JAM Tour Day 7: Thursday, August 4

It seems when we planned our trip we did our best to keep our travel to around 200 miles. It is interesting to me that the 200 miles can vary in windshield time so much. The scenery continues to change as we cross the state. The agricultural landscape has shifted to fields of sugar beets, corn and soybeans. There are still trees but they are primarily windbreaks.

The landscape is flat and those trees are essential. I failed to mention the rock baskets we saw all about on our travels yesterday. As the glaciers came across the state it left rocks in it's wake and you can see them gathered from the fields.

Our first stop this morning was Quilter's Cottage in Fergus Falls.

We thought the combination of RV and Appliance Sales along with the Quilt Shop was an interesting combination. We were warmly greeted by Radar, the shop's black lab. Alyssa was hoping for a personal shopper but Radar knew his bounds and was not allowed in the fabric aisles of the store.

This shop had it all from woolwork, to fabric to purse making and sew much more. We lingered a bit here because it felt good to stretch our legs.

Dawn's Quilt Shop in Alexandria was our next destination. Alexandria was a bustling town today. There was a crazy days sale going on and a building of some sort full of construction on the same block. There was no close parking and although we did not mind the walk to the shop our parking space had a time limit and we were not able to spend much time in this shop.

With only one shop left on our journey today, we were on the lookout for another picnic spot. Since it was too early to eat when we left Alexandria we had plenty of time to scope out a spot. We settled on a spot beside one of the many lakes we passed. I am not sure where we were but there was a single picnic table and it was nicely positioned in the shade. It looked like quite a lot of rain had fallen recently since the dirt path was full of car eating potholes full of water. There were a few frogs hopping about keeping the bugs at bay. Although we never saw any bugs, we all left with a few souvenir bites.

Our final destination was Granite Falls at Heather's Book Nook. We found a parking spot right out front of the shop and since this was our last store of the day we had plenty of time to browse.My mom found a few books in the books section to read. The owner of the shop and her husband make really lovely laser cut wood items with etchings and we each picked up an ornament for our tree to commemorate our road trip.

We arrived at our hotel around 3 today and that left plenty of time for a nice nap and a leisurely supper. Our menu tonight was lasagna and southwest salad. It was a flavorful combination. We rounded the meal off with Buttermilk Streusel bread. 

To end our evening we wandered out to the lobby and people watched as we read the newspaper and completed our daily crosswords and sudoku puzzles. This hotel is bustling with families coming and going along with food delivery. Our other stops primarily housed yellow shirted workers who appreciated the cool of the hotel and the hot breakfast that was ready for them at 5:30 before they set out to the day's work. 

As we travel across Minnesota we are struck by the importance of the quilt shops in the smaller and larger communities. It is important to support these small businesses and shop local. The friendly faces within are there to help you, guide you and listen and engage with you.  Without their presence a major community void would be left behind. Our winter's are long and it is important to have something to pass the dark evening hours and the cold and snowy days.

Thanks for joining us on our JAM tour.

Happy Hopping! Joy

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