Our trip to the FW Shop and other stuff, too.

Here we are, the last week of June (and, my birthday week) so it's time for our FWs SPA day.  You can pick any day this week but lets get those precious machines all oiled, greased and lubed for the next six months of use.  Well, you need to oil them more often, every 8-10 hours of sewing to be exact, but the SPA day will help them work at their optimum. 

And what a great trip I have to tell you about.  Kathy and I drove to Idaho from the UP and I took the advanced FW sewing machine maintenance class at the FW Shop.  I have so many things to tell you all about that.  I'll have lots to post about for weeks and weeks.

I learned about motors and gears, special finish techniques and how to repair those handles.  Latch repair was covered as was special info about products to use and so much more.  There will be some fabulous new products coming soon for your sweet machines.  I'll keep you posted about those items as they become available.  At the end of the two days I got a certificate that says, I completed the class so now I really feel official.  That's Christian on the far left, then Carmon, me, and Burl, the head technician for the FW Shop.

And, the trip there and back was gorgeous.  I have to admit that driving over 3000 miles is a bit crazy but I wanted to see the countryside and experience everything along the way. Having airline personnel throw my FW cases into a cargo area was not an option. That last 3 hours before arriving at Kooskia was so beautiful.  US-12 runs along the river winding around mountains with rapids and steep curves in the road.  The Bed and Breakfast owner where we stayed told us how dangerous that road can be and while we were there an older couple drove off the road into the river in a camper and nearly died.  Beautiful and dangerous are the only words to describe that road. Needless to say, we were careful.

We were right in the middle of the Nez Perse Indian reservation so we stopped at that National Park before we returned home.  We didn't get as far as the River of No Return but we were very close.  We were surrounded by beauty and history that clearly spoke to us.  I can highly recommend a trip to see Idaho's panahndle.

Coming back, we stopped at the Teddy Roosevelt National Park and it's another beautiful area to see.  We watched prairie dogs in their little villages and Bison across the way.  You just can't see that stuff from a plane.  The rock formations in that area are so unique. Yes, I love rock formations, too.

And, we shopped at quilt shops and antique stores as well.  You really can't go on this kind of outing and not do a bit of shop hopping. Neither one of us broke the bank shopping but we did find a few things that we couldn't leave behind.

All in all, it was a great trip and, like I said, I have a lot to tell you all for weeks to come.