bring as much food with you as you reasonably can (and, yes, this means you will probably need an ice chest/cooler for milk, yogurt, whatever). I cannot over emphasize the wonderfulness (?) of having good food WITH YOU, in the car. Just do it. 

2. Find grocery stores that will let you order online and pickup curbside - Safeway/Albertsons and Whole Foods are the ones we used but I think Kroger is with the program, too.  Handy to stock up on such fragile things as bananas and, oh, all sorts of things you need

3. Find restaurants that will let you pick up curbside. Black Bear Diner was kind of our go-to when we were out west. Simple and fast and very decent food!

Warning, finding a place that will do curbside sounds easy but it is not. A couple of times we had to zip in to pick up pizza....it was too late, we were too hungry/cranky to mess around with trying to find curbsite. Nothing is perfect all the time.

4. I need to say again: bring food with you. Bring PLENTY of food with you. It will bring you peace and joy at the end of a long day of doing whatever you do on a roadtrip. 

Always bring things to do on those long drives through west Texas....or eastern Montana. When I say "bring things" I always mean "bring your knitting with you"!!! And yes, you need plenty of stitch markers because might (surely you will) lose a few in the car as you go. Stitch markers?? Go here to see my oh so cool handmade sterling silver stitch markers for all your knitting needs!!

So let's just talk about this one right off the bat, shall we? During a pandemic you may not feel comfortable going inside a gas station (or anywhere else) to use the restroom.  At the beginning of the trip I was determined not to go inside anywhere there were other people. Later, I relaxed a little bit and "cased the joint" before I determined whether I wanted to go inside. Mainly, If there were a significant number of people inside, I opted out. 

All that to say you may find you need an alternative to going inside to use the bathroom. You're a guy? No problem, find the nearest tree, right? Girls have a bigger challenge but I am here to tell you that your good friend, Amazon, has your back! Search things like "female urinal" and you will find several to choose from. 

Oh, yes and bring knitting or something else to do "on the road".  Want to see sterling silver stitch markers?? Click HERE!

Even the desert flowers are so beautiful. We were lucky enough this year to be in the desert when there had been some rain and flowers were everywhere! We also stopped by the Petrified Forest National Park (too hot to leave the car much) and also a place called Paria near Kanab, Utah, one of our favorite places! SO HOT!!! 

Such a wonderful trip to Oregon and Washington to visit family (long overdue) and sell jewelry at two of the wonderful art shows in Oregon. It was unexpectedly hot (115 degrees!) but we had a wonderful trip! More photos to follow!

​    Want to see the most popular earrings at the Oregon shows?? Click here!

These silver "triangle" earrings were inspired by the slot canyons in southern Utah & other places in the western, which are incredibly dramatic and beautiful. I have missed traveling so much over the past year - looking forward to visiting a few of these remarkable canyons in just a few weeks!! 

With family in town, we decided to go to the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. It was wonderful as always and, as usualy, the jellyfish exhibit was one of my favorites. (Followed closely by the albino alligator and the pregnant seahorses!) Here are the earrings inspired by those oh-so-cool jellies!!

Missing being able to travel! National Parks are kind of a passion for us and we have not had our "fix" of parks in over a year. With that in mind, these earrings were designed as a tribute to those fabulous archways that occur in so many National Parks in the western U.S. 

​If you want to see others in this collection, click here and here!

Part of my new collection, inspired by National Parks of the US. I have missed (and still miss) traveling so much over the past year and a half. One of the things we love to do is visit national parks in the western US. 

One of the natural features you see in many of the parks is the archway. Eye candy! 

Plus, two of my favorite "gems" - freshwater pearls and "opals" (in all honesty, these are called "opalized quartz but, between you & me, I think they are glass but, who cares, really. They are amazingly beautiful!!).

Want to shop the look? Click here!

These new silver earrings are from my new, developming collection, inspired by National Parks. This past year, I have so much missed traveling to see my sons, and the national parks along the way. These earrings are inspired by the arches present in many of our wonderful national parks, especially in Arches National Park in Utah. Can't wait to get back on the road and see the sights in person again!!

I know I mentioned before that we love to travel, especially in the western US, where are sons live. We almost always drive so that we can take our time & enjoy the journey. One of our favorite things to do is stop along the way and look for cool rocks. We live in a place (south Louisiana) with no rocks at all but I grew up in Arkansas, so most all rocks could be described (by me) as "cool". Anyway, we have gotten a little bit pickier with what we pick up & haul back across the country. 

So, early in the pandemic, I decided to switch out all of the "knobs" in our house with knobs made of the the rocks we have collected over the years! It was a fun project and we love the results. Each knob is a little work of art!! Rocks rock! 

In between rock stops, I knit. Want to see the sterling silver stitch markers I make? Click the button below!

We have taken lots of "mini" road trips in the past year. We love to travel and, with our sons living several states away, we missed that a lot so we started taking day trips. 

One of our favorite places to go was Ponchatoula, LA. At just about 45 minutes from our home, it was an easy drive and provided a nice place to walk around and window shop the antique stores. 

Another favorite was Ann Brown Preserve near St. Fancisville. This place seems like an undiscovered gem, providing a nice easy walk in the woods and the terrain is hilly!!! What a concept. 

Awkward seque: want to see some handmade zippered bags that are perfect for knitting or makeup or anything else you need to "tote" around?? >>>>>>>>      ClICK HERE!

I wish the crystals in this rock showed up better in this photo! We stopped several places in New Mexico on our way back from Arizona to do some rockhounding. I am obsessed with the search for cool rocks - especially rocks with a little sparkle in them! 

This one caught my eye because it was just a plan looking rock except for....that AMAZING stipe of sparkle right across the middle of it! I had to take a closer look & bring it home to add to my collection! 

That silver thumb ring is in my online shop now - click HERE if you need one (or more) for yourself or someone else! 

Last week, we were in Arizona for the Fountain Hills Fine Art & Craft Festival and, on our way back home to Louisiana, we decided to take our time and do a little rockhounding on the way. 

I had a book suggesting where to go to (possibly) find flourite in New Mexico so we headed to that site and we found this amazing chuck of flourite! It actually has a little bit of a greenish cast to it which is hard to see in the photo. So much fun!! 

The sterling silver stacking or thumb ring is available in my online store - click here to see the silver rings!

We love to travel and we especially love to travel in the western U.S.; I guess that could have something to do with the fact that both of our grown sons live on the west coast. But, beyond that, we are rockhounds and will go almost anywhere to find cool rocks! 

In this case, we were driving back home from an art show in Fountain HIlls, Arizona and decided to stop off at a rockhouding area near Deming, New Mexico. We found lots of interesting rocks but this one was my very favorite. I love all those small while chrystals, all clustered together! I guess it's kind of big to use in a necklace....I'll have to keep thinking about that! 

That silver thumb ring is available in my online store - go here to check it out! Nice to wear by itself or stack it up with others! 

It's cool and rainy here in south Louisiana after what seemed like an endless summer...and not in a good way. It was too hot for too long. 

Today I am remembering a wonderful trip we took this summer to visit family in southern California. I love southern California...as long as we are at the beach, anyway. What a wonderful place. 

That sterling silver thumb ring is available on my website - click here to pick up a few for yourself!