Vacation Mode- Are You Ready?

Dreaming about summer vacations today. It's another rainy day and I'm really longing to get out and take a good roadtrip. That has to wait right now, so I thought I'd do a little dreaming with you here. What about you ? Do you have any vacation plans for this summer? If so, or if you're just dreaming like me, here are some Vacation Themed goods straight from Etsy that are sure to inspire!

This "take a hike" plaque by Mary Kate McDevitt strikes the perfect tone for me. Our last two summer vacations were to Glacier National Park, and I had a blast last summer doing a little "hiking" with my 5 yr old.

Love the photos in this Roadside Attractions Vintage Sign collection. By Bomobob on Etsy, this is a shop I hadn't found before but now LOVE!

Ok this "roadtrip" bib was just too cute so I had to include it. :) But it would be the cutest vacation-ware ever! I found it in Mountain Aven Baby's Etsy shop. She actually has a couple of cute baby girl dresses using the same fabric I used for my Won-Ton bag a post or so ago.

My mom (shameless plug) has a really fun vintage clipboard that she altered with paper and accents for a fun road trip theme. The top photo is one of my grandpa taken while he was on a roadtrip in the '40's.

Then there was this id tag necklace that seemed to say it all. The sentiment is a favorite of mine but I love how the tag looks so battered and worn. As if it truly belonged to someone who spent their life "taking the road less traveled." I found it in the Etsy shop Happy GoLicky. They strive to make jewelry that makes the "soul smile." I love that sentiment.

On the Road

I'm posting today from Great Falls, Montana. So named for the Great Falls of Lewis and Clark fame. It's been a fun but busy vacation so far but I've thought of all of you often and would like to share some of what we've seen and what I've been thinking about.

The first really cool thing was a roadside sculpture called "Geese in Flight" that was created by a high school teacher turned sculptor over a decade ago. It marks the beginning of the "Enchanted Highway" a 30 mile stretch of roadside sculptures that winds through grassland. The artist's goal was to lead the visitor to a small, struggling, rural town as a way of revitalizing the town's economy. Unfortunately our timetable only let us view this first amazing sculpture but I would love to return and travel the "Enchanted Highway" for myself.
We stopped at a Interstate rest area that had a beatiful view of the surrounding grasslands. The sky was a brilliant blue, the grass glowed viridian and had lovely organic crop lines criss crossing the land. Usually the roadside rests are there to mark some historic landmark as well as provide a little relief for the traveler. Some are perched amid the mountains, others on a lake, they really can be lovely. I loved that this one had a balcony created so that people could stand and admire the land. There was nothing unusual about the sight but it truly was beautiful. So sometime someone with the soul of an artist saw beauty in farmland and decided to create a platform from which visitors could stand and absorb the loveliness of the ordinary. Because for miles and miles in any direction the view was grassland.

Later I wrote in my journal. "Changing terrain" Here's an excerpt-

"As I'm writing this we're driving through a beautiful "badlands" area. It is so different from the prairie and lakes regions I'm familiar with. I see a rugged beauty in the rocky landscape. It is so different and unfamiliar that I am awed by the size of this land. It stirs me to contemplate my perspective on life. Would it be different if I were to have lived here my whole life? Would the rocks and the amazing distance from everything have made me different?" "If I were to live here would the changing terrain change me? OR would it lose it's beauty as it grew to be the familiar?" Just a passing thought I wonder about.