Monday, June 13, 2011

The Urbanites Go to the Country

My dear friend Elana lives quite a ways out of town in the boonies.  She’s such a sport to drive into town for work and social functions on a daily basis.  We city folk don’t venture out of the city limits too often, but a group of us piled in a couple of cars and took a road trip to the country yesterday for a visit.

We drove, and drove, and drove for miles on a winding road.  The scenery was beautiful and there wasn’t a traffic light anywhere in sight!

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After about 40 minutes, we left the marine layer behind and arrived in lovely Leona Valley

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Elana and her husband Brent have a beautiful home surrounded by mountains and enormous trees. 
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We visited their newly planted garden…an actual garden with vegetables and everything,
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and peach and apple trees.
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To further prove we were no longer in the city…THEY ALSO HAVE GOATS!  This place is like a farm!  stuff 009 from left to right - Nicole, her baby Harlow, and Paris.  (You can take the girl out of the city…)
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stuff 015 Jason, the goat whisperer.

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Homemade country drinks!stuff 030
Mike enjoying country life…
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and maybe too many homemade country drinks?
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stuff 028 After a lovely lunch on the patio, we were off to pick cherries! 
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The Leona Valley is widely known for its cherry orchards.
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The cherry pickers!
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stuff 043These cherries, straight off the trees, are so red, so sweet, and so juicy.  I won’t be able to eat a store bought cherry again.  
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Sundays are usually my self-imposed day of rest.  This visit was so nice though, it was worth the trip.  Thanks Elana and Brent for such a beautiful day!  I can’t wait to visit the country again!

15 comments:

  1. It looks like a wonderful time! I would LOVE to go cherry picking : ) I would also love to goat whisper ; )

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  2. Ah, fresh cherries. Brings back memories of my childhood when I used to pick cherries by the bushel at an orchard to earn a few cents spending money. Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane.

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  3. So now, at least, you know where food comes from.
    Love those photos.
    Your Frind, m.
    p.s. you should keep Jason away from those female goats.

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  4. @Becky and Ron - Oh, the cherries were so delish. The Rainier cherries are due to be ripe for picking in the next week or so. I may have to take a trip back.

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  5. @Mark - The photos are ok considering I used the crappy iphone camera. On a clear day they take pretty good photos. I had the big, fancy camera in the car but the phone is so much more convenient.

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  6. Looks like a lovely day was had by all.
    Did ye fill the buckets.
    And is there a downside to living outside the city.

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  7. @Vince - The buckets were a quarter full. Too many cherries would go bad before I could eat them all. It IS pretty nice and quiet there and no traffic which is heavenly. On the other hand, what's there to do at night? I guess one is too tired from working in the garden and feeding the goats to care.

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  8. I can't believe I wasn't invited to this!!!! Bring me some cherries tomorrow!

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  9. @Jen - Oh like you would have come anyway! :) You can come with me when I go back to get those Rainiers!

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  10. I am so bummed I couldn't end up going. It looked like so much fun!

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  11. Mmmmm, those look way to good! What a fun day....someday I will live in the country somewhere......

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  12. With all the wonderful fruits, veggies and animals, the only thing missing would be horses for Pumpkin to ride. I love how the country is just a stone's throw away from so many big cities in CA.

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  13. @GJ - Ahhhh, I know! Don't think that having horses again wasn't in the back of my mind. I think I even whined, "I want a horse," to those in my car every time we passed one. :)

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