A Home Base for the Holidays.

We’ve been traveling the country with our truck and travel trailer, visiting as many national parks as possible on our year-long adventure. BUT, we’ve also been balancing all that adventure with the pursuit of managing and growing our small business, Destination Tree. It hasn’t been without challenges, but we’ve adapted, innovated and managed to create and ship custom artwork from wherever we are to anywhere in the world. Continuing to provide exceptional customer service, and managing a significant increase in order volume for the holiday season would require some serious focus though. So, we decided to stay in one location and spent just over seven weeks in Gold Beach, Oregon. We chose this locale as our “home base” for several reasons.

• We love the Pacific Northwest! The mossy forests, sea stack lined coast, and driftwood beaches speak to us. There is something magical about a west coast sunset. A foggy beach walk. Misty sea stacks. It really is a special place.
• Driftwood! We’ve been creating driftwood artwork while we travel the country, but we knew access to LOTS of driftwood would be imperative as we anticipated an increase in order volume for holiday gift givers.
• Mild temps! We’re living in a travel trailer which comes with some unavoidable practicalities. We can’t let our pipes freeze, so above freezing temperatures are critical to our adventure, and it doesn’t freeze on the coast of Oregon.

Before the Storm

We relished the beauty of the Pacific Northwest our first few weeks. Our eyes couldn’t get enough west coast sunsets.

We walked the beach every day, collecting sun bleached driftwood for the upcoming holiday season. It takes a keen eye to spot a piece of driftwood that is the right size, shape, weight, sturdiness, quality and beauty. It can be time consuming, but to get the right pieces it’s worth it. And it turns out we have two crazy beach dogs who love chasing each other and the surf.

We also took some time to get our bearings and do some coastal exploring. We hiked portions of the Oregon Coastal Trail and drove up and down the coast checking out beaches, sea stacks and driftwood canvases.

Most of our hiking was on the beach and along the Oregon Coastal Trail, but we did take a day to hike up Humbug Mountain.

We felt like we were back in the rain forests of Washington with moss covered trees and rushing waterfalls. In total, it was a 6 mile round trip hike, and a summit of over 1,700 feet. It felt like a real accomplishment to make it to the top, but the real beauty was in the scenery all along the trail, and a few spots that peaked through to the coastline.

In between our coastal adventures, we created and shipped orders and continued preparations for the holiday rush.

The Unexpected

Rain. Rain? Yes, rain. And of course we know the Pacific Northwest is rainy. Especially in the winter. And we had some rainy days mixed in our first few weeks, but then we hit a turning point. Torrential rains. Monsoon rains!!! I suppose the best way to describe it is to quote Forrest Gump, “One day it started raining, and it didn’t quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin’ rain… and big ol’ fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night…”

We experienced an unrelenting Pineapple Express for weeks. We watched the beach change drastically from one high tide to the next. While it might be normal to locals, we were surprised when we saw sections of the highway, erode down the mountainside – fortunately their road crews were on the spot every time it occurred to shore it up.

The beautiful river alongside our campsite surged with water, even setting off loud, flashing, red-light alarms when the levels were close to overflowing. Were we worried? No, of course not. Well, that’s a lie. We had an overnight bag and an emergency evacuation route planned out if the river level and tides truly threatened to sweep us away! On one occasion, Matt walked down to the bridge at night and watched bales of hay and branches build up on the side of the bridge because the water was no longer just going UNDER the bridge, but actually all around it. Fortunately, we never used the emergency bags or the evacuation route. Whew.

Anyhow, to put it mildly, all this rain was not what we expected! We have all our driftwood, packaging materials, tools and supplies in a very tiny space. Prior to Oregon, we were used to expanding our space by setting up shop outside. While Matt engraved, drilled and assembled orders, I simultaneously photographed, packaged and shipped.

But with the rain, we now had to store everything and do everything in a 8′ x 8′ space. Challenging is an understatement. But we adapted once again. We utilized every square inch of space we had and worked in “shifts” using our back space to do each of our tasks in batches.

Gratitude

Oh, but we have so much to be grateful for. The rain made our lives more difficult, but the coast was still breathtakingly beautiful. Also, we knew the rain benefited the area, the mountains, rivers and land needed the winter rain.

Also, when it rains every day, you gain a new appreciation for a break in the rain. If the skies cleared for five minutes or an hour, we were outside immediately. We caught some of the most beautiful sunsets after the rain, and captured some of our best product photography between the storms.

And truthfully, when it comes down to it, you just adapt. Whether it’s raining or not, we had two dogs that needed to be walked. And, we had two humans (me and Matt!) who would get cabin fever in our tiny abode without some leg stretching. So, this is what rain jackets are for! And towels. Lots of towels.

More Gratitude

Our coastal day trips were over, but we were too busy to care. While the rain poured down, our orders poured in. Every time our phone chimed with another order we high fived. After days and days of chiming, we started to worry more about filling all our orders and less about when the rain would stop. We were giddy with excitement, all our hard work and prep for the holiday season was paying off! This is what we love to do! We created custom, driftwood artwork non-stop, every day and enjoyed every freaking second of it. The Gold Beach post office got to know us VERY well, as we dropped off stacks of boxes several times a day, every day. The holiday season more than exceeded our expectations.

There’s a giddy excitement that goes with creating and sending special gifts all over the country and the world, but it’s a bit open ended, because we don’t get to see the recipient open their package. We don’t get to see their face when they unwrap their hand-crafted, personalized gift. But we DO get the next best thing. FEEDBACK. We’ve had emails and shop feedback that left us smiling for DAYS. To know that we’ve created something that will be cherished for years, something that made someone cry it was so meaningful, or something that “made the best Christmas gift ever” is indescribable. And it reaffirms why we left our “perfect” life for an “imperfect” future.

We’re following our dreams. We’re traveling the country. We’re growing a business that we love. We’re making artwork that is meaningful to people all over the world. And we’re doing it together. It’s not perfect, sometimes it’s really freakin’ hard, but there’s no doubt about it…life is good. We’ll take the storms along with the sunshine, and use them to help us learn, grow and be better, each and every day.

Good-bye for now, Coastal Oregon. It was an unforgettable, extended stop on our adventure and a momentous step in the journey of Destination Tree.

Next up…a little inspiration…you know those things you’ve always wanted to do? You should go do them. That was our mantra as we continued our adventure in January throughout California in Napa Valley, Yosemite, King’s Canyon, Sequoia and Joshua Tree National Park!

Cheers!

Kristin