Road trip

I took a little baby road trip yesterday to visit my friend Rhonda. She lives in Vandalia, IL and I had never been there. It was one dreary-ass day(why can't the sun shine here!?!?!) and I made terrific time driving, got out there in one hour, forty minutes which included a stop at Starbucks.

The billboards claimed Vandalia as a "historic" destination which Rhonda explained.......it was the first capital of Illinois. We did a little driving tour around town; Rhonda has lived there all her life except for college and her parents still live there plus I think maybe one of her sisters. It's a very small town but you can tell they are trying to hold on to some identity. The fast food spots (and the prerequisite Wal-mart) have arrived but are near the highway while the historic part of town is a few miles away, thank goodness for that.

Whenever I am in a small town I always get this itch to pick up and move, how crazy is that!?!? I have this ongoing fantasy that I am going to buy a very remote property with a scenic view(must involve water) so I can hole up and do my art all the time. Of course my alternate vision is the "loft in the city" scenario. Once again confirming that I do have at least two distinct personalities going on in my head.

Anyway, Rhonda has a wonderful spot. A darling little house set on the edge of a wooded area, right next to water. Huge screened porch, big deck, mega hot tub. Yum. And her studio is fabulous, why I didn't think to carry my camera I don't know, but it is big, open, funky - a separate building from the house complete with 2 dogs and 2 kittens. She does clay work and has several kilns including one that she built herself. It was so interesting to see how she works, the entire process is exotic since I know nothing about clay. I loved wondering around looking at all her stuff.

We just yacked and yacked, talked about everything, food, diet, exercise, art, decorating, relationships, you name it. Brainstormed a bit regarding the show circuit which was oh-so-helpful to me since I still consider myself a newbie in that arena while Rhonda is a seasoned professional. It was a terrific day.