Orange trees! That was pretty exciting for us, coming from Oregon and all, to see such large trees completely covered in oranges. Of course we didn’t pick any oranges from trees in anyone’s yard, but when Bracken found a fallen orange on a sidewalk, we said he could have it. It was delicious. We had an unexpected day off to explore Davis, due to the crazy wind on the first day of the festival. The sad part (besides missing an entire day of selling anything when we had come so far) was the fact that we had finally upgraded our old 8×8 booth the local market required (that we had for so many years) to a brand new 10×10 which blew over in the wind on it’s first time out and got holes ripped in the roof and sides. We could hardly believe the timing- what do you do but make the best of it, though? Despite all the booths (and displays etc.) blowing all over in the wind, everyone was safe so that’s the important thing.

The happy part, was that we got an entire day off that felt a bit like a snow day, or forced vacation. We went back to the place we were staying and we all had a nap (that never happens!) and then we went on an adventure walking around Davis, exploring the neighborhoods in the area where we stayed. We went to the Davis Food Co-op, which was a wonderful place. (Besides all the good food, and friendly people, we appreciated that they sold filtered water that you could fill your containers with- which can be a challenge to find when you’re traveling.) Bracken really wanted a watermelon, but I knew we had about a mile walk back to our place with our groceries, so Jeff and I only wanted to get the essentials and nothing too heavy. He begged, so I told him we could get it if he carried it all the way back himself. (Maybe that makes me sound like a mean mom, but it wasn’t a very big watermelon.) Bless his heart, he carried that thing the whole way all by himself (even after his bag got a hole in the bottom and his precious watermelon rolled out on the sidewalk.)

The weather was just beautiful while we were there (other than that one day) and we enjoyed being out in it. One thing that stood out to me about Davis was how many people were riding bikes everywhere, more than I’d ever seen during my time in Portland or Eugene (the places where I’d seen with the most bikes before that.) We fell in love with the famous ducks that wander all around Davis, they were very friendly. We found some treasures too, including an owl feather that Bracken found while we were walking one day. I would have loved to explore the farmer’s market, which I’ve heard is amazing, but that didn’t happen during this trip. The one thing about the area that we didn’t enjoy? The parking! 90 minute parking in most places during the day (re-parking on the same street not allowed)… and no overnight parking on the weekdays to be seen anywhere. We asked many locals where to park overnight and were met with lots of confusion and no straight answers. When the weekend rolled around it made things easier, but only slightly. We kept wondering where everyone in the area parked at night during the week? The great mystery.

We appreciated the opportunity to check out the Whole Earth Festival for the first time. (I was so excited when I sent in an application over the winter and we got accepted!) Looking back at last weekend, it’s kind of funny just how many things went haywire for us and didn’t flow smoothly. (Sitcom material, we always say.) New experiences can have a learning curve, and through everything we learned a lot. Having a booth at a festival for the first time is like trying on a new pair of shoes and seeing if they are a good fit. We’re in the constant process of finding the festivals that are a good fit for us (which I’ve written about here before.) We mostly stick with Oregon festivals, and if we go all the way to California- it’s got to be a really good fit to bring us that far. What I enjoyed about the festival was meeting people and seeing inspiring artwork. I also liked discovering some delicious chocolate (made in Oregon, no less!) My spirit is fed by new experiences, adventures, art… and I do enjoy good chocolate! I’m also grateful for the quality family time that road trips bring, we played games and got totally goofy together on the drive home. (And we stopped in Corning for some garlic stuffed olives- yum!) Though I don’t want to make that long drive again anytime soon, we had fun together, and made some good memories during our trip.

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{Link love for the artwork shown in these pictures: Sten Wire,  R Honey Pots, Summer of Love Silk Art, Dharma Love, Kiwi Sandals & Gneiss Wood. Oh, and I took the picture of the earrings in our family’s booth, WoolyMossRoots, over the weekend. You can find a large selection of the new earrings Jeff made, by the way, at the Wildflower & Music Festival in Eugene tomorrow!}