Health & Fitness
Week 32: Lavender and Rose
On the road or on your toes, it’s all about the journey.
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Keys Creek Lavender Farm.
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We were all chatting and catching up with friends the evening of the Fourth of July, and Linda mentioned reading about the lavender farm in San Diego. Now, when I envision the rolling purple hillsides of lavender farms, I think of Provence. Something I had hoped to do whenever I get a chance to visit France again. The idea that there was one in my own county, well add that to my 50 Weeks list.
That weekend I tried to locate info about the lavender farm, and I was brought to the website of Keys Creek Lavender Farm. And what do you know, the season was extended into two more weekends in July (normal season is May and June). I took this as a sign that a visit was in order, so next thing you know I’m emailing Linda and Sharon (who was in on the discussion) and we made plans to go. Since we all had some weekend activities scheduled (we all have boys in summer sports, that should explain it all), we had to squeeze in a visit this past Saturday afternoon.
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We know it will be hot, so we grab our hats and off we drive away. And you know when they say it’s not the destination but the journey, well that was partially true for this trip. As we ramble up the 15 corridor, we continue to chat away and get caught up on life. We unintentionally make a wrong turn somewhere, and didn’t realize it until we couldn’t find the “Yellow Deli” landmark as noted in the website’s directions. We decide to check our blue dot location on Google Maps and figure out our way back, which led us to one of the curviest roads I’ve ever been on in the mainland. (For those of you who have been on the Road to Hana in Maui, think of the road we took as the same pattern, but without the lush green waterfalls to your right and the deep ocean blues to your left.)
After driving this windy road, thankfully we all kept our stomach contents intact, we get to a main road and soon pass the Yellow Deli. We turn right onto a dirt road, and as we start to drive it I’m thinking “thank goodness my lease is up next month!” A mile and a half later of driving up and down short hills, passing through tree groves, we arrive at the entrance to the farm.
I will admit that I was disappointed at first at not seeing rows and rows of purple. But we soon realized that was because all the lavender stems in the lower fields that we first came upon had already been harvested. We did come at the end of the season, so that is to be expected. Now that we know about the place, we can visit earlier next year. As we continue walking towards the main visitor’s area under the hot sun, we soon get a whiff of the fresh lavender scent. Ahhh, here’s our journeys destination.
To continue reading, go to: http://jemmasamala.com/2014/07/16/week-32-lavender-and-rose/
