Grandpa’s campsite, Turkey week, and back to the coast
Cozy season is here: Tea, cookies, fires, candles, and good books.
In under 10 words, that’s my best description of my ideal December. I love the holiday season. As a creative, I want to make everything — all of my gifts, all of my decorations, and every “from-scratch” recipe I can think of. As a small business owner, I struggle with balancing my creative energy between what I’m drawn to this time of year, versus what I should be doing for my business: marketing, sales, and making as much as I possibly can.
I guess the answer goes back to the should though. Anything in our minds as a should is created by an external force: cultural or societal expectation, or capitalism. So ultimately it’s freeing to let go of those should’s and do what feels right. But it can still be really hard not to compare, or feel the “what if”’s of not putting every ounce into my business when sales potential is high.
As I write this I’m still struggling with this balance, but I’m trying to give permission to let go, remind myself that the holiday season isn’t actually my busy season (and to stop letting external forces tell me otherwise), and to have fun during this magical time of the year.
Now that I’ve dumped my current overthinking topic on you, let’s recap the last few weeks:
Grandpa’s spot
My beloved Grandpa passed while my partner and I were in the beginning phases of building out our rig. He was a gear head just like my partner, so talk of the truck specifically was a favorite topic. He also loved to camp, backpacking in his younger years, then building a teardrop trailer to travel from, then recently purchasing a Casita RV — a gradual transition to accommodate his and my Grandma’s needs.
Prior to deciding to move on the road, my partner built a teardrop box-style trailer from scratch. We had gone on a few trips with it (which ultimately helped convince us to live on the road full-time) and every time we talked about our camping trips my Grandpa asked if we’d ever been to the Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon. Any conversation about camping past that (and into us deciding to move into a truck camper), he would always bring up this refuge and say we needed to go.
So as we moved from northwestern Nevada into Oregon, it was the perfect opportunity to see Grandpa’s spot. We spent about 4 days here, in the coziest campsite along a stream —
I spent two of those days reading all day long. It was my way of taking a day off after the madness that was launching a huge collection of jewelry to my website. A few days with nothing but a good book can do wonders to reset me!
I will say it was *cold* though. And windy. So the first day I spent cuddled up in the hammock with lots of layers on, a Rumpl, and a Squish (Sacha) —
The second day was spent in front of a fire with lots of layers on and a Rumpl I may have burned a few holes in 🫢
The remaining two days I got some work done for consignment + wholesale to restock brick and mortars for the holidays! It’s always a guessing game for what will sell, but I try to restock everything to full-inventory as best I can entering gifting season.
Unfortunately it was a bit too cold for hot springing here — the wind was a little too nippy and the walk a little too far for the gander home to be worth the dip!
It was a beautiful area though so I understand why Grandpa raved about it. I like to believe the gorgeous sunset on our trip out of the refuge was Grandpa saying hello 💛
Our final day on the road
Our final day on the road until the new year was an overnight stay at a hot spring + RV park. It was the perfect way to wrap the last 3 months on the road. 107 degree pools with a view of the surrounding mountains + prairie, and unlimited hot water to wash dishes.
After 5 hour drive the next day, we were back in Portland. Here enters the saga of many travels between Seattle and Portland for the remainder of the year!
🦃 Week
I finished up the wholesale + consignment pieces during my brief time in Portland, then left my partner and the dogs behind to travel to Seattle by train for the Thanksgiving holiday. I snuck in a market, restocked Venue — a brick and mortar store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, and baked.
The thing I miss most when living in the camper is baking. I love to bake — it’s one of my creative outlets, and the camper has a terrible oven. It does the job, but any baking requires rotating the pan every 3-5 minutes to *maybe* prevent the bottom of whatever you’re baking from burning.
I have always loved baking — so much so that between the ages of 8 and 10 I “ran” a bakery out of my playhouse. I would spend all summer planning the grand opening with my business partner (next door neighbor) and would invite all of the neighbors. We’d set up tables and chairs, have menus, drinks, and 5-10 baked goods ready for purchase. We even had a little jingle. (Creative business has always been in my blood)
So to say I was stoked to be in a kitchen again is an understatement. Between work I made sugar cookies, pie, and started the dehydrated sourdough starter that’s been sitting in the cupboard for over a year.
Turkey day was spent at my aunts house with two sets of grandparents, my parents, and four “kids”. A family meal done by 3 for the grandparents to drive home before dark, games following amongst the young eyed folk, and a second helping of turkey for dinner. And my gluten-free pie was added to the clean plate club 🌟
After a week spent with family, lots of miscellaneous work, baking, and seeing friends squeezed in-between, I headed back to Portland with the sourdough starter in hand.
Back to the coast
A day in Portland, then driving Bruce (the camper + truck) and the family to the Oregon Coast. All of our stuff is stored on the Oregon Coast, so you could consider it our home base. We have some winter prep to do on the camper, summer/winter clothes to switch out, some Christmas gifts to make, and of course — baking 😉.
The sourdough starter was not active enough yet to make bread, nor active enough to throw in the fridge when I left Seattle. So I’ve been carrying it around with me to have it ready in time for Christmas! I am craving a fresh loaf of sourdough, so I’m hoping it will be ready soon.
Next letter
I attempt to have a last minute online holiday restock, stock consignment even more, make Christmas gifts, and hopefully have a loaf of bread. Also — a holiday playlist, my favorite cookie recipes, and a holiday gift guide 👀
There won’t be a whole lot of travel on here until the new year, so let me know if you have any content requests or questions I can answer!
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As always, thanks for reading 💛
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