The best vacation bags

I'm just back from two weeks of vacation, but it was hardly two weeks away from Red Delicious. When you have your own business and are passionate about your products, you find yourself talking about it a lot, even when on holiday.

Of course I was carrying Red Delicious bags everywhere, and my traveling companion sister was carrying her own medium messenger the entire trip. So it was lovely that many people asked about our bags, commented favorably, and asked for the website address which, of course, I was happy to provide.

We were on a road trip in California, with some big-city time and rural time. I found the best bag for exploring San Francisco was my large messenger. It had already made a great carry-on bag for my flight, and with the sunny but breezy weather it easily held an extra sweater and hat, in addition to my fat guide book, sunglasses, water bottle and lots of other bits and pieces. These included a delicious bottle of olive oil I picked up at the amazing Saturday morning farmer's market at the ferry building.

During the road trip the medium messenger was perfect for our explorations of quaint small towns, light hikes through gorgeous scenery, touring the wineries of Napa valley, and even for a session of panning for gold (no I didn't make my fortune!).

In the evenings my new clutch performed with excellence. I found the front pockets were perfect for securely stashing my id and hotel room key-card.

Now I'm back to "real" life, but have already had a fun day at Pike Place Market to get me back in the swing. And I hope to hear from some of our new acquaintances from the California trip very soon.