Yesterday, after I had walked my dog, eaten some breakfast, and attended to a hastily scribbled list of “things that must be done,” I put on my donut shoes, grabbed my matching donut bag:

got in the car, and began the one hour and forty-nine minute trek from my house to 1481 2nd Street in Washington, North Carolina.

My actual drive time was a little big longer than what Google maps had laid out for me as I stopped to get gas for my car and coffee for myself, but shortly after ten in the morning, I found myself at my destination: the 2016 Spinrite Factory tent sale.

When I pulled into the parking lot, here was the sign that greeted me:

Clearly marked and with a generous number of empty spaces, I was quickly, and easily, able to find my car a spot right across from some diligent yarn shoppers who had been there long enough to fill the back of their vehicle with yarn:

and who were preparing to re-enter the tent for more yarn shopping adventures:

I had imagined the quest for yarn in such circumstances would be like a competitive event, but in truth, the tent sale at the Spinrite facility was a cooperative effort.

The tone was set the moment you entered the tent.

Many shoppers (myself among them) were greeted by Mikey himself of “The Crochet Crowd.” He was very enthusiastic, gracious, and passed out large plastic bags to would-be shoppers so that they would have a way to carry their yarn as they made their way through the many and varied bins of yarn products:

and while I actually don’t need any yarn at all, I bought some Bernat Dippity Dots which I found quite charming:

and received 12 skeins of Impeccable Loops t-shirt yarn simply for showing up:

With my yarn purchase made and all of my yarn swag packed up into my car, I then headed into the center of the town to Rachel K’s Bakery where I had arranged to meet up with my friend, Jodi, whom I hadn’t seen in many years.

It was wonderful to see Jodi, and it was as if we had seen each other just last week rather than twenty years ago. We caught up as much as we could over sandwiches and cookies:

and then we continued our chat as we walked along the Pamlico River two blocks from the Bakery:

where we saw, among other things, these turtles basking in the sun:

Eventually, we each had to head for our respective homes, and while it was a very long day, it also was far too short.