Blossoms

We spent the end of our spring break trip in Reedley, CA with dear friends from our Quincy days. We hadn't seen Andrew and Lisa for 8 years, but despite the addition of 4 children across us and a whole lot of change, we picked up right where we'd left off. It was such a blessing to be with their beautiful family! Lisa cooked wonderful meals, the kiddos hit it off instantly, and we all enjoyed catching up on the years. It also was amazing to drive through hundreds of miles of fruit trees in bloom. We've learned the California central valley is sometimes called the "fruit basket of the world," and wow, we hit the perfect time to visit. Both sides of every road (from highways to country lanes) were drawn in exquisite lines of flowering trees as far as the eye could see. Pale pink, fuchsia, white, cream...  It was beautiful.

On Friday Lisa arranged a private tour of Bari Olive Oil. So neat! We saw the factory up close and some of the olive tree fields too, and we learned a ton. But the real treat was the tasting set up for us at the end. We sampled well over a dozen olive oils and six or eight balsamic vinegars. Amazing. Jesse and I may have bought more bottles than we should reasonably expect to fit into the laden car for the drive to PA...  Alas, I have no photos from the excursion since I (in a much regretted, boneheaded moment) managed to delete my entire folder of pics from that day. That folder also included some lovely, lovely moments we had with the kids running among blossoming fruit trees after we left Bari. The light and colors were amazing with end of day sun peeking through dark gray clouds, trees laden with pink flowers, joyful children. Ah well.

On Saturday we spent several hours at Hillcrest Tree Farm, riding a mini-train and seeing more blossoms. The kids had a blast, and the adults didn't find our picnic or excursion too shabby either. Sunday we enjoyed church (Mennonite! felt like home in Lancaster!) then lunch and playtime at Bravo Cheese Farm (which was a really fun, cute place). All too soon it was time head back "home" to San Diego.

Here are some photos from the weekend. (Andrew and Lisa are remarkable, talented professional photographers, so I'm a little embarrassed to include these...!)

 

 

  

Oh! Last thing: On our 300+ mile drive home on Sunday, we stopped outside of L.A. to visit Uncle Larry (Jim's older brother) and Aunt Peggy for a few hours. They treated us to a yummy Chinese dinner, which the boys loved. It was a great final hurrah before returning home. What a great vacation!