Recommended music: The Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin’
It’s #WhateverWednesday, and I was just thinking it’s been a full year this week since I returned home from a memorable trip to California. This post really should be the final entry in this series, as I think I’ve covered it pretty thoroughly. I’ve enjoyed sharing memories of this dreamy experience with you. Here is all the fun stuff that fit in my suitcase. 😄
Over that long weekend trip, I took around 1,000 photos, and many of them featured my Hasbro Star Wars Legacy Collection R3-A2. The droid made it home safe, but somehow did not make it into this picture.
I didn’t bring home physical souvenirs at every stop, so I limited myself to photos and memories with friends at some places like Fisherman’s Wharf, Lucasfilm, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Anselmo, or Mount Tamalpais.
Thankfully, I visited the gift shop at the Walt Disney Family Museum and the nearby Presidio of San Francisco Park Store to pick up pins, pens, magnets, artwork, and even a set of Department 56 Haunted Mansion singing busts. That last one has nothing to do with this trip but was too neat to pass up.
Of course, the main reason for the trip was to attend a fundraiser for The Saga Museum at Rancho Obi-Wan in Petaluma (https://ranchoobiwan.org/thesagamuseum/), which also featured a live show and fan gathering for the top Star Wars podcast, Rebel Force Radio.
Besides a goodie bag from Rancho Obi-Wan @ranchoobiwan, I was fortunate to win a raffle prize: original artwork from Matt Busch that appeared in an issue of Star Wars Insider magazine. I also picked up a nice flannel with the ROW logo, which has gotten plenty of use over the past year while most of my cool-weather wardrobe went into storage with the toy collection.
Other items picked up include SWAG (Stuff We All Get): buttons, cards, a challenge coin, coasters, cups, a custom barf bag, and pins of the Rebel Force Radio crew. My personal swag was a set of buttons inspired by the vintage “Darth Vadar” button featuring personalities from both RFR and ROW.
One of the more amazing souvenirs from the trip was artwork by tattoo artist @curtbaer of Star Wars flash. He gave his original painting to Steve Sansweet for @ranchoobiwan but also made a limited number of prints for attendees. I was lucky to snag one and promptly got it framed after the trip. The art contains great Star Wars imagery and many references from the 20-year history of the @rebelforceradio podcast.
It was a great weekend spending time with friends and other Star Wars fans, and it’s nice to have some physical mementos from the trip. I had a lot of fun and am already looking forward to going back. You should definitely give it a try too.
#StarWars
#ToyPhotography
