Ice water always available.
The control of the tv remote.
A kitchen to cook in.
My own bed. Mabel.
A room for sewing.
The coffee beans I prefer.
It’s funny how a week away makes you appreciate those little comforts of home all the more. I’m excited and I look forward to vacation … but at the end, coming home again is its own kind of (lame) excitement.
I was away last week, riding shotgun in a car for thousands of miles. Here’s how the epic roadtrip Dave and I took went down:
Austin to Edgerton. Depart after work. Hi, Mom. Night one.
Edgerton to Indianapolis. Hi, sister Emma (who goes to grad school there). Let’s eat pizza for a late lunch while the car tires get balanced.
Indianapolis to Asheville, NC. Rain. Late night of mountain driving. Tunnels! Hotel. Night two.
Visit the Biltmore (and get soaked in the rain) and the Asheville Pinball Museum. (Guess who put that second destination on the itinerary …)
Asheville to Winston Salem. Nights three, four, and five with Dave’s brother and his family.
Daytime exploring in Charlotte: Billy Graham library & NC Aviation Museum.
Coloring and playing trains with Dave’s niece and nephew. Lots of coloring and trains.
Winston Salem to Pittsburgh. More pinball excursions. Eat supper in a church-turned-brewery-restaurant. Night six.
Pittsburgh to Michigan. Visit Pink Castle Fabrics in Ann Arbor (one of the few modern quilt shops in existence). See Dave’s childhood home, feed carrots to donkeys, and eat supper with Dave’s parents. Night seven spent on an air mattress at the apartment of Dave’s childhood friend.
Last day: early morning departure (Dave had ants in his pants which led to a 5am packing of car and leaving. I slept in the passenger seat.), survival of Chicago traffic, and safe arrival home to MN. 
The week went by so incredibly fast. I feel like I blinked and was home again. Hours upon hours of driving were filled with car games (We found every license plate but Alaska & Hawaii – of course – and New Hampshire and Nevada.) , Harry Potter on audiobook, conversation, and watching the mountains pass us by. (Though most of the trip it rained and made looking out the car window gloomy and difficult.) I also passed time by binding two quilts and basting a whole lot of EPP diamonds! (I did a total of, oh, five hours of driving. The rest was all Dave and me quilting.)
It’s now back to life as we know it, appreciating a little more the comforts of home. And hitting the ground running at work as church is a busy, busy place these days. Here’s hoping the time away restored me enough through rest and relaxing to get me through the next weeks!
there's no place like gnome. 
You were in Asheville!? That is an hour from us!