Girlfriend Field Trip! Relax…Refresh…RoadTrip!

Mt. Shasta Lavender Farm and Living Memorial Sculpture Garden

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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

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The Mt. Shasta Lavender Farm is in a beautiful setting with spectacular views of Mt. Shasta!

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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!

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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.

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In the middle is a lavender labyrinth which is nice to walk through and meditate or pray.

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There are nice tables and chairs with an arbor or umbrellas, a nice place to eat if you bring a picnic lunch.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

998056_10201575224488860_1814686192_nAll 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!!

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11 responses to “Tanzania Safari – The Good, the Bad, the Unexpected and the Amazing! – What to wear/What to pack”

  1. […] the online travel forums I do not think I am alone in this.  Next up – packing!!  Click here to read […]

  2. Lorraine Tom says:

    What a great post. The details are perfect! I can’t wait to do this one day, too.

  3. Vanessa says:

    Thank you so much for this write up. This was exceptional. I am planning to go to Kenya with my husband (my first time) in February of 2017. I am already purchasing new clothes, as I literally have little to nothing in my wardrobe that would be suitable. We will be doing a one day safari, but dividing our time between Diani Beach and Nairobi. We are very very excited. Your advice is very thorough. I never really thought about not wearing white, but realize now. I am packing light and bringing neutrals, and lightweight clothes I can layer plus my Barbour jacket.

    • Judy Gambee says:

      Vanessa – So glad you found this helpful! You guys will have an amazing time – a safari is really an incredible experience. Enjoy the rest of your planning!!

  4. Mary Lou says:

    I have a question about laundry at the lodges. In general, how long does it take to get your laundry back? If I know I can have laundry returned back the same day, I can pack less. For those hard to find colors for womens t-shirts, I found that Under Armour has a Tactical line of dry fit tees in khaki and olive.

    Thanks so much for the details and pictures on packing. We’re going to Tanzania and Kenya in July and I too am doing tons of research so this really helps.

    • Judy Gambee says:

      Mary Lou – Some of our tents/lodges did it the same day one of them was the next day. i suggest asking your agent to see if they can find out as I would expect that each camp is different.
      You will have an amazing trip, going on safari is incredible!!

  5. April says:

    Thank you for this wonderful post! We are preparing to visit Tanzania with our four children in two weeks and I have been laying our clothes out today. I appreciate that you listed everything and provided photos. Our children really wanted to see a school, so I also enjoyed your post about visiting the orphanage. Do you have any suggestions about group donations that would be appropriate (soccer balls, games,etc.)?

    • Judy Gambee says:

      Sounds like a fabulous trip you have planned – your kids will remember this forever!! I would say any type of balls would be great, as I mentioned we ran to the corner store to buy some soccer balls to play with and the kids LOVED that! It just can be hard to pack them – easier deflated but then you will need to bring a pump. We visited a school in Cambodia once and they asked us to bring the old style manual turn pencil sharpeners (they don’t have electricity in the rooms for the electric ones). Maybe some crayons/markers. Honestly, the kids were just so happy to play with us and absolutely LOVED taking selfies – absolutely bring your phones! I wouldn’t bring any type of game that has a lot of pieces or parts. Jumprope’s might be a fun idea too.

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