Jumping in the lake

the moon was crescent....and it had a small nose... so we packed the Winnie and drove to the lake.

The first evening meal cooked over a fire outside.....was an organic mess of spinach, and kale, an organic avocado, a cherry tomato from our garden,  and a simple oil and rice vinegar, a hippie vegetarian burger, and olive bread....requisite martini.....

some fried potatoes and sweet potatoes to eat for breakfast.....
cast iron pan......good all the time.

time for some relaxation.....plug in the computer and work on some pictures for this weeks listings on etsy..... yep. that's my penguin and beach ball towel, and the swim shorts drying in the sun.......

kick off your shoes.........you're camping!

take a walk with the dog in the tall doug firs.....

the Winnie in the woods......

Washington Parks & Recreation brass marker.....GPS?

Ahhhh....the lake. old tree roots. real old log..... I waded in....and swam. It was one of the things that I must do in the summer...so on a day of 92 degrees, we chose well.....and were at the lake.....perfect for a summer afternoon dip........

it's a 1930s New Deal CCC camp so there is a lot of natural log buildings and signs....and, quite a few stone steps to the lake from the picnic areas........Warmth and comfort that is missing from todays city parks with their cheezy "Water spray features" and corporate Subway "food" concessions.....

more pics to come......it was a gorgeous trip......warm, delicious and my goodness, the neighbors......

 and what was listed when we returned?

2 60s mod dresses..... a couple of 70s dresses......

and a pair of vintage riding boots.......by 9West, size 7.

1920s Camp, Moonrise and the Winnie

sentimental about a camp in the woods....growing up in Northern California among the tall pines and ancient redwoods, with birds darting around the branches, with needles and dry grass under my feet...
I went to camp 2 summers in row as a kid....you know, kinda like Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom.......





I despise those slick and fancy Disney-Fake "resorts"...I hate phony cutesy fake and corporate. So, I was thrilled to find a small RV park that had what I wanted....electricity, hot water, and the Pacific Ocean, and not much more...oh wait, these days I want wi-fi.
(sidebar--State Parks usually don't have wi-fi...wtf? what year is this? is this America?) so, yes, my buying trip was divine ...except Astoria. Fuck you Astoria.

The reason this camp looks like an old-timey 1920's church camp is because it was. Now, it's privately owned and it is simple in its services, clean all around, with the niceties of life.
Simple square buildings, lots of trees with roots that are breaking thru the minimum of asphalt road that winds in a loop around the park.
There's a huge outdoor sink to clean your clams and oysters if you dig some....and hot showers. You know what I say...I can stand almost anything if there is a hot shower at the end of it.....
It did have a pool, a hot tub, and 6 block walk to the Pacific Ocean. The owners have kept it simple and kept the homey feel. There is no, and I mean no, fancy stuff here. It is perfect.

I think people who need fake-fun are people who can't think for themselves....I can. I can amuse myself. I can read a book, I can write a book, I can make a daisy chain, I can ride my bike, I can lay on a blanket on the beach, or I can wander into a tiny bookstore, or stop off in a little tavern and have a cold beer. I can wander around town and enjoy the lovely summer gardens.
Which is not to say, I dismiss movies or a baseball game....but I don't need a 24/7 fun fun fun time.

I added a few new things to the Winnie....I tacked a vintage Trees of Mystery paper sign I got on my bumper during a family vacation a few years back. When you stop to see the big Redwoods, the staff wires the cardboard sign, yellow with Big Block letters in red....one on the front bumper, and one on the back! It's pretty funny, and now you know why, when traveling thru Northern California, why so many cars and RVs have these cardboard signs on the bumpers. Free Advertising!

and just above it is the vintage version of the Trees of Mystery fabric pennant....
 you can see Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox !

Laying sideways in the back bed with my little traveling library and Tom Cat, my etsy avatar. I now own just a few of  the entire Peg Bracken library.

a vintage San Francisco pennant...I told ya...I wanna decorate like this is a cabin in the Northern California woods near the beach, and I want to make Ralph Lauren cry.  Nobody on Pinterest repins any pictures of my Winnie interior....most people want white interiors, chevrons and modern owls, or signs that say "Believe" or "Dream".  I'm going with the 1920s cabin thing.

I got to try out my dishwashing station...it was fun! I wet a sponge and drip some hippie dish soap on it, then rub and scrub the dishes and set them down soapy. Then, I turn on the water in a slow drip to rinse the dishes and then lay them on the towel to dry, or dry them with a towel and put them away....

After dinner, after a walk around town with the doggie, we came back to Home Sweet Winnie....the lovely moonlight, clear sky, the tall black evergreens.
Time to get a good nights sleep, for tomorrow we drive to Oregon and to the shipwreck and dunes.

buy this Zion National Park Pennant






buy this photo of a motley crew of women and men with guns and hiking sticks and a can for huckleberries?






buy this Cabin Camp Blanket

It's Over !

the Christ-mas calendar says it's over.....which is only partly true. for me, the year begins at the winter solstice and not in a nature-religion kind of way....it just is what's the real thing. The Earth. The Moon ...and the stars.
A West coast girl I've always been, and a West coast girl I will always be.
There's always changes going on...Once the kids grew up, I knew I'd be leaving Washington state...the  good thing I can say about Washington is that I-5 goes south.

I've been looking for a motorhome ....an RV. I  know what I want ...so I just have to find it. At first I thought, for the last 42 years, I wanted a trailer to pull behind a truck. But.. Knowing that all dreams, plans and  journeys are not always pleasant.....

I have always wished for a big decrepit house on an acre or so. That's all. Nothing special. Now, I know that will never happen. The world has changed so much in the last 5 years and it won't be set right again in my lifetime. All the hard work done by my parents and grandparents, The New Deal, has been destroyed.

The whole reason we can even buy a RV and drive it around, is because people pay taxes and build roads, parks, fund Highway Patrol/Police so we can feel safe...So that we don't become Mexico with 100% corrupt politicians and police, and drug-infested cartels that roam the cities and country and murder hundreds of people a month...and don't forget. Poverty. So thanks for voting for the very people, the Republicans, and their failure in letting "the market" control goodness, those that hate community and the Social Contract, and everything good about America. Except profit.

So....on to the search for the right RV. I'll come back to the RV chat many times. So much to know! Looking for one and I'll know it when I see it !

an RV in tiny versions....a  tootsie toy

...Here's some sweet pics from around the interwebs of inspiring rvs and nice interiors. It's important to know what I don't want....no cutesy, no Marilyn/Betty Boop/words of Inspiration decals/no Coca-cola/no Diner....So Done..Done! Also, I love authentic vintage decor....but I don't want that.....day after day after day after day.....

(look at grandma vacuum!) photo from


More like the way I decorate in my home.....

Winnebago RV made in Iowa.

Even Barbie likes to RV it !







so the huge plaids and dirty orange carpets will be the first to get tossed out. Also, say bye bye to the built-in dinette benches and fold up half-table. Out!  A real couch, and a real table with real chairs. Add in a composting toilet, then the propane oven and the stove top will go too...Only a heater will remain...to run on propane maybe. Very little cooking will happen in my portable home. I'll use a camp stove...or cook outside.  ....And solar panels will be added to be able to boondock more, rather than always be tied to an RV park...tho I've got nothing against them at all. I love them!!

I've been doing a lot of research.
folks who RV full-time seem to break down into 4 groups:
1)A lot of Christians/Mormons. Jesus wants you to live in mobile home.
2)Bums. Homeless. The Slabs.
3)Retired old people. Retired young people. (yuppies who have kicked the corporate job/or fired with a nice package)
4)Hippies. Weirdos. The Self-employed.

For seeing how the middle class and yuppie types in general do the trailer thing,
.....you can go here: Tin Can cottage Blog
for a jumping off spot to see the cutesy wootsey kind of campers and trailers and generally man-repeller design. As cute as my Xmas cards.

Here's a cute trailer...Light on over-decoration.....Darcy and Paul's Shasta. yes, a man lives here too! 

So while the vintage Trailer bunch is growing in popularity, and is quite huge with trailer meets and such............the vintage RV group is more sedate and more male. ....but, it is growing ....More people are finding the vintage RV's and motorhomes and fixing them up, and beginning to attract a younger crowd, and more folks with kids. I think the extra  room and the ideal of living in them full time is a big draw.
Even the websites......are vintage 1997!
Dedicated to classic Winnies and vintage RVs

Great RV forum

so our last camping trip was the best ! and including the car camping trip to California last September.
tho the tent...is comfy but now that we're getting older, we want a unit that's self-contained. We want to  pull up to a spot and have it all at hand. No more setting up the tent, unpacking, blowing up the bed, getting out the camp stove, the ice chest, the folding table and chairs......I do love my tent, and my pretty bed....

the inside is always cute and cozy......just the way I like it !

Shifted Into Neutral

Why am I in a cabin kind of mood? I need a vacation, that's why.
and that's why I made a cabin display in the shop......I want to sit in a cozy living room with a fireplace, I want to drink a boozy cinnamon hot tea, I want to have a stack of books sitting beside me.



I want to hear the chickadees sing, I want to hear a wooden rocker creak, and I want to bake some bran muffins......




I want to wear leather boots, I want to wrap myself in a warm wool blanket, I want to watch the evergreens sway in the breeze.

Well, tough luck on that...at least for awhile...;-)

So, I found a Cynthia Steffe corset dress...in black.

and a leather briefcase banged up just the way I like it.





some crumpled vanilla wrapping paper, many copies of The Stranger Genius issue...
a very vintage Irish hotel laundry basket



my wood Nordstrom hanger, old wood yardsticks, leather brouges, fringe moccasins and a leather tote bag.





Some of these will be listed on etsy in the next few days.....
And some wool camp blankets, and an Indian print blanket. Some safari dresses and linen.
What got me going was this man-selection I'm sure.

These are up at etsy right now!
30s - 40s A-2 leather jacket...



Red and Black plaid Woolrich vintage jacket.



Red Wing leather vintage work boots.



Air Force N 2B vintage hooded jacket with real fur.