Oh, Mexico! 2010

Bahia de Conception

We went to Mexico this winter, drove down hauling our ’62 Cardinal travel trailer.  Our 2 year old is now a road trip pro and we have figured out her limits, when to stop, when to nap, when to buy new toys. We mostly drove up the Baja peninsula. She had a fear of oceans in Cabo, so we found a quite beach locale without waves and called it an Ocean Lake. She seemed convinced and we spent the afternoons collecting shells. Read more »

Festival Baby

I don’t remember going to music festivals as a kid. I do remember going to a Pete Seeger show and maybe an Oktoberfest, but not quite a festival. This year, I decided to take my little Vintage Clothing business The Style Revival on the road and with me, the whole family.

Crestone Music Festival ’09 in Crestone, Colorado. We were prepared because I had done flea markets so there wasn’t much prep work, but since I would be facepainting too, we needed grandma to come watch our daughter while we worked all day. We parked our little camper behind the booth so she could nap and kept lots of extra food nearby so as not to have to rely on festival food.

Thank goodness my mother-in-law was there. I don’t think we could have juggled it alone. We met the other vendors nearby and there families. We played with the hula hoops, danced to the reggae and bluegrass, ate pizza and just had an all around good time. Other than the late night freezes that weekend while camping, it went pretty smoothly.

I decided I want to do it again next year and maybe even try a couple more festivals. As my daughter gets older, she’ll be able to run off and play with the other festival kids without me having to worry about her. It is a temporary way for me to mimic a communal lifestyle for us and allow her to be exposed to music and culture while enjoying a family camping weekend together.

West Coast Road Trip ’09- Eugene, Oregon

After Crater Lake, we headed for Eugene, Oregon and landed at the very cool Eugene Whiteaker Hostel.

Great Hostel

We splurged on a room there to be decadent for Father’s Day and, since our camper was parked in a camp site, stayed in the camp site the second night. The Whiteaker hostel composts, recycles and grows some of their food. Hostels are always a great place to meet fellow gypsies. Read more »

West Coast Road Trip ’09- Week 3

After climbing a volcano, I was ready for some serious relaxation. Since we have a hot tub at home, we are spoiled, and all I could think about was soaking in some hot water. That is when we found the wonderful and quirky Stewart Springs Resort, a historic clothing-optional mineral bathhouse in the mountains of northern Cali, east of I5.  They were very cool about having a kid. I had anticipated the possibility of having to trade off bath time with my hubby, but we ended up being able to spa simultaneously. Read more »