The 46th PSPCS Sale, Swap & Photographica Show happened this past Saturday in Kent, Washington. I’ve been before — last year, actually — but that was a blitz trip. Drive up Friday night, one night in a hotel, doors open at the show, load up the car, drive home. Barely counted as leaving.
This time I did it properly. Five days. A real vacation. Which, if I’m being honest, I needed more than I realized. The closest thing I’d had to time off in recent memory was the three and four day weekends I took off when my father died. That’s not a vacation. That’s just grief with nowhere to be.
I drove up Thursday and checked into an Airbnb that turned out to be genuinely cool — the kind of place that makes you feel at home. Friday I spent in downtown Tacoma. Never been. Walked around with both film and digital, no agenda, just looking, but I did check out a few antique stores. Downtown Tacoma felt like a hybrid of Portland and San Fran, pleasantly familiar, comfortable, relaxed.
Saturday morning, the show. The PSPCS draws serious collectors and serious sellers, and the 46th edition didn’t disappoint. I came away with a handful of cameras, including a few things I purchased from Dan Cuny, a regular on the Camerosity podcast (last year I purchased a mint Nikon F4 at the Portland swap, one that he’d previously owned as well). After the show I drove around Washington for the afternoon, stopped at a few antique stores, went back, and cleaned the AirBnB up for my awesome host.
Home today, Sunday. Four nights, three states of mind: restless, present, reluctant to leave.
Can’t wait until next year.
Cheers, Aslynn
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