Hubs and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this summer! We got married young and have no regrets. It’s been a dream of ours to go to Key West, Florida for years. I also want my husband to experience one of my favorite foodie cities- New Orleans. We will be driving. My husband is a former truck driver turned systems analyst for a huge financial company and he LOVES to drive. He says its in his blood. Good, because I love to ride in the car aannddd do art in the car! (I used to get really carsick doing art in a vehicle but that changed when I found Sea-Bands- now I don’t get sick anymore!)
So I’m starting to think and plan. This will be a bigger drive and a longer trip than our Colorado adventure last year. We will be gone the longest we have ever been on vacation at 11 days! (But, the driving, especially to Key West takes up most of that time.)
I will definitely be taking the same art kit I took to Colorado, but there won’t be mountains to paint where we are going. Thankfully there will be oceans though! And, the most beautiful aqua waters in the USA!
It will be right when I finish my 6 month sketchbook and art journal. So I ordered 2 new black Moleskine sketchbooks, plus a landscape watercolor block. I still have plenty of room in my big and little Moleskine watercolor journals so I’ll take those too. (Hhhmmm, I am taking an awful lot of paper- probably not a great idea; very heavy!)
I will also refill my paint pans and let them dry. So I ordered two tubes of paint I’m low on. I already checked my colored pencils and watercolor pencils and everything is in order there! As always, Im struggling to find a bag I like for touristy sketching that doesn’t look too weird and that works. Im probably just going to go with an old small Rickshaw messenger bag that I have.
Ive been working through Liz Steel’s Travel Sketching course and I hope it will help me capture the amazing cities we will see on our travels. Her course focuses on sketching quickly and getting in the most important bits right away. She also presents techniques for differing times you may have to sketch. It’s a great course!
Tea will play a big part too. And where we are going it might have to be iced instead of hot! We have an afternoon tea booked in a really fancy hotel in New Orleans and I am so excited! I was tickled when I saw the china they use- it’s one of my favorite patterns! Wedgwood Wild Strawberry-swoon! I have a teacup and saucer and I sketched it for another Liz Steel course I took in 2023 called Teacups!
As for my own I will be taking an old, but reliable coffee carafe that travels very well and keeps tea hot all day. Plus, the usuals- electric kettle, cup and saucer, travel mug, tea bags, cream, honey, Splenda. I might even take my favorite teapot. We will see.
Of course I will be taking my favorite Brambly Hedge teacup and saucer. It elevates my tea time to elegance anywhere.
You never know what you are going to be provided in hotels in the US as far as coffee, but I know you hardly ever get tea. As a former scout mom I am always prepared!
Im planning on doing laundry halfway through, (when we stop for several days in New Orleans) that way we won’t have to pack so much.
Hubs and I have bought water shoes (lots of coral beaches), new bathing suits, and are planning to pack food for breakfasts and lunches- this way we can eat at a restaurant almost every night, and save a lot of money on food.
And, we are taking our new vehicle! Hubs got a Ford F-250 diesel truck that is very roomy. We plan on having a grand time!
See you soon with lots of trip fun!
-Jaime
Life on Kansas Street 