My father took the train down from Vancouver to visit me last week. We spent a few days in Portland and a few days here in Eugene, including a spectacular trip to Honeyman State Park on the last balmy day in September.
We walked across the dunes to the ocean and back, talked a lot and swam in a perfect, sandy-bottomed blue lake. What an amazing day. I can’t believe I’ve been living so close to the dunes all summer and hadn’t been! Thanks for visiting, Papa.
At the end of this month, Nathen and I will be packing up, renting a trailer and moving down to Joshua Tree to live near our new nephew and the Lesters. Here’s some of the things I’m excited about:
• Making our first home together and figuring out what our lives are going to be like
• Fixing up a 70s Kenskill travel trailer to live in
• Spending lots of time with the baby
• Being a mere two hours drive from the textile stores in the LA garment district (!!!)
• Finding a place to have our wedding and starting to plan
• Outdoor movie nights with the projector
• Rock climbing in the park
• Fresh goats milk
• Sunshine
Nathen's Miraculous Escape 
October 9, 2011 at 7:11 am
We’re excited to have you down here with us!!!
October 9, 2011 at 10:15 am
YYAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! sometimes i can’t sleep at night because i’m so excited to have you guys here. or maybe i can’t sleep at night because i’m sharing a bed with two other people, one of whom is fond of squawking and kicking me in the guts… but i really am excited.
October 9, 2011 at 12:38 pm
I’m always up for a trip to downtown LA!
October 9, 2011 at 1:32 pm
That’s great. I will be taking you up on that.
October 9, 2011 at 1:12 pm
how come you move so far away ? – you will miss the snow and the cold & rain !!! – when is the wedding?
October 9, 2011 at 1:31 pm
The wedding is in May! We hope to have a place and a date by the end of November.
October 9, 2011 at 4:22 pm
That’s such great news! Rachel and I just relocated to Southern California ourselves, and we’ll be up in JT often. I’m so happy the way this worked out. We live really close to Eli and Christina, by the way.
If the trailer you mentioned is the one I think it is, it belonged to my great-grandparents. I lived in it when I was a student at UC Davis, my sister lived in it at the Colorado River, and Nathen spent a lot of time in it as well. It is probably from the 1960s. Let me know if you can’t get the appliances working–we’ll ask my dad.
October 9, 2011 at 4:38 pm
John,
That’s the one. 70’s was a wild guess based on the green shag rug, but I stand corrected. Thanks for the heads up about the appliances, I’ll keep that in mind. It’s practically a family heirloom!
I was looking up info about the makers. Kenskill was two guys out of Burbank, Bill Kennedy and Jim Brunskill, and they closed up shop in the early 70’s. Apparently the trailers have a reputation for being well made. I’ve been very into the tiny homes movement the last few years, and am excited to see if we can make such a small space work for us.
October 9, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Awesome research on the trailer, thanks. I found it to be really comfortable. Rachel is also really into the tiny homes. Some are really cute. There are cool designs built from domes and even yurts.
October 10, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Congrats!
October 16, 2011 at 4:07 pm
I’m excited for you both, but we’ll miss having you in the area. I’m planning on coming to help with the wedding! Hugs and love, Aunt Ruth