One for the Books

…our trip to Waco, Texas for Silobration – few details and a recap!

In good Rafferty fashion when I received the email welcoming me as a vendor to Silobration (the big Fall event at Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco, Texas) John said, “Let’s rent an RV and see some states we haven’t seen!” John’s delight in squeezing each and every moment out of life is…a good motivator for me 😉 We joke about this all the time!

But first things first. Everyone has asked me ‘How did you get in?” and the (disappointing) answer is – I have no idea. I don’t even remember the application aside from including my website and a photo of my booth from Field and Supply (I think that did it!) But maybe it was my website? Maybe it was because I was the only cyanotype artist to apply? Maybe, Maybe, Maybe – truth is I’ll never know but I am sure glad I did and I am really glad we went.

Back to the RV – so a few months ago John perused several RV rental sites (there are a lot of them, we ended up using RVezy.com) and started his spreadsheet. We went with an RV that was an hour south so that the drop off point would be on our way home from Texas. (Side note for my new folks – we rented an RV in Alaska in 2020 and traveled around for 18 days! We loved it so much that we definitely got the bug.) So John got us all set up with Penelope, the RV!

We drove across the country via West Virginia, Kentucky, the very southern tip of Illinois (you guys, please look at a map – it is the craziest part of the country!) into Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and finally, after 4 days of driving, we arrived in Waco, Texas! I knocked a few states off of my list, leaving me with just 3 more before seeing all 50 states (I am missing Nebraska, Kansas and North Dakota – for those that are curious!) The drive was fun and we got to see autumn stretched out across West Virginia and Kentucky! That was the very best part of the RV trip!

Set up for Silobration was filled with all the feels. We were tired and it was starting to get hot (we went straight from Fall back to Summer and my poor English/Irish skin is just not cut out for that TX sun!) I managed to get everything set up with only 2 trips to Target!

By the time the first day of the event came around I have to say, I was pooped. But in came loads of people, delightful interaction after another and despite the sunshine, it was really wonderful in expected and some unexpected ways. Here goes:

• I didn’t meet Jo-Jo but I stood VERY close to her and got VERY shy and didn’t invite any conversation or interaction. (I can get super nervous about stuff like that – mostly for fear of being a bumbling idiot.)
• My booth set-up went pretty smoothly – tiny story of almost not having shelves and then I did and it was amazing. (This is actually a very long story not worth telling unless we were in front of a campfire. Let’s just say I cried (hard) on the phone to the lady at the RV park!)
• I brought WAY too much inventory! Having no idea what to expect, I figured better safe than sorry.
• Now I am VERY prepared for the holidays!
• Each day brought loads of people and amazing purchases, people, connections, comments, questions – all of it! What a gift.
• The most unexpected thing was the caliber of vendor and how we all connected. There are a few vendors that really set the stage for generous hospitality and it spread to all of us. Love is a beautiful thing, isn’t it!?
• Seeing The Silos 6 years after we first went was awesome. There is so much more there now and it is all so beautiful, well built and curated to a T. Chip and Jo are really upping their game.
• I loved having you all follow along on our adventure via Instagram! It was so much fun to bring you on our travels.
• Last, but never least, my Boo (John) – he is my rock and none of this would be possible without him.

One for the books indeed.

But, boy am I sure glad to be home!