“Why would anybody want to go to Honesdale?” asked the immigration officer as we were crossing the Canadian/U.S. border. If you are an illustrator, you would have plenty of reasons. Not only is Honesdale, PA a very pretty town but it is also the home of the Highlight’s magazine offices. Every year, Highlights throw a weekend party for their illustrators, family and guests. I haven’t worked for the magazine yet but this year I was lucky to be invited as Paula’s guest.

Paula and I are are both members of Illustration for Kids and we were quite excited because for the first time, four out of the seven of us were going to hang out together for the weekend.(Myself, Paula Becker, Jannie Ho and Jenn Morris

It was a really fun road trip. Paula and I had plenty to chat about and there was lots of prettiness to photograph along the way

On the road to Honedale

How did he get there?….
Photo by Paula Becker

We arrived early Friday evening with just enough time to check into our room, freshen up a bit and take a quick wander down by the lake.

Sunset on the lake at Central House

Then it was off to the barbecue at Boyd’s Mill where we would get to meet everyone for the first time. At this point I could feel butterflies in my tummy and was worried that I would get all shy and tongue tied. I am so used to working at home alone, that suddenly meeting a whole bunch of illustrators at once felt a little intimidating but exciting too. All shyness was forgotten when we got to meet Jannie again, and Jenn for the first time. The chatting began and we felt like old friends. I also got to meet Karen Lee who I have known a long time on the internet and it was so nice to meet her in person. And also Jennifer Thermes and Julie Fortenberry were there, which was a lovely surprise. We all became good buddies and hung out together for the rest of the weekend.

The Illustration for Kids gals -from left to right: me, Paula, Jannie and Jenn

The next morning we had a bright and early start with br