Lavender Fields Forever

This past Friday we went to some nearby lavender fields. We are big fans of lavender in all it's forms. Matt and I stopped at our first one during part of our honeymoon on the San Juan Islands. Pelindaba Lavender Farms wasn't in bloom when we were there, but they had an excellent store and beautiful grounds, of course.

The next one we visited was in Pennsylvania the summer Evalyn turned one. This was during their festival so there was food for sale, classes on growing lavender, a walking tour of the farm, etc. The place was just getting started and the setting was a field off of a country road with the rolling Catoctins surrounding the valley. It was fun realizing that the girls were about the same age in these two shots.




A few years later we find ourselves near Mt Shasta Lavender Farms, so of course we had to visit while the little purple flowers were blooming. We drove toward the east side of the Shasta Valley, near the town of Weed, down a country highway and up a long winding driveway. It was a gorgeous morning, the heavy smoke had lifted slightly but there was still a white screen to the mountain views. As we drove along the same route we've taken our out of town friends and family, we laughed that we STILL couldn't see the mountain from this point!



The setting was stunning. The whole Valley spread out with it's fields of hay and alfalfa and grazing pastures. Mt Shasta was amazing even shrouded in smoke. A very tranquil place to spend the morning, indeed. The kids were drawn to the water fountain and sandy pathways. In the center a little labyrinth maze drew them in as well. It was oh so lovely breathing in the scents and gazing at the views, sipping lavender lemonade and taking a bajillion pictures. Maybe next year we'll coordinate outfits and hire a photographer to take some family shots there. (Wanna fly out Kellie??) I was hoping to catch Linnea taking some steps, but no such luck. She's on the verge!