Hop Shopping

Because I wasn't a "quilter" in Maine, I'm not sure if they have the quilting event called a Shop Hop. These marathons are very big here with one about every other month. A shop hop is a coordinated effort by an area's quilt stores to get customers in to buy stuff. Quilters are very good at buying stuff whether they need it or not. So, at one of the Wednesday meetings, my partner in crime, Julie (she got me into quilting) and another partner, Susan decide to spend a day hopping from shop to shop. This particular shop hop is in the northern East Bay area and goes to places I've never been - a bit like Star Trek. I offer to drive - I have a comfy car, I want to learn my way around the area, I have Garmin Nuvi so we won't get lost, I'm a control freak - all the usual reasons. Now, the newspaper that describes the shop hop lists the 23 - that's right, 23 - stores that are participating. The store farthest north is in Winters and the farthest south is in Hilmar. I realize that you nonNoCals have no IDEA where these places are. And neither do I. But Google Maps says that it is 150+ miles between these towns and would take 2.5+ hours to just drive from one to the other with no stops. So you can see, that covering ALL 23 stores will be a real task. So the stores have spread the fun over 2 weekends (they count Thursday through Sunday as a weekend). We will only spend one day hopping. To do this efficiently, I spend several hours mapping our route. You would think that this is a military campaign. And it is, a bit. The newspaper gives you hints on how to have a "successful shop hop": #1 Do your homework, plan your trip. CHECK! #2 Save gas, carpool. CHECK! #3 Snacks! (they put in the exclamation point, seriously!) CHECK! #3 Map, the newspaper has a small nondetailed map in it. CHECK! #4 Simplify, bring preprinted address labels CHECK! #5 Laugh, have fun along the way. CHECK! And something that they DON'T mention but that every Hopper knows, is a large bag to carry all your purchases in. And in this bag is the LIST of all the stuff you think you need to finish ALL the projects you collected from the last Shop Hop but haven't finished. AND little bits of the fabric from these projects that you need to match or find or just want to hold for security. So, here's how it works...... you go to the first store on your itinerary. There, they have you register (hence, the address label so you don't waste time WRITING when you could be SHOPPING) and you get a "passport" with all the stores on it. Each time you arrive at a store, you get the passport stamped. At the last store you go to, you turn the passport in. All TOTALLY COMPLETED passports - yes, that's a passport with 23 stamps - are put in for a drawing. The Grand Prize this year is.... get this.... (and I'm quoting from the newspaper) $100 Gift Certificate from EACH OF THE 23 SHOPS ON THE HOP! So once you have purchased stuff at all the stores and traveled miles and miles and hours and days and you win...... you get to do it all over again! Oh boy!! The second and third prizes are $50 and $25 gift certificates at each store..... Hmmmmm. Each shop also has a basket put together with "goodies" - fabric, books, patterns, notions, tea, cookies, candy (quilters LOVE to snack). When you enter the store and get stamped, you fill out your name and phone number (not your address - so you need ANOTHER set of labels or you are forced to waste time writing) and put your ticket in a box for the basket. We were told at one store that some hoppers come in, get stamped, put the ticket in the box, get the goodie bag and leave for the next store. Cheaters!! Where is the fun in that? No idle browsing through racks and racks of books, patterns, notions. No fondling of bolts and bolts of fabric. No chit chatting with the store owners and other hoppers. I know that this goes on because I heard funny noises coming from an aisle of bolts behind me. When I peaked around the corner, a woman was slowly running her hand up and down a length of fabric and making little moaning noises. SERIOUSLY! And Susan sat by the cash register at every store and chatted up the owner about all the details of her life and business. And Julie examined every pattern in every store.... well, almost every pattern. Now, about the goodie bag... when you arrive at a store, you are sent to the Shop Hop check-in desk. At the desk, you get stamped, register for the basket and get a small bag full of stuff. It's a bit like trick-or-treating for quilters. The bag may contain little bits of fabric (I'm talking 3"x3"), candy (of course), bumper stickers, business cards with discount coupons for your next visit, a quilt pattern for a block that is part of the the BIG Shop Hop Quilt that each store made. Most of us just put each little bag in our big bags, giggling that we would open them all when we got home tonight. The fun never ends....
On the appointed day, the ladies arrived at my house. We decided not to be too crazy about this and start at a decent hour.... So we got on the road at 10:30am. FIRST SHOP HOP NO NO. You MUST start early to get the maximum number of stores in for the day.  I decided to start with the 2 stores in Fremont - 20 minutes away - so we could jump right in. What I didn't realize, is that each store has snacks at each check-in sight. Oooooo, Sure I'll have one of those brownies as I shop. I was feeling a bit peckish. When hopping with a group, it is important to have good hopping manners..... even if you get through the store in 5 minutes, you don't hold onto the store's door handle tapping your foot while the rest of your hoppers chat and peruse and fondle. So I did the store again...... and again..... But once we had been in 2 stores, I got my rhythm and was better behaved. And I did have my list and my bits of fabric. By lunch time (yes, we were hungry despite the brownies and other snacks - after all, hopping is hard work!), we were ready to sit and talk about projects and fondle purchases (lots of fondling in this group) and eat yummy food in a strange town. And then the next store had carrot cake! Perfect for after lunch...
Finally, it was 5:30 PM and we had been to Fremont-Fremont-Danville-Concord-Martinez-Antioch-Brentwood. Susan was pushing for Livermore (it's just down this road and on our way home!). But, alas, all good things must come to an end and the Hop stores closed at 6pm. We got to Livermore at 6:10pm. So we joined commuter traffic and headed home. But there was still the goodie bag adventure to look forward to.....AND the next Shop Hop! I''m starting to plan the route all ready!