hachi goes to california // abegg adventures on film
When Hachi was three months old, we traveled to California so that I could see so many of my dear friends and speak at Yeah Field Trip, and so that Hachi could meet her Great Grandpa Abegg for the first time. Michael’s dad also flew down to Sacramento for the weekend, for the sole purpose of us getting a four-generation photo of them all; which speaks volumes to what kind of wonderful dad he is, and the amazing family that Michael comes from. When Great Grandpa Abegg met Hachi, he said to her, “Hachi, you are such a gift.” Nobody could stop smiling the whole time we were there, and of course a million photos were taken.
While I spent time at Field Trip, hanging out and preparing for my presentation (called Good Vibes 101), Michael and Hachi used our van as their home base and spent the rest of the day exploring El Capitan Canyon. So many people would comment on what a great dad Michael is, always carrying Hachi everywhere and being so hands-on, but Michael was loving the time away from work to spend unlimited time with his babe… the most consecutive quality time he’d gotten with her since he’d started back at work when Hachi was two weeks old. This was an especially welcome break for me, as I got to spend time with some of my best friends and again be a part of such an important movement within the photography community, but then also got to share it with Michael and Hachi too. We partially credit Hachi’s ultra friendly personality with the four days that we spent here, since she said hello to about five hundred smiling faces, all in the bright California sunshine… so far those good vibes have carried her all throughout the remainder of her first year, and we hope that they do so for the rest of his lifetime.
It turns out that traveling at three months is pretty ideal, since at that age babies seem to sleep the day away; and during her awake times, she and I super bonded over games and songs while we rambled on down the road. We made as many stops as we needed to for Hachi, and of course we still had to sometimes not stop at times that we wanted to (hello, sleeping baby!), but mostly we just enjoyed such a sweet time together. We showed Hachi some of our favorite spots along our favorite highway; each night we cozied up in Priscilla, our trusty home on wheels, and each morning we woke up and couldn’t believe our luck.
At the very moment that I type this, we are on the road again as we make our way back to Grandpa Abegg’s to celebrate Thanksgiving together and Hachi’s first birthday (which falls on the same day!)… so here’s to many more miles and many more memories, a million reasons to celebrate, and an infinite amount of moments to feel thankful.