I’ve done a fair amount of traveling this year; particularly this fall. In September I embarked on a (nearly) 4 week trip to Scotland and the UK. I had been planning to write about each (tapestry) highpoint much sooner but was unprepared for the toll the travel took on my body. I did not bounce back quickly. More accurately, it took me nearly 3 weeks to recover from that adventure. So rather than diving into my planned posts, I’m easing into them with this brief “highlights of an amazing trip” post. A travelogue of sorts… join me?

September 21st, 2022

I flew from Manhattan, KS. This airport is small, so I didn’t need to get there 3 hours early like “some airports”… and I didn’t have to drive 2 hours to get there, either, like I used to when Kansas City was my best option. It’s a short 20 minute drive. There are, however, very few flights in and out and only to Dallas and/or Chicago with American Airlines. Most of the time I’m put on the early 6am or arrive home at midnight, but this time I felt lucky.

My flight was around noon with a first stop of Chicago. I know there are many that don’t care for O’Hare, but I’m not one of them. Lots of food options and with four hours to kill, that’s important. Then on to the UK. My destination for the beginning of the trip was actually a place called Shrewsbury in Shropshire, UK.

I’d booked a wonderful airbnb, perfect for sleeping off some jet lag and visiting the Tapestry Touring International exhibit in a nearby town, Much Wenlock. I had a choice to hang around Heathrow for 7 hours before flying to Manchester (and getting in too late to go further) or staying all night in London (and getting up before daylight to catch an early 7am flight). I chose the night in London, although if I did it again, I probably wouldn’t have. London Heathrow recommends getting to the airport 3 hours before your flight. So while 7am seemed civilized enough, 4am was another story.

Next day, from Manchester, I took the first of many train rides through beautiful countryside to arrive in Shrewsbury. I can’t imagine picking a better place to stay. I strolled the old part of the city on day one, then day two I was met by Jane Freear-Wild and her husband, John- who very graciously drove me to the exhibit where we met up with Claire Cooper-Walsh and Lindsey Marshall. This was my first “highlight” and next week I’ll share the entire exhibit with you.*

Day three was spent weaving a little bit in my airbnb, walking the path along the River Severn, and getting ready for the next leg of the trip: travel to Glasgow via train to Birmingham and then flight to Glasgow. (I normally would have booked a train straight to Glasgow, but there had been strikes planned at the time of my booking).

A visit to the Beaver Reserve on the Scottish Road Trip

At Glasgow, I met up with a small group of fellow tapestry weavers for a Scottish Road Trip organized by the folks at Nearly Wild Weaving. Six days of travel by bus followed (expertly driven by Irene Evison and Paulette Furnival I might add) as we stayed first in Kilmarten, then the Isle of Mull, and ending in Ardgour, near Fort William. More on this trip in another blog post including a special visit to Louise Oppenheimer’s studio*.

Suffice it to say - for now- it was chock-full of wonderful memories I continue to reflect upon. But these are just the highlights here - so I’ll move on to the next segment of the trip: to Sedbergh where the Waterline exhibit would be hung, followed by a master class with Joan Baxter, and culminating in Meet the Makers*.

But it didn’t end there. A group of us then went on to Edinburgh where we visited tapestries in museums and works in progress in the studios of Fiona Hutchison, Sara Brennan, and Joanne Soroka. And, of course, the Dovecot! *

We’re now up to October 14th, when I took a train back to Manchester - staying overnight with yet another early flight to London where I boarded my flight home by way of Chicago, due to arrive home at a reasonable time in the evening.

But wait, there’s more…

About 5 hours into the flight, the pilot announced we would be making an emergency landing in Iceland due to a malfunction of the backup navigation system. We spent the next two nights in and around the Keflavick airport instead*.

When I finally got to Chicago, my connecting flight home had no room for me, so after spending 30 minutes probably making a fool of myself in front of all the passengers destined for Manhattan, KS, I admitted defeat and took a lyft to the hotel of American Airlines’ choice and spent my final night there. The airline staff told me Manhattan must be a pretty special place because no one ever wants to give up their seat. Not even for a high dollar voucher.

Dodging Covid, flu’s, food poisoning, and colds (well, almost- my body couldn’t resist the cold). Traveling by plane, rail, bus, and ferry. It’s taken me a while to process it all. I’ll be writing in the weeks to come more in depth vignettes of some of my favorite memories. Stay tuned!

*Each asterisk indicates another post I plan to write in the next few weeks.

Scenes From an Amazing Trip