Sweet Shoppe Designs

Reflections on a trip I took with my son to San Francisco!

Journaling: Sometimes the best part of traveling is discovering the unexpected. I had my first experience of that as a teenager. One of the most memorable parts of our trip was driving through the back roads of Virginia and running across a placard on the side of the road that marked a civil war site. As we stood there and read the placard it was quite and green. I could look out into the field with the trees and step out of time and place. It was moving. There was a connection that I never would've felt had we not been open to something unplanned. This happened when I was with my son, Liam, on our trip to San Francisco. At age 7 he loves to travel. When we travel we mostly do kid-friendly things that are the typical tourist spots. Today, though, when we were set to leave the typical tourist spot, I asked the gal at the desk how far we needed to walk to catch the bus. She pulled out a nice fancy map and said "Do you like Star Wars?" Evidently, the Lucas building were down the street on the way to the bus. Now these buildings aren't marked or even open to the public. But out in front is the 'Yoda' fountain. You'll never find that in a tourist book. And Liam was thrilled. We had a wonderful sweet walk down a street on a treasure hunt for Yoda. Sometimes it's those little adventures that are the most memorable. Like these flowers. Often we search high and low for a special garden to visit, when the most beautiful ones are right here at the gas station! That's one of the beauties of traveling, it teaches you too look beyond your expectations and see the beauty in everything.

Digital Credits: Forever Joy & Kristin Cronin
Barrow (Paper), Mari Koegelenberg & Kristin Cronin-Barrow(Come Away with Me), Traci Reed (Paint), Kristin Cronin-Barrow & Traci Reed (Extra Extra), Page Drafts (Sketch)