Home is a Chapel of Your God/dess

Gypsy Caravan Dealer

“The Deep”

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” 
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road: The Original Scroll

Those of us from the Boomer Generation remember a time when the car was a culture of its own. If we lived in a city, we went for drives in the country. When the weather was nice, we went for a drive to a nice picnic spot. Summer vacations inevitably included some sort of long-distance car travel. Over the river and through the woods, to Grandma’s house we go. We got our kicks on Route 66. Following the sun to an Endless Summer.

Then there were motorhomes. RVs. Winnie-Whazzits. Packing up your house-on-wheels and hitting the Open Road. Camping was a big deal to a lot of us. It was our way of getting Back to Nature.

What a quaint term that is…Back to Nature. Going Home to visit Mother Gaia. Camping out near the ocean or the lake or the river just to hear the rush of Living Water.  Fishing. Hiking. Acting like Explorers, Adventurers, Survivors, and remembering how different life was just about a century ago. Yesterday, really. Even Today, for many. It keeps us a little more humble. And a little more grateful.

If you’re looking for a great off-the-beaten-path experience when you’re visiting the San Francisco Bay Area or Los Angeles (or even New Zealand)… you know, the kind where you leave the City and go see the “other wildlife”… consider renting an Escape Campervan:

Escape Rentals New Zealand was established in 2003 by 3 good friends, Peter, Mike and Andrew who saw an opportunity to offer a product with a difference.

We figured people didn’t want to go away in their living room and they would instead prefer to get away from everyday life and enjoy the great outdoors. Hence the name ‘Escape’ was created.

We also realized that people wanted to go away, enjoy the culture, sights and delights of a country without having to sell body parts to pay for their Campervan holiday.

We developed a product that seemingly offered the bare essentials, but at the same time delivered absolutely everything you needed to travel and explore a country safely, comfortably, cheaply and uniquely.

We not only wanted to offer a high quality product with excellent customer service and support, but also wanted our clients to embrace the Escape spirit by converting a boring white van into a work of art.

The decision to sand all the clear coat off a new van and then have artists cover them in paint was not a decision we took lightly.
It was a frightening thing to be trying this concept that had not been tested before…our mates thought we were crazy. The artwork on the Campers goes a lot further than just making the Camper look great, it acts as an interaction piece for our clients when they are travelling and allows them to mix not only with other travellers, but also more closely with the locals.

Most people assume the Camper is your own and that you have painted it yourself. The feedback our clients gave us after their Campervan trip reinforced the initial crazy idea as being a pretty good one.

Our fleet grew to 175 over 3 Years operating in New Zealand and we wanted to expand this product to other shores…and so here we are.
Our Los Angeles operation opened doors on 1st June 2009 and San Francisco and Las Vegas are now operational as serviced depots..

We look forward to seeing you in the America. ~~Team Escape

These “Minibagos” are decked out with a camp stove, sink, mini-fridge, and a seating area that converts to a bed. Cooking/dining supplies & bedding are included (very nice!). The custom paint work on each van is unique (ours was “the Deep,” pictured above), and quite attention-getting. And, as promised, we spent many happy moments interacting with others about the van, camping, and being out of the city. It certainly added some wonderful memories to our trip!

Team Escape provides travelers with maps, atlases, and campground guides gratis (merci!) and offer GPS for an additional fee (totally worth it!). They’ll even map out an itinerary if you have a route or destination in mind. They also offer insurance at varying rates and roadside assistance in some areas (check for details).  Everything to make your adventure a success.

Crazy Annie thoroughly approves, and looks forward to many more Escapes into the Woods.

Unicorns in the Deep (A Crazy Annie Odyssey…)

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The Witching Hour

 ”The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world all to themselves.”~~ Roald Dahl ‘The BFG’

My life experience in the last 5 years has been one of ‘dropping out of the matrix’ of Modern Western Life~~

work

to make money

to buy things

to make me happy with a life focused

on work

to make money

to buy things to make me happy…

spinning into infinity.

It broke me.

But that’s not completely true.

The cycle didn’t break me.

Workplace Bullying broke me.

Pressure to achieve, rush hour traffic, social obligations, multitasking…

System Overload.

The Gears were Stripped.

Looking for work became painful.

I developed insomnia, accompanied by nightmares about traps and conspiracies and humiliation…

so I withdrew.

Stop the world, I’m out of here.

The signal I was getting from my dreams, from my body, from my moods, was that I was in crisis.

I developed a need to be rescued.

I had not experienced these thoughts since adolescence.

It became a psychological death-spiral.

Fear. Despair. Escape. Futility. Depression.

My Dark Side.

When it comes out in dreams, we call it  Nightmare.

We feel the fear & let it go. It was only a dream…

When it comes out in the arts, we call it Catharsis.

We laugh,

we cry,

we see the zipper up the monster’s back or the cartoony cgi-effects.

We feel better.

When it comes out in the culture, the neighborhood, the nation, we call it Injustice.

Evil.

We blame it on Others.

They. Them. Those Monsters.

In the Wee Hours…

The Witching Hours…

The time when the whole world is asleep…

It is our own Dark Side who comes out to play.

It is the Stranger we fear in others.

We cannot see It in ourselves.

What’s more, we edit it out of our lives.

We carefully rearrange our reality to exclude any reminders…

We compartmentalize, sanitize, rationalize

We look at the world through filters of expectations and assumptions

Perception is 9/10th of the law.

What happens when those filters break?

The psychological term is Cognitive Dissonance.

Seemingly opposite “realities” cannot exist simultaneously.

Perception breaks down.

For a moment, Reality ceases to exist.

Some people call that crazy because that’s how it feels.

Falling down the Rabbit Hole like Alice.

Flying through a Tornado like Dorothy.

It’s the Other Side of the Mirror.

Peace comes from recognizing that.

We realize we DO have the power to change something.

Even if it’s only our own minds.

“Sometimes you have to be your own hero.”

03172013

Crazy Annie, Queen of Arts

Let Freedom Ring…

Can’t We All Just Get Along…?

Round and round
With love we’ll find a way just give it time
Round and round
What comes around goes around
I’ll tell you why ~~ Ratt

Here is

the Doctrine:

YOU are the Way.

Choose Hate

and the World Hates with You.

Choose Love

and Behold the Gates of Heaven.

Harm None.

“What you do to the Least of These,

My Brethren,

You do also to ME.”

Love All.

Your Neighbor

As Yourself.

Your God/dess

Will Do Unto You

As You Do Unto Others.

Mind Your Head.

What Goes Around

Comes Around.

03152013

Crazy Annie, Queen of Reality

Let Freedom Ring…

Light & Shadow

 

Come along, Little One

We visit Shadows today

Don’t be afraid

See there he is

The air is cooler here

The sun stops burning our skin.

 

 

Here we go, Little One

Darker Shadows

See the Light?

Shiny windows, Shiny Floor

What hides in the Shadows?

Can we get out?

 

 

What? Shadows Outside?

Where are we going

In such a dark place?

But we are not alone

We all go together

And Shadows come with us.

 

 

Shadows that look like people

Shadows that look like things

Such a confusing & scary place!

No fear, Little One

I am here with you

And Light is Up Ahead.

 

 

 

 

Good night, Little One

May your dreams be sweet

Safe in your bed

With Love all around you

Your Pretty Light

Shines Shadows Away.

02182013

Crazy Annie, Queen of Reality

Let Freedom Ring…

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