Saturday, August 23, 2014

recharge!

Big Sur River Gorge. Rock jumping and plunging!

 Ocean walk on the backside of McWay Falls.

 McWay Falls.

Kite flying at Andrew Molera.

 Cecil on the 1:)

Looking up at the redwoods from our hammock.

My family and our trailer Cecil just got back from a week up in Big Sur. Pure magic. What an amazing place. Redwoods, rivers, ocean, dunes, and dirt roads. Really no cell service and it was so nice to disconnect. We saw elephant seals, pods of dolphins, and migrating whales! The kids fell asleep at bedtime in our hammock that was strung up between two redwoods:) I even locked the keys in the car and had to hitch hike a couple miles to get to a place with cell service.

I've got a few more days of vacation and then it's back to school, and I am relaxed and ready to roll. 

What a great summer of camping. 6 trips in all with Cecil in tow. I can actually back it up now;)


Sunday, August 17, 2014

still summerin:)



Still got a couple more weeks of vacation before school starts in September. It's been a hoot so far.

Since moving out to San Diego in the fall of 1999, my wife and I, and then wife, kids, and I have flown back east to visit family and friends for a week or two during the summer. This year, for the first time, we did not and while I very much miss our family and friends back east, I am very thankful for the summer we have had out here.

It's been full of day trips and beach camping and mountain camping. It's wonderful to wake up in the morning and take a short stroll to the Pacific, or to wake up and look over the bluff and see that mighty blue body.

I just put a retro paint design on our new old trailer, Cecil, in preparation for our final camping trip of the summer. It seems like whenever I do a mural or paint project in the summer, that the heat kicks up a notch... or 10.

I also volunteered to coach my son's soccer team. So, while I haven't been lesson planning for art classes, I have been lesson planning for our practices. It's been fun so far and it will be interesting to see how the season goes.

I've worked on a couple more vintage trailer drawings and one of them was selected for a group art show in San Diego at the end of the month. Low gallery and Planet Rooth design are collaborating to do the exhibit.

I also just found out that my classroom now has air conditioning! This will make going back to school so much more pleasant:)