Girlfriend Field Trip! Relax…Refresh…RoadTrip!
Mt. Shasta Lavender Farm and Living Memorial Sculpture Garden
A good friend posted on Facebook that she and another friend were going to the Mt Shasta Lavender Farm the following Wednesday and anyone who wanted to join them was welcome! I was free that day so decided to come along. It was a fun day and reminded me that there are interesting things to see in our own regions and sometimes we just need a good ol’ fashioned field trip!!
The Mt. Shasta Lavender Farm is located outside of Montague, CA about an hour and a half drive from Medford, Oregon where we all live. There were four of us, so we piled into one car but not before enjoying some homemade lavender scones made by good friend Janice Cox of Natural Beauty at Home. For Sweet Lavender Scone Recipe click here.
The Mt. Shasta Lavender Farm is in a beautiful setting with spectacular views of Mt. Shasta!
There is a stylish building that definitely reminded me of being in Provence which houses a small boutique where they sell all kinds of lavender goods and free cups of lavender lemonade – delicious!
There is a section that is French lavender and one that is English lavender. They provide nice baskets and scissors for you to collect the lavender.
In the middle is a lavender labyrinth which is nice to walk through and meditate or pray.
There are nice tables and chairs with an arbor or umbrellas, a nice place to eat if you bring a picnic lunch.
Also suggest bringing a hat and sunscreen as it can get quite hot and there is no shade in the fields.
Another friend had mentioned that since we were going out that way we should stop at the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden in Weed, CA. It was just a 10-15 minute drive from the Lavender Farm.
The sculpture garden was founded by veterans in 1988 to pay tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives in war. The sculpture garden has 11 beautiful and thought provoking sculptures made by artist Dennis Smith. They are spread out around a forest of trees planted by hundreds of volunteers.
We had not brought a picnic lunch to eat at the Lavender Farm so by this time we were starving. We were close to Weed, CA and had heard that the Hi-Lo Cafe was good place to get a bite to eat so we stopped there for a late lunch. We absolutely loved the retro sign and vintage decor inside.
It was a large menu with choices from breakfast all-day to hamburgers, salads, fried chicken and more. Our waitress was extremely nice and friendly and made our molten volcano dessert extra special for us!
All of us have lived in the Rogue Valley for almost 20 years and had never been to these great gems just a 1.5 hour drive away! Loving the Girlfriend Fieldtrips – Relax, Refresh, Roadtrip!!
Welcome to From Home to Roam! My name is Judy Gambee. After many years of family trips to Walt Disney World, Arizona and Hawaii I decided it was time for us to see the world! Seven years, five continents and fourteen countries later here I am writing a blog about our adventures along with all kinds of tips and advice on how to dream, plan and go – all on your own! (
Hello! I just recently discovered your blog via tripadvisor. Loved all your Vietnam posts, thanks for all the info and photos! We are travelling to Vietnam (from Australia) for the first time in March 2013 with a pretty similar itinerary to yours and can’t wait!
So glad you enjoyed the blog. I’m sure you will have a fabulous trip!!
Oh wow…this post is like a dream to me! The photos are very inviting, looks like you had a wonderful time 🙂
Thank you for your detailed posting! Found it via the forums on TripAdvisor. We were struggling with having to choose between Vietnam and Thailand for a 7 day trip in February 2013. Vietnam it is! (Given the time constraints, just seems like the right choice for us.) I think our families have similar traveling styles so perhaps I should read up on some of your other adventures for future travel inspiration!
Glad the blog was able to help you make a decision – and I know you will have an amazing trip! Happy to answer any questions you might have. Hope you can be inspired from our other adventures!
What a huge help. We are your Pacific NW neighbors (live in Seattle) and are doing Christmas in Vietnam this year! Taking our kids (10 and 12) for their first trip abroad. We are a little nervous that they are a bit young (for it to be fully enjoyable for all of us) but we are going to take it easy and just take it all in. You provided just enough detail and the photos are fantastic. I will now feel like I am returning to a somewhat familiar place. Thank you!
Scott – We took our kids on their first trip abroad when they were 9 and 12. We didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out great and we’ve been traveling with them internationally ever since!! I think it’s good that your plan is to “take it easy and just take it all in.” Your kids will have a fabulous time, and definitely a Christmas to remember!
I have one more question: did you arrange most of the trip yourself (sounds like you did) or did you rely on any tour operators to help you arrange tours, transportation, etc. in advance? Would love to hear your thoughts on how easy it is to make arrangements from North America, maybe what were your greatest resources for finding the right tours: whether it was street-food tours or your Halong Bay Junk boat excursion, where you felt you didn’t need help, etc. Thanks!
Yes, I did do the planning and arrangements all by myself. I did not use any tour operators. I found all the guides/tours I used from posts and reviews on TripAdvisor. Then I contacted them directly via email. All of them responded quickly to my emails and were always very helpful in giving me all of the information I needed. I just booked with them directly via email. I did have our hotel in Hanoi actually book the Halong Bay tour, but I picked the company to use myself by reading TA reviews.
Judy- How were the mosquitos that time of year (Hanoi, Hoi An, Mekong Delta)? Both of my girls seem to have sweet blood.
We did come prepared with plenty of bug repellant (brought the wipe on kind), but didn’t really need it. We did not find any problem with mosquitoes at that time of year, particularly in central/north Vietnam (HoiAn, Hanoi) where the weather was cooler. My daughter is also favored by mosquitoes and she had no problems.
You have amazing article about my country. thank you very much for your visiting. May i ask which is the best place in VIetnam? what is the place that you want to come back ?? Thanks again.
Hoang – We loved visiting your country! Our favorite places were Halong Bay and Hoi An. We definitely want to go back to those two places. We also look forward to visiting Sapa and Hue on our next visit.
Hi, we are heading to Vietnam in mid Nov so loved reading your of your family experiences. For better or worse we are on a small group tour, all friends of friends so it will be interesting to see how the group dynamics work out! However there are some free days in Hanoi and Hoi An so I was pleased to see your ideas for the bike tour, the street food tour, the cooking class and all your restaurant addresses and comments, very helpful thanks. From the reading I’ve done I feel that it wouldn’t be too hard to organise ones own tour as everyone seems to be so helpful. Starting to get very excited.
Actually, when traveling with a small group of friends it may not be a bad idea to be on small group tour. That way you don’t have to worry about everyone agreeing on what to do next, someone just tells you!! Your free days might be a good time for people to do different things depending on their interests. For future reference though, it was very easy to organize everything on my own, and book everything online. Have a fabulous trip!!
Thank you for your great trip report on your vacation to Vietnam. I have spent my whole Sunday morning reading it and taking notes. Your detail and photographs are amazing. We are off to South East Asia at the end of June. Tickets are bought and now I’m doing research to book the actual trip. Though I will use a tour company, your blog gives me lots of ideas to impart to them. We are traveling with 3 kids ages 11, 9 and 5. They are well-traveled having gone on safari in South Africa at age 2 and 4. They have now taken 9 additional trips all over the continent of Africa and many trips all over Europe and the Caribbean. It was during elephant trekking in Namibia this past summer that they insisted on going to Asia for the next big vacation. So thank you again for all of the ideas. I am inspired!
Glad to hear that you were inspired!! You will have a fabulous trip, we all loved Vietnam. I am just in the research phase of planning our first safari for June 2014, but due to the time of year I think we will be going to Tanzania, so will have to do South Africa at another time.
Sounds like you have done some great traveling with your kids – have an amazing time in Vietnam!!
Fabulous! Love your blog!! Thank you for taking time to tell us all about it!
We are planning to go this December and wonder if we should do the 2d1n or 3d2n on Halong Bay as it seems pretty cold and we are quite tight on time. Any suggestions, please?
I would recommend just doing the 2D/1N. It was pretty cold while we were there – too cold to hang out on the beach or do any water sports. We loved our time on Halong Bay, but in Dec. I would just do one night – especially since you are tight on time. I hope to go back someday when the weather is better and do the 2 night trip!
Your article is very informative! I’m glad I found this. My husband and I are going to Halong Bay in November. We came from a country where the weather is either very hot or rainy, so we look forward to a chilly weather (but hopefully no rain) when we get to Halong Bay. It’s great that you posted pictures of indochina junk. We’re considering right now to book either the Red Dragon or the Dragon’s Pearl, and your pictures and descriptions will really help us to decide. Thank you so much! 🙂
Grace – Glad you found it helpful and I hope you and your husband have a fabulous trip!!