Friday, April 18, 2014

The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival

Gosh, It has been awhile since I've had the time to do a post!

I just got home from my LONG drive across the nation (north to south at least) and what an adventure it turned out to be! I went to the Woodlands (Houston area), Texas for an art festival. The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival. It was SO COOL! My fabulous friend Melissa came with me for most of the trip!

But, before I begin my review, I must first tell you about my drive down. As luck would have it I had another crazy car experience. (remember the exciting adventure from my art festival to Logan, Utah?) Well, I was alerted to a leak in my oil coolant line just before my departure. I was told that if I just filled up those fluids that were leaking almost everytime I gased up, I'd be A-ok. So I went to the Laramie, WY walmart to buy some fluid, after spending the night in the fabulous college town, and as luck would have it they were completely sold out of ONLY the type oil I needed! Melissa & I then spent a good while looking for an auto parts store but had no luck locating it due to a LOT of construction so I pulled into the Laramie Chevy dealership. I bought some oil and they were going to make sure I was putting it in the right spot and when I popped my hood, they immediately knew I needed help. They could smell that my engine had already overheated (from driving around in town for 20 min) and saw some signs that showed my engine needed a little TLC. The service department was able to get me right in and were able to replace my water pump (which had gone bad) and my oil coolant line in a couple of hours! Thank heavens everything worked out the way that it did....I can only imagine the frustration & despair I would've had if my engine overheated and given out in the middle of nowhere on a two laned highway. Yikes! So a HUGE shout out to my angels at Laramie GM Auto Center. You saved the day and the road trip!

It was so neat watching the landscape change through the trip! Here are some photos!

The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival was AWESOME. There were SO many amazing and talented artists. I was fortunate to meet some and make friends! I was next to a great Printmaker, Mel Fleck from Taylorsville, KY. He does these fantastic works with egyptian hieroglyphs. Across from me was Mixed Media Artist Laura Junge from Chicago, IL. Just down from me was oil painter Charlene Marsh from Nashville, IN. The weather mostly cooperated all weekend (a little rain on Sunday). Everyone that helped with the festival was SO nice. Plus, I was able to meet a lot of wonderful people...including Kim Shirley! Yup, I got to meet another Kim Shirley on this planet. How cool is that? Here we are!!!

I really really hope that I get to go back next year. Here are some pictures from my area. There were over 200 booths of amazing artists...I wish I would've taken some pictures of the rest of the event grounds. Oh well! The park area will have to do.

I'm so glad I was able to go to this art festival and to travel through 7 states (ID, UT, WY, CO, OK, TX, NM). It was a great and epic road trip! Next time, I'm going to allow a little more time so I can stop and REALLY visit some nifty sites such as Billy the Kid's Grave, The 4 Corners, Mesa Verde, and other awesome stops along the way!

But as cool as it is to go new places, there really is no place like home!

4 comments:

Mom said...

Ahhh...actually you forgot one state...that would be Montana. Glad you had a good time and were able to get home safely. Proud of you kiddo.

debwardart said...

Glad your car was fixed early on! Never leave home with car troubles. I've met one Deb Ward - and found out there are two living in my area! (I'm sure they are wonderful women!)
I've been to a few of those states/places - loved Mesa Verde and of course have a slide (remember those) somewhere of my feet in all 4 states at 4 Corners. Overall, sounds like a great trip.

Kim Shirley said...

Deb! That is AWESOME you've met a couple of Deb Ward's and that they are living so close to you! WOW :D
I can't wait to go back to 4 corners to get that same kind of image you have. How fun that you have a slide of that. Mesa Verde seems like such a neat place. How long were you able to visit? It seems like a day just isn't enough time to see everything.

Kim Shirley said...

Thanks Mom!!! :D