Soldotna, Alaska

Good morning, my friends. It was a short drive to our next stop at Soldotna (prounounced Sole-DOT-na with the "dot" like polka dot). We have two nights here...one now. 

Here's what the Milepost tells us about Soldotna.

We'd planned to do our week's grocery shopping after we got set up. It seemed as good a time as any to visit the quilt shop. This was a weird visit for so many reasons. For one thing, the quilt shop is located in a shopping mall. This confused our nav unit, and it had us driving behind a strip mall where the dumpsters and loading docks are located...all the way around to the front of the mall. Finally, I spotted the sign.

Walking inside, I found it right away.

This quilt was hanging in the front window. Cute.

Walking in the front door, it looked like this:

This shop was heavy with Alaska-themed prints. The whole wall below was Alaska-themed batiks. I've seen this line of fabrics in every quilt shop I've visited.

Here were more Alaska-themed prints on regular quilters cotton.

Here are some more over here.

Continuing on...this line of ombres.

Over here, solids in all colors.

I liked these as a filler or a blender. If I'd had something in mind for them, I might have chosen one. But since I didn't...then, what color? I passed.

These rolls were 3 yards of fabric for $30...so, $10 per yard. Some had more than one fabric rolled up inside. Nothing there called out to me.

Toward the back of this room...Christmas fabrics. I hurried away, averting my eyes.

These were some stripes and polka dots.

More solid colors over here.

Some novelty prints here.

I had the feeling the store might have just expanded into an adjacent space. This whole room was open, and someone asked if they would be adding more fabric here. Yes, was the answer. Also, those long-arms (there is a second one on the left) always make me think this is a long-arm business with a side hustle of a quilt shop. Or maybe it's the other way round.

Fourth of July prints here. Sheesh...coming right up. We'll be in Anchorage for that.

Over here were some cute patterns for stuffed animals.

There was a nice supply of rulers and notions.

So, I walked out with my 6th and final fabric to finish off my Shop Hop quilt. I chose these eagles for the eagles we'd seen in Homer. It has mountains in the background too, and so it was an easy choice.

Here's where things started getting a little weird. The woman cutting my fat quarter and cashing me out asked:

Her: Have you done any fishing?

Me: No, no fishing.

Her: Why?

Me: I'm not a fisherperson.

Her: Why don't you like fishing?

Me: I have other interests (wondering silently if fishing is a mandatory activity in these parts)

Her: What are your other interests?

Me: Quilting, embroidery, reading, photography, travel...lots of things.

Okay, and so there the conversation took a turn. She asked for my phone number, and I gave it without thinking about it too much. Then, she typed it into her computer. 

Her: First name?

Me: Barbara 

Her: (types it into her computer) Last name?

Me: Why do you need that? 

Her: Goes into a long-winded explanation about how if I want to quibble about something I can even say I'm looking right at the receipt, and they can look it up using my phone number and name, and it's for their protection and mine...blah, blah, blah

Me: Look, I'm buying a fat quarter for $3.50. There won't be any quibbling.

Her: I have to put it in the computer.

Me: (I give my last name and spell it and then I say...) I've visited quilt shops all over the country. No one has ever asked me for so much information. 

Her: Well, you haven't visited the biggest quilt shop in the country. 

Me: (Silently wondering, does she actually think this is the biggest quilt shop in the country? It's not...not by a long shot. And, actually, I've been to Missouri Star Quilt Company, which I'd bet money is the biggest quilt shop in the country.) 

Saying nothing more, I pick up my fat quarter and leave. Weird. I'm kind of sorry it'll be my last quilt shop visit this trip. I might have to visit another just to get the bad taste out of my mouth. And all of that to say, if you're in Soldotna, don't visit this shop. It's weird.

Okay, so shaking off that bit of frustration (nobody died, by the way, although someone was on thin ice), we headed to the nearby Petco.

Now you might think we were there for cat toys. No. We were there to find a different litterbox. Poor Smitty is too big for the one we've been using. The only place to keep the litterbox in this truck camper is in the shower. (And yes, I'm grateful for a shower in a truck camper.) Because space in the shower is limited, we have a small litterbox with a lid. Smitty is too tall, and just too big for it, and we've had some problems I won't describe because of it. So, we found the largest litterbox we could find that would fit the space. It's deeper and has no cover, and it seems to be working better for both large and small cats.

From there...an oasis in the desert. Our hometown grocery store, where I can find the things I expect to find. Nevertheless, I'm just going to say there are some crazy and reckless shopping cart drivers in this town. That's probably all you need to know.

And phew. Between the weird quilt shop and the crazy shopping cart drivers, that was a stressful outing. Smitty and I got outside when we got back. He munched on the grass. I told him everything that just happened. He's a good listener. He never interrupts, and he never gives advice.

So we have one day of sight-seeing here in Soldotna. The visitor center for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is located here.

There are a couple of short hikes I have my eye on. Also there's a Homestead Museum that sounds interesting. We'll make a stop there as well. We're expecting a sunny day, and so we'll get out and enjoy it while we can. Our morning will be slow. We've had our breakfast, and Mike has gone back to bed. Seems like a good time for some slow-stitching.