Summer Vacation Part 3

Bob Shotten of Wrexham, North Wales gave me the next two threads. I worked on this one shortly after boarding the train for the return trip. I started it near Mendota, Illinois and finished before coming into La Junta, Colorado. The thread is Rubi Size 10. The pattern is from the April 1963 Workbasket. The pattern called for a tie and cut between each element. I tried to rework it so I wouldn't have to do that, but my first attempt didn't come out quite right as you can see. My second attempt did a little better, but it involved doing a lot of split chain work over several lengths between isolated rings. I finally gave up and called it good.

This piece was started after a brief stop in La Junta, Colorado and finished near Lamy, New Mexico. The thread is Oren Bayen Size 20 The pattern is from the February 1963 Workbasket.


This is one of my older threads. I got it from Georgia Seitz during the 2008 IOLI in Rockford, Illinois and finally got around to using it. It is Lizbeth Size 20 Color 120. The pattern is from the May 1982 Workbasket and I tatted it from Lamy, New Mexico to Gallup, New Mexico.

In contrast to our trip east on the train, the trip back west was running about 3 1/2 hours behind schedule. Just outside of Kansas City, Missouri, one of the coach cars developed an overheated bearing and had to be dropped off. I didn't really mind too much. Rather than waking up at a really early hour to get off the train in Fullerton at 6:00 am, John and I were able to eat a leisurely breakfast before detraining.

Would we take the train again? If time is not an issue - absolutely. It was very relaxing, we saw a lot of the countryside, and there was no security to deal with. There were a few downsides, though. The shower only stays on for 2 seconds after you push the button, so the water never got warm. Also, during the night, they crank the speed up to close to 90MPH, so you feel every bump and rattle from the tracks. I finally had to knock myself out with some antihistamine to get some sleep. Otherwise the bunks were very comfortable. The food in the dining car would compare favorably with what you’d get at a chain restaurant. The food wasn't the same quality that you would get on a cruise ship, but it was better than you could get at a Denny’s and the deserts were great.