History of LotsaFunMaps.com

JULY 25, 2006 BLOG POST

Hi Everyone, Here's a little about the origin of LotsaFunMaps: In March this year (2006) I was writing in my journal excitedly about all the new places we'd found in Santa Barbara. We'd just returned six months earlier from spending ten months in Arizona. We were part of the California exodus to Arizona that arose from ridiculous home prices. And we were part of the mass migration back out of Arizona after the hot, dusty, smelly summer- yes, neighborhood trash starts to stink when the weather is 115 degrees day and night! But, we returned to Santa Barbara with a new devotion for our wonderful town. We loved it more than ever! And we set out to find new fun places to go to on the weekend. We found some really good ones, like More Mesa. In my enthusiasm, I sketched a map in my journal showing all my favorite places to go in Santa Barbara- the new ones we found this year, and the old ones I'd found when I moved to Santa Barbara in 2001. I made a map of all the most wonderful spots in Santa Barbara, and then, having enjoyed making the Santa Barbara map so much, I made a map of my favorite places on Oahu since we were going there to visit family later in the year.
For a few months, I forgot about my maps. Then my sister made plans to visit us with her family and to stay in our house while we were in Hawaii. I wanted her to have a really good time, and I thought of making a list of the best places to go. Then it occurred to me! I could make a map which would give descriptions of the places and directions on how to get there. I went to the Educational Materials store near our house and bought a big pink poster board. Then I cut it in half lengthwise and taped the pieces together so that I had a long map to cover from Goleta all the way to Carpinteria. It took a day to make the map!
When my sister arrived I showed her the map, tacked to the wall in the kitchen, and she felt so loved that she was near tears! While we were away, she visited almost all the places on the map and after the vacation she said she had the most wonderful time!
Meanwhile, my husband, the genius programmer, made software so that I could put the map up on the web! I started the project while in Hawaii. During the day we took photos of all my favorite places from when I lived in Hawaii for 13 years. Then at night, I wrote the entries and uploaded the photos. Meanwhile, my husband, who was on vacation from his job and had plenty of creative energy to spare, started creating the design for the pages. We had a blast creating the logo (shown above), which I was so proud of in the end. And we even created a logo for merchandise! That was exciting!
Now we're back in Santa Barbara, and every day I'm taking photos of our favorite places and adding entries. My husband, in his spare time, is thinking up new great additions, like the screen saver! Making LotsaFunMaps is so much fun! And I can't wait to see how it grows and grows as we discover more great places to go!
Thanks for listening- please send us a comment if you like the website.