Birthday Travels

This weekend is the husband's birthday. Last year I threw a surprise party AT OUR HOUSE. It was a success if you count that it truly was a surprise and he had no idea about the party. On the other hand, it just about killed me. I can't keep those kinds of secrets from D. Plus getting this place in order without him knowing why I had become so incredibly crazed was something I only want to experience once.

This year there will be far less fanfare, sort of.

We are hitting the road on his birthday for a two week adventure up the coast of California into Oregon -- because we can! (Plus one in the homeschool column.) I can't think of a better way to follow up a surprise birthday bash with all your favorite people than hopping in the car before sunrise with your wife, three kids and thirteen year old lab to drive and drive and drive some more. Can you?!

Last Christmas I picked up this great travel book from Anthropologie for my adventure man. I knew D would love to hit the road in a camper one day and I thought this book was charmingly inspiring for our sentiments. At the time we didn't have any plans to acquire such a treat. We just like traveling and I planned to use the book to chronicle our family trips.

Fast forward almost a year later and we have ourselves a sweet little pop up camper. It's a little brady bunch on the inside and we LOVE it. When searching for a super deal we had planned to redo some things and make a camper our sweet little home away from home. I anticipated sewing curtains and reupholstering, at a minimum. But we got lucky. The ole cliche "they just don't make them like they used to" is so true. Our little gem doesn't need a thing. It has been crafted well and meticulously maintained. A few dishes and throw blankets for cozy times and it's home for us.

And so the birthday boy gets a big treat this year. We are going big and serendipitously living on the road (we have a semi-loose plan of our travels to Portland and back). I have some posts lined up for you during my absence and may pop in here or there from the road (catch the pun?). Wish us happy travels and maybe even say a prayer for us that we stay safe and far away from poison oak and hungry bears.