The Big Trip: Maker Fair 2013

Less than a week after returning from Europe and Eugene, Delilah and I were on the road to the Bay Area for the Maker Faire up there. Initially, I wasn't going this year, but Jack, Jan's son, was so enthusiastic, and Jan so interested in going, and when Delilah heard, she wanted to go again, and well, heck, it's always a bunch of fun... So, I agreed to do the RV thing up there again.

This year, we had the added bonus that Mike Floyd and his daughter Brianna were able to join us for part of it. They flew up Friday night, and we packed them away in the RV for the evening, then after the show on Sunday, we all drove home together.

The faire was amazing as always. If you haven't seen more previous posts, do some research - it's a very noble and cool collection of passionate folks. Makers attend from a wide spectrum of humanity - Crafty, Artsy, DIY, Nerds, Hackers, Blue Collar, White Collar, Engineers, Teachers, Eco, Students, Kids... A booth on making your own kimchi, a demo of making Chinese noodles, programming the Raspberry Pi, home automation, aquaponics, soldering for newbies, robotics, electric cars, lock picking, wooden bikes, steam powered, steam punk, 50 booths relating to 3D printing, re-use, re-purpose, re-jigger, re-do...

Going with Delilah, it is a very different experience than going solo. She wants to deeply connect with each booth, I want to survey and return for in depth when I know what's out there. So, we figured a system that worked pretty well - she'd find something, and start looking, and I'd slowly stroll. Eventually, either she'd come running up, or I'd holler for her to catch up, and the cycle would repeat. There were TONS of free things for kids - I'd say close to half of the folks there were kids. Delilah made a paper rocket, terrarium, soap, windmill, coin purse from duct tape, wrote a letter with caligraphy, experimented with electricity, optics, made a doll house, sewing, sampled a dozen kinds of food, saw a life size mouse trap game, wandered in an inflatable forest, made music, and had a grand time.

The faire isn't really a "social hang out", since everybody has a different idea of what to do. So, instead of trying to all stay together, we split into "family units" and wandered around, meeting for lunch and end of day. Along the way, we ran in to Jennifer and her son and husband, and also Gregg and his daughters. It was great to see them - to reconnect with friends from college days. We also bought a robot kit, which Delilah and I will be building together this summer...

Special thanks to Jan, Jack, Mike, Brianna, and of course Delilah for all the good times - driving, eating, camping, playing, et al.