Sunday, July 23, 2017

7.23.17 So. Oregon Lavender Trail

Hi Everyone,

My new job has me spending time in Southern Oregon. Today, I had a relaxing day smelling lavender at 2 local lavender farms. Both are west of Medford and allow you to pick lavender while eating lavender inspired snacks enjoying views of the Rogue Valley.

 
 
Pics above taken at Lavender Fields Forever


These 2 farms also offer many classes to learn to make wreaths, wands, and oils. They also sell a lot of lavender inspired products for the home, including jams, sugar, satchels, and body products. Lavender beard oil anyone? 

 

 
Pics above taken at English Lavender Farm



And to beat the 100degree heat and to cap off a relaxing Sunday, I munched on some lavender strawberry ice cream and lavender lemonade.

 


Until next time,
Cutiee23


Links:
Lavender Fields Forever

English Lavender Farm

Southern Oregon Lavender Trail

 

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

07.09.2017 Tacoma, Wa

Hi Again,

On to talk more about our weekend getaway to Wa, specifically Tacoma and the Olympic Peninsula.
We made Tacoma our home base, as my hubby used to be in the military and lived there.

Tacoma is south of Seattle, about 30 to 40 ish miles away. It is a significantly smaller town, with a small downtown and few business districts. Luckily for residents, there is also a small mall. Small (relatively) is the theme. More residential with a downtown park, Wright Park, which has ponds, fountains, playgrounds, and a greenhouse. It served as a great place to have morning walks with our dogs.




Tacoma reminds me of how Portland may have been (before Portlandia and before us Californians took it over). Lots of small, bungalow houses in neighborhoods. We were driving distance from 6th Ave, which is a street with bars, restaurants, and kitschy vintage stores. Other stores include an Irish Pub, tattoo/piercing parlor, and of course a record store. We also found the local Original Pancake House, which used local berries. There is also a donut shop, Legendary donuts, which promises unique flavors. If I wasn't already full from my pancakes I would have bought some and compared them to Portland donut shops like Voodoo or Blue Star. We also passed by a store with an insanely long line, going out the door. Of course I had to google that, cuz it must be good. It turned out to be Ice Cream Social, a local area ice cream parlor using local ingredients. The new Portlandier in me wished I had time to compare it to our Salt and Straw. Again so many things to try in our return trip.



 


 


We ended our trip visiting a friend currently stationed at the joint military base. Apparently the new rule is that if you want to visit the base, you have to have your passport. I understand the safety issues, but I think it is ridiculous for me (a US Citizen) and my husband (a veteran) to need to have a passport to enter. Unfortunately we got turned away, leaving our friend to walk all the way from his barrack to the visitor parking lot. He did get to see a deer and its baby though on his hike to the parking lot. After brunch, we dropped off our friend whose military ID got us in and was able to drive the several miles in the base to his barrack. This brought many memories and stories to my hubby's mind as he reminisced about his military days. We ended up getting $1 Chinese food, one of the few restaurant options outside of base. My husband loved the Orange Chicken saying it was the best he had, but then also states this was a time when he was generally eating chow from the military canteen. I thought it was tasty. 


--Until next time,
cutiee23



Links:
Tacoma, Wa

6th Ave

Ice Cream Social

Legendary Donuts


Thursday, July 13, 2017

07.08.2017 Olympic Peninsula, Wa

Hi All!
 


Just got back from our yearly family getaway. Considering my and my hubby's busy schedule, we decided to just do a quick weekend getaway. Since my hubby spent time in Wa for his prior job and loved the Olympic National Park, we decided to go there.

It was nice and intimate for him to share prior experiences/places with me. He would always talk about his time camping and hiking in the Olympic rainforest with so much happiness. It was awesome to finally see what he was talking about. 
 

He needed to give me some intro info to the area. There's a National Park, where he would go camping, but at the top is Hurricane Ridge, where you can see the top of the Olympic mountain range, which even in July still has snow at the top. After you cough up about $25 to enter, you can drive 30 minutes to the top. Up there is a ranger center, bathrooms, and a small café. There are many outlook areas and benches. You are not to go on the grass (as they want to grow/replant the meadows), which is tempting for some guests as deer graze there.

 

It's a breathtaking view as you are surrounded by 180 degrees of mountain tops. There are many hiking trails, but unfortunately dogs aren't allowed. In addition, there are some steep mountain roads that you can drive, which looked like the Jeep and off road vehicles seem to enjoy. I also saw many mountain bikers try to bike up the steep hill to the top. Poor guy, we entered the park at the same time, and on our way down we saw he was only halfway up. Not for the faint at heart. 
 


Setting is mostly forest and meadows, but my hubby said there is a rainforest also in the neighboring area, which is under the Wa State Park. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to explore, but hey that gives us a reason to visit next time.

At the bottom of the Olympic National Park, is the town of Port Angeles, Wa, which is off the Puget Sound. It is a training site for the National Guard (one of my friends told me=) Reminds me of a typical NW coast little town. Has a small downtown/business district with restaurants and cafes. Also has a pier that looks out at the Puget Sound. Port Angeles has a marine aquarium too, which has a cool rock sculpture of an octopus. 

 

We ended our day eating bbq from Coyote BBQ. Reasonable priced and got a bbq plate with 2 meats and sides for about $20ish dollars. We got brisket and bbq chicken. Sauce was on the side (which was great because I hate when there is too much sauce). Sauce was not overtly sweet and somewhat vinegary which was awesome. Brisket was flavorful with chicken cooked perfectly (not dry at all) with a subtle, yummy brine. Potato salad was on point and had a hint of dill.  Also had to add an order of chili cheese fries, that had lots of meat, including sausage. 

 

 
We ended our day around 8pm and as the sun set we made our way back to our home base in Tacoma, Wa.


--Until next time,
cutiee23


Links:
Olympic National Park


Port Angeles, Wa


Coyote BBQ