Phoebe's Birthday Book Tour, part 3, a photo diary

Our route, 5,500 miles in all. There and back again!

Crossing the river into Pennsylvania, Delaware Water Gap.

Heading into Amish country, the laundry lines are beautiful. Monday is washday!

First yarn shop on our way west is Lancaster Yarn Shop.

Another friendly knitter, by an antique spinning wheel.

I finally got to meet this friend from Ravelry in real life!

A Waldorf teacher and her daughter, they are both knitters, and she plans to share our books with her students.

My table of books and knits in Lancaster. Wendy, the owner of the shop, is just wonderful.

Amish tourism, roadside.

Marblehead Lighthouse, on the south shore of Lake Erie, is the oldest operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes.

The view from the top of the lighthouse was breathtaking.

We climbed a long set of spiral stairs to get to the top...

And going down made me just a little dizzy!

The view from the stairs.

Leaving the lighthouse.

Next yarn shop stop was Whitemore Lake Yarn Company in Michigan.

What a fun shop! Do you see Melynda from French Press Knits in the background?

Eric makes an appearance and talks with the knitters about his illustrations.

A candid moment with Maureen, the owner of the shop.

A little princess in her Phoebe's Sweater!

Maureen's granddaughter in Phoebe's Sun Romper, a pattern from the new book. It looks adorable in a nautical navy and white.

Our son with Melynda's daughter, looking across the way to Whitmore Lake, which is across the street from the shop.

We had a lovely dinner with Melynda and her husband and daughter, who graciously hosted us for the night in their beautiful home. We awoke to scrumptious freshly-baked scones, made by French Press Knits herself.

We headed west, into Chicago, up Lake Shore Drive.

We spent the afternoon watching the children swim in Lake Michigan. The water was beautiful and the company (my two cousins and their families) was fabulous.

We stopped at the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp in Eau Claire, WI.

I loved the authentic cookhouse.

And these enormous hand-knit mittens, just Paul's size. I wonder who knit them?

We passed through miles of fields, 

and saw a lot of grain elevators throughout the midwest. After a night in Minneapolis (oops- no photos!) we headed into South Dakota.

Athena Fibers, in Sioux Falls, is a lovely shop in a large home that was once a tea house.

I had a great time there signing books and chatting with the knitters in South Dakota!

Room after room of yarn and knitting supplies...

and I lovely selection of roving.

(Rabbit trail- I received some really exciting news, spinning related, while driving through Minneapolis. I will be able to share it soon!)

As we were leaving town we saw planes from a nearby airshow. This is our view from the highway. (Whoa, that windshield is getting dirty!)

We drove across South Dakota to our next destination, the Badlands. It was breathtaking during an early evening lightning storm.

Our youngest child thought perhaps we had traveled to the moon.

We had a great night in a "Kute and Kosy Kamping Kabin" at the White River Badlands KOA, which is owned by some dear family friends of ours from Colorado, the Kyles. 

Our last yarn shop stop was at C R Yarn in Rapid City. Rita, also known as Castle Fibers, was a great hostess and I enjoyed getting to know her more.

Eric on his last round of signatures, for this trip, at least!

We drove through northwestern Nebraska, and made a quick stop in at Brown Sheep Co, which is right next to the Scotts Bluff National Monument.

East, West, home is best. 

What a true joy to return to our home in beautiful Colorado. Thank you to everyone who was a part of our big adventure! The evening chats, cups of coffee, fun in the sun, and goodbye hugs are with us still, and we will treasure the memories forever. Maybe we will do it all over again some day!