Abilene...

So here we are in Abilene, Texas. We've had a long day, we left Dallas about 8 this morning and drove to San Angelo to secret shop a furniture store and then onto Abilene to secret shop another store. We stopped along the way a few places but by far my favorite was Buffalo Gap, TX. We ate at this fabulous BBQ place called the Barbecue Barn and then stopped at this pottery shop that just took my breath away. Totally inspired by an artist who has made a living his entire life off of selling his art, it's beautiful. He does the pottery and his wife does the glazing, what a combo!! So following this wonderful mans advice we headed to the little town square and checked out the museum. I am a sucker for museums, I love history. The guy in there was about to close in 30 min and said well I can't really sell you a ticket but go ahead and check out what you want to. SCORE!!!! So I notice the print shop, guess who went running to it??!?! Yes, especially after mentioning my post last night... here's a few things we saw....

LINOTYPE MACHINE
Can you imagine sitting at this machine to write an entire newspaper or book daily...
wow, unbelievable piece of machinery.

this is the entire machine....

the beautiful little chapel, I loved the smell... it smelled OLD

I was mesmerized by the Linotype machine and gave Marcus a huge break down of how, and what and why this machine was used. (Someone paid attention in history of graphic arts class) To see one in person in full working order that you could touch, smell, use, and appreciate I was just over the moon. It was a beautiful place I wish we had more time to stay and enjoy it.

Tomorrow morning we head out, we will be leaving and driving to Oklahoma to do ANOTHER secret shop for the furniture store. So 3 hours there, and about 3 hours to get home. I am just itching to get home and work on my type tray. Of course along the way I have been looking for scrapbook stores or art stores, NOTHING!! It's so sad so many of these great places have gone under in the last few years.

I look forward to next weekend when we head to Houston and get to go to the store in Friendswood that I have always wanted to go to. Even though I made the pact with myself, NO MORE CRAFT SUPPLIES!!! The only thing I will bend the rule for is adhesive.

Let's hope we get home at a good time tomorrow so we can head to Plano for the annual hot air balloon launch! Good times!!