Last month I experienced a little "adventure in crafting" that I wanted to share. My experience begs the question: How far are you willing to go for your crafts? Here's how far I ended up going!


The Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival was slated to be held June 6-7, and in spite of the high cost of gas, a nice summer drive and some fiber shopping sounded like a great way to spend the day. Since we were having some interesting weather, I checked the forecast on Friday for my Saturday trip and saw that I could expect occasional thunderstorms. I knew that at least part of the festival was indoors, and a little rain never scared me off of a shopping trip, so I decided to stick to my plans. Well...


When I started out Saturday morning, it was raining very lightly in Cincinnati, but the weather channel said the area I was heading for was clear. Over the course of my 2 hour drive, the rain got worse and worse, to the point where I could barely see the road! However, as I got within a half hour of my destination the rain slowed considerably and soon I was only driving in a light drizzle. As I pulled off of the highway and struck out on the country route that would take me to the festival, I was fairly confident of a day of fun ahead of me. As I continued to drive, though, I found myself fording small creeks running across the road. The farther I went, the wider and stronger these runoff creeks became. Finally, I reached Franklin, Indiana, a town that is just before the fairgrounds I was heading for.


I had to ford a fairly large bit of water to get into town, but I made it just fine. I drove through town, but on the other side of town... the road was blocked. The water was too high to drive through. By now it was lunch time, so I was happy to stop in town for lunch and wait for the water to drop so I could get across to the festival.


After lunch, I was dismayed to find that the water on the road toward the festival had risen, not dropped, and that there was no westward exit out of town that wasn't flooded. Reluctant to turn back after coming so far, I nevertheless decided it was time to give up and head home. So, I drove east through town to find that the way I  had taken into town was also blocked by water--and so was every other entrance and exit to the 16-square-block area that made up downtown Franklin, Indiana! I was trapped! When I started to hear rumors that the current water would take 24-48 hours to lower enough to make leaving possible, I got nervous. When I heard that 4 more inches of rain were expected overnight, I got VERY nervous. When I found out that the area I was trapped in had no hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, etc., I was a wreck! I was miles from home with only my car, the clothes on my back and a cooler with 2 sodas!


Now, I was in quite a predicament, but sadly, many of the residents of Franklin were suffering major losses due to the flooding. The area was declared to be in a state of emergency and the National Guard and Red Cross started showing up. The Red Cross did set up a shelter for the people displaced by the flooding, but it was OUTSIDE the area I was trapped in! As the day wore on, it became clear that my only choice seemed to be to sleep in my car in the 80-90 degree weather. Fortunately for me, in spite of the many losses they had suffered, the people of Franklin, Indiana are very kind people, and a wonderful couple took mercy on me and offered me a room in their home for the night. I cannot say enough about how wonderful and gracious everyone I encountered was! Anyone who found out that I was trapped far from home was so kind and helpful, and helped to find me a place to stay that wasn't already filled by one of the displaced locals.


Luckily, that overnight rain did not show up, and the waters were cleared away by morning, so I was able to head back home. I've never been so grateful to drive in to my driveway in my life! The worst part, of course, was that I didn't even get to shop for any fiber! Just kidding.


So that's my story--how far have you gone for your crafts?