Our Crazy New Adventure

So we bought a vintage camper and I really wanted to focus on fixing her up. Then I got the crazy idea to live out of our camper, even though there wasn't a bathroom. At the time it seemed feasible - we could spend the money we saved on rent to renovate the camper while living at my parents. Our lease was up in a month, so why sign another lease if we really wanted to do this?

Oh, my husband was going back to college for the first time in years. There was no way we could sell everything and move in two weeks. Well we did, and it was great to downsize. Who's great idea was this? Oh you know, this girl.

If we were just moving, that would be one thing. But we needed to get rid of all our stuff. Oh and we had to tell people. So we made them guess what was going on! HAHA

All that photo gear we hoarded (and didn't use?) needed to sell it! Clothes we never wore? Time to donate! Who needed cabinets of kitchen gadgets when the basics would do? Yes, our house looked like a store. We kept our books, cameras, guitars, globes, the fur babies and just a handful of furniture that would fit in our new tiny space. We had two garage sales, several private sales and plenty of donations. You'd think that saying goodbye to all of your stuff would be sad, but it was actually invigorating and freeing.

We have since sold 90% of our stuff and moved into a private suite at my parents. We've lived with my parents twice before: once while we built our first home and again when I launched my photography business full-time. The four of us get a long so well that the living situation just works. It helps that we have our own space and thermostat. The best part is being out in the country where we can see the stars at night, have a garden, and of course have access to plenty of tools and the ability to renovate our camper.

Austin Camping Trip - Part 3

While in Austin we discovered and became obsessed with Torchy's Tacos. I wish we had a Torchy's in Fort Worth. But hey kids, they have a few Torchy's in Dallas, so look it up. Update: Torchy's is in Fort Worth now! If you go, get the Trailer Park taco - trashy style. So so good. Another must was trying out The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas. We heard about this place on the Food Network once and just had to go. We finally made it and wow, the BBQ was amazing! I was a total little piggy and ordered The Rancher plate. And I pretty much ate it all.

Not gonna lie, we loved Torchy's so much we ate there twice. Brandon is also now obsessed with the fountain drink Doppleganger, which he claims is just like and even better than Dublin Dr Peppers.  They have it on tap at Torchy's so mainly we had to go again so B could get the Doppleganger. We also tried out Home Slice Pizza in Austin for some yummy New York style pizza.

The highlight of our trip to Austin was our day trying out SUP, or Stand Up Paddleboarding. B had wanted to try this for a few years, so we finally did it. You can rent SUP ATX (only the best boards, made in Austin) at the Texas Rowing Center on Lady Bird Lake. This place was great - we rented boards for the whole day and could come and go as we pleased. So we went out, came back to have our picnic lunch and then went back out again. I have to say SUP was the most fun. I loved it more than canoeing or kayaking. Now I'm obsessed with it, and I want to buy SUP boards. This makes B happy.

Yep, SUP is like a mega surfboard. You balance on them and though it looks difficult, it's so easy. I'm not kidding, pretty much anyone can do it. My favorite part is the different ways you can SUP. You can stand and paddle, sit and paddle, or lay down and pretend you're the Big Kahuna. If you want to break for lunch, you can take a small cooler on it and then just float and eat on the lake. You can lay down and relax, get off and swim and get back on easily. You can even take your favorite pup with you. Oh, and you can go into really really shallow water too.

Can't believe summer is almost over! Hope you're having a great end of summer. We sure are.

Austin Camping Trip - Part 2

More photos from our recent trip to Austin! One thing we were excited about was spending a day hunting for treasures @ Austin's super cool vintage stores. My absolute favorite was Room Service Vintage. Wow, it was the coolest place. I ended up finding a couple of treasures for the camper. It was ridiculously too hot to be hitting the pavement on South Congress late afternoon (note to self, go back in fall) and it was kinda hard to eat a Hey Cupcake cuppie in 100+ heat. But I squealed when I saw that giant cupcake on top of the airstream and of course, I had to have one.

So, um... that's what happens when sock monkeys hit puberty. B at Room Service Vintage (holding camperrrrr's new blowfish print, actual blowfish not hootie)

So yeah, we look cool.  Don't be fooled, Texas summer.

On another day we hit up Barton Springs pool (love!) and other shenanigans. I'll share more soon.

Austin Camping Trip - Part 1

I'm excited to share photos from Camperrrr's first road trip. A couple of weeks ago we drove down to Austin for a much needed vacation. We stayed at McKinney Falls State Park which is a gorgeous park about 15 min. outside of downtown Austin, really great location!  It was a weekday when we arrived so we got the pick of campsites. After setting up camp and exploring the park, we hit up a late night diner for dinner, then geared up to check out Hamilton Pool on our first day.

Checkin' out the state park.

Camperrrrr is the cutest.  Okay?

So here's the thing, Hamilton Pool has a "one car in, one car out" policy. Basically because it's protected and they don't have a very big parking lot. I knew there could be a wait but hoped that a weekday would be better. At about 1:00 pm we pulled up and there was quite a line but we only waited about 30 minutes to get in. I've read that on weekends it could be a 2 hour wait, so get there early. After the wait there's a 1/4 mile hike to the pool itself. But trust me, it's worth it.