Once the festival was over, it was time to pack up and hit the road.. I crammed all my camping gear and 2 full grown men in my car...not an easy task! The car was so packed with stuff that things came falling out after us when we got out of the car!I had scheduled some shoots through California on our way home to AZ so we had a nice road trip ahead of us. My boyfriend Josh had never been on the road with me before, so it was exciting for him to see a little more of the "modeling world" and get a better idea of what I do day-to-day while I'm on the road. Matthew, London's best friend from high school, had also joined us. This kind of trip was nothing new to Matt since he had been on the road with London several times before, but it was my first time traveling with him. He is a lot of fun to be around and highly entertaining, so it was wonderful having him along :)
My first shoot of the trip was in a gorgeous area of Sacramento. It was at a park with a large lake surround by big beautiful trees. It was real early in the morning, the air was crisp and their were ducks waddling to the water. It was so beautiful and peaceful there. It felt wonderful to get undressed and press my body up against the trunk of a gigantic tree. I felt very peaceful that morning, like I was one with nature. After the shoot, I went back to the hotel, rounded up the boys and we headed north through the gorgeous Nappa Valley to Harbin Hot Springs.Harbin is an AMAZING place! It's a nude resort built around natural hot springs in a mountain north of Napa. There are both cold and hot pools and the hottest one is 115 degrees! The natural minerals in the water are also healing and nurturing to the skin, body and mind.
There are cabins and community rooms to stay in or you can camp, which is what we did. It was a nice change of environment from camping at Burningman where there is no vegetation or even rocks or dirt, just the white dust. We camped across a stream under a bunch of trees. Wild turkey and deer strolled through our camp site often, which I thought was awesome! We spent the next two days bathing in the pools (which are available 24/7), eating & laughing with the other guests, dancing, hiking and attending drawing & yoga classes. When we left Harbin, I felt wonderful! Refreshed and Rejuvenated! It was a nice revival to get me back into model mode and I felt ready to take on California!
Matt and Josh got along great on the road and were able to entertain each other while I was busy shooting, which was real nice. We had fun adventures through San Fransisco and a hilarious time at a motel on our way to LA. To save money I only got a room for one person, but the room ended up being directly across from the office. I had a hell of a time sneaking the boys in, especially since the manager kept taking smoke breaks outside in direct view of the room. It was a crazy night, but we got away with it ;)
Once we were in LA we stayed with Denny, a good friend that London and I stay with whenever we're in town. He is a fantastic host and I always look forward to visiting him.The best part was that Denny had a new kitten!!! I could not contain my excitement. It was such a great surprise, especially since I did not think Denny was the type to get a kitten. Apparently, the kitten was from a stray litter that was living on top of the roof next door. 
The kitten climbed down Denny's tree one day and walked right in through the back door and made himself at home. The kitten was so cute and turned out to be really smart, so Denny let it stay. And since the dad is believed to be a tomcat, Denny named the kitten Tomson for Tom's son. So cute! I adopted him as my home away from home kitty. I can't wait to see him again, although I know he won't be so itty bitty the next time I see him.Since the city is so huge, shooting in LA is long and exhausting. I was too tired to go out at night, but Matt met up with some friends and got to experience some LA night life, which made him very happy. Josh hung out with Denny a lot, learning about printing film photography and playing blow darts. I was happy they got along so well so I didn't have to drag him to all my shoots.
I did take him to a fun one though! Josh got to go with me to a full day of shooting with WetandMessy.com. He got to see me pied, painted, shot with whip cream and take a slim bath. He even got to get up on a ladder and pour a bucket of chocolate pudding over my head. I think he enjoyed himself quite a bit that day ;)
After about a week in LA, Matt flew to Austin to stay with London and contemplate the next move in his life, and Josh and I started the drive home to Tucson. On the way we stopped in Joshua Tree National Park to camp for a night. It was so beautiful there and we were able to build campfires, so we stayed another two nights. The giant Joshua Trees and rock formations are unlike anything I've seen before. It is a gorgeous place and the rocks are so much fun to climb on. We hiked and climbed a lot. I can't wait to go camping there again!
