At this point this letter comes out likely on Tuesday, maybe on Wednesday. A distracted ADHD moment got me this week 🙃
Remember last letter when I told you about the book that took over my life for 24 hours? Well, here was my view to top it off:
The heat was really bad in Bend, so we drove about an hour to get up in elevation and find some water, bringing it to a comfortable 70 degrees for the week ☀️
Our campsite was right on a gorgeous lake and was the only site that had flat enough parking for the camper (although I am shocked we were able to get Bruce to fit and level — we’re becoming practiced professionals at camp leveling 💀). Really the only downside to this campground: the bugs.
We discussed this last letter as well, but yep— the mosquitoes are out in full-force. At least we got refills for the Thermacell this time so we could actually be outside 🦟
Side note: Our Thermacell is one of the things I could not live without on the road. If mosquitoes love you, it is a must.
📍Willamette National Forest
I’ll be honest, it was a pretty uneventful week because we were exhausted from Overland Expo. My partner and I have definitely become more introverted since moving on the road, and a full weekend of non-stop socializing equated to a week-long recoup. Not a bad place to lay low, though 🙌🏼
Buuut after a week of working in the trees without a lot of solar power, our battery got pretty low — meaning Starlink stopped working. With it being 10am on a Friday, the internet going out meant we had to up and leave pretty abruptly (my partner has a typical 9-5). So we packed up camp and moved towards cell service for the rest of the work day.
Swimming + Sticks
It’s pretty incredible how many picnic bench + fire pit campsites there are in the middle of nowhere. They’re not the easiest to find, but there are more that exist than you’d expect. We found one of these dispersed campsites outside of Sisters, Oregon for the night, and it also happened to be next to a creek with a protected swimming area!
The dogs had a blast swimming and running (and eating sticks) and my partner had a blast finding dead crawdads in the creek 😂
We were only here one night but it’s for sure one to be pinned for future use!
📍Metolius Preserve
We’ve been hanging around the Bend for my partner’s cousin’s baby shower! So after celebrating her for the day in Bend, we headed to the coast 🌊
Art gallery install!
You were just on the Oregon Coast a few months ago — why are you back? I installed some work at an art gallery!
Over the last two months I’ve been working on putting together a coastal inspired collection of work for White Bird Gallery — one of the first galleries in Cannon Beach that’s regionally and nationally recognized. I’m so honored to be included among the incredible artists represented there!
The lead up to an installation is a lot of work, so my time on the beach was not spent physically on the beach (most of the days). Instead I was finishing the final few pieces, inventorying the 80+ pieces in the collection, labeling every piece with prices and SKUs, and packaging them for transport. It was a lot of really long days in a row, but the collection looks beautiful in the gallery and I’m so proud of the work!
📍251 N Hemlock St, Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Why is it so hard to take photos of jewelry cases?!
In between all the installation prep, Sadie got a much needed (diy) haircut, I went to the farmer’s market (something I wish we did more on the road), and I started a new book (The Priory of the Orange Tree — it’s good but not amazing, I may limp through the 800 pages).
After any big push with work, I crash immediately afterward. So my weekend was spent doing something completely unrelated to work aka hyper-fixating on one of my favorite hobbies: sewing. I don’t get to sew on the road (for obvious reasons) but I’ve been itching to start making my own clothes (thanks TikTok). I made three shirts over the weekend — one of which will probably go in the 🗑 but the other two are winners!
When we first moved into the camper, I brought cute clothes with me. And then I didn’t touch them for three months. So now most of my clothing consists of camping and hiking clothes which means my cute clothing (even in storage) is very limited. I’m going on an international trip soon (😉) and I don’t have a week’s worth of nice, lightweight outfits! So the linen shirts I whipped up this last weekend will come in handy —
Turns out when you thrift the material and don’t count the 6 hours it took to make, making your own clothes is much cheaper than buying them 🙃
It was really nice to tap into one of my creative hobbies again — it can be hard making your main creative output your job, so having creative hobbies outside of my business is really important to me. It brings new energy into my work and gives my brain the space it needs to think differently and reset! My creative mind loves to wander, so tapping into where it's motivated to roam is so refreshing and makes me so happy 🥰
Next letter
The coast is one of my favorite places — I love the smell and crisp air above all. It’s been really nice to reset the camper here, do some of my hobbies, get a sh*t ton of work done while enjoying the ocean views. This reset will bleed into next letter a bit, and then we’re heading up the coast back to Seattle + my partner and I are splitting ways for a few weeks —
I have some family health stuff coming up which will mean I’m in Seattle helping out until all is situated! My partner will be checking in, but will mainly be keeping the dogs out of the way and Bruce out of the city. Then we leave for an international trip! (More on this soon 😉)
So the next two months will be a little up in the air + all over the place — but I’ll be sure to bring you along for the fun stuff 🌟
The next few letters will likely include some Q&As so if you have any questions you’re interested in the answers of, let me know! Here’s what I’ve been asked lately + what I’ll *probably* be covering:
How does mail work on the road
The top 5 things I wouldn’t go without on the road
How we find camp
Why we chose a truck camper over a van
An easy, go-to recipe!
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And as always, thanks for reading 💕
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