Nomadic Knits knitting magazine's traveling office in front of grain storage bins

Washington or Bust!

As promised, a little update on my travels. Since leaving Florida on June 19th, the rolling yarn wagon and I have:

– traveled 2319 miles,

– driven through twelve states,

– slept in seven states

– at three wineries, two distilleries, an Airbnb, and a National Forest.

– I haven’t had a “real” shower in nine days, unless you count that super-sweet hair wash using a travel bidet (follow me for more amazing life hacks) and,

– oddly, life is feeling more normal than it has in months.

The world becomes smaller on the road. With fewer options, priorities become clearer; life is distilled down to a singular purpose. After the past months, the challenges of the road are a welcome reprieve.

After leaving Florida during a torrential downpour, I arrived late and spent my first night on the road at Horse Creek Winery in Sparks Creek, Georgia.

Horse Creek Winery
Sparks, Georgia

From there I drove almost 500 miles to the Dueling Grounds Distillery in Franklin, Kentucky. If you enjoy spirits, this is a great spot to stop. It’s also part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, so you can get your Craft Tour Passport stamped. I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for this kind of thing. Seeing that fresh passport stamp put a smile on my face. Or maybe it was the Linkumpinch Bourbon… 

Painted tractor in front of micro-distillery
Dueling Grounds Distillery
Franklin, Kentucky

On Sunday, I made my way to Fulton, Missouri where I stayed at the Serenity Valley Winery. The ducks were friendly, the wine was abundant, and I woke up to this amazing view. Serene, indeed.

Serenity Valley Winery
Fulton, Missouri

Monday was another 500 miles at the wheel, bringing me to Mac’s Creek Winery & Vineyard in Lexington, Nebraska. They had cider and sparkling wine on tap and a beautiful back porch to enjoy it on! I was able to snuggle some beautiful doggos that were visiting with their people. The next morning’s run took me through the cornfields and the only other humans I saw were atop giant pieces of farm equipment, politely waving as I ran by.

Mac’s Creek Winery & Vineyard Lexington, Nebraska

I took my time packing up, as it was just a short 240 miles to Pine Bluffs Distillery in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, population 1129. I practically had the place to myself and had a great time tasting their products and chatting with the makers.

Pine Bluffs Distillery
Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

As a woman who spends a lot of time traveling solo, I get quite a few questions about what I’m up to. Inevitably it comes around to what I do for work.  

“So you create a knitting magazine?” Yep!

“What’s in a knitting magazine? Do you sell sweaters?” Well, you can’t buy the sweater, but the magazine contains the knitting pattern for the sweater, and I’d be happy to give you a list of amazing local yarn shops and indie yarn dyers who would be happy to sell you some yarn.

“So, like, you offer knitting magazine subscriptions?” Yes. Yes, we do! 

“And you travel the country stopping at yarn shops and visiting sheep?” That’s pretty much the gist of it.

I love the curious folks with a million questions. I’m the same way; I want to know all the things! So I’m happy to sit and talk about the amazing places we’ve gotten to see and the inspiring people we’ve been fortunate to meet along the way.

But my absolute favorite is running into fellow knitters and fiber-junkies❤️

They always have the best questions. One of my favorites is this: Where do you keep all the yarn??

This is generally accompanied by a look of concern that perhaps I have gotten rid of it all or *gasp* wasn’t carrying any with me. Not to worry! There is plenty of yarn in the van. Here’s how it works:

When space is at a premium, drastic measures must be taken. As much as I love living on the road, I’m not someone who is naturally inclined toward minimalism. I tend to be a bit of a magpie, collecting as I go. It’s a rarity for me to go for a walk or a hike and not come back with pockets full of stones and pinecones and flowers stuck in my hair. When I was little, it was lizards in my pockets. Fortunately for the lizards of the world, I eventually realized they probably didn’t love being in my pockets.

All of this to say, if you’ve seen photos of Denise Bayron’s (@bayronhandmade) gorgeous tiny-house, airy and full of lush green plants, I need you to picture my living situation as the opposite of that. Each nook and cranny is crammed with the remains of my stationary life that I couldn’t bear to part with, along with the little items (and yarn) I pick up along the way. And I stop at A LOT of yarn shops. Let that sink in. So. Much. Yarn.

On top of the yarn, I’m generally traveling with the garments from at least one issue of the magazine. I’ve found that IKEA travel bags work well for keeping everything safe and confined. I previously tried compression bags, but in the end, they didn’t work out. This time around I was VERY specific about what yarn I would bring. I actually planned out my entire year of projects and brought the exact yarn I would need, leaving room for a few purchases along the way.😍

It’s time for me to get back to layout work, so I’ll wrap up this episode of travel tales. 

Stay safe and be extra good to each other.

xo
Becky

PS: Be sure to check out our latest issue, Michigan, and sign up for a knitting magazine subscription or pick out a beautiful pom pom for your next hat!

 

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