8-17-11

Day two of training and farming...

We got to the farm first thing this morning to do the whole process of a load in the distiller. Edgar cuts 4 to 5 big garbage cans of lavender and all of it gets put into the distiller that was turned on and is heated up. Then you wait and watch while the distiller well, distills. It takes about one and a half hours and produces any where from 10-20 ounces of oil. The distillation equipment looks crazy complicated but seems to be quite simple. While Paul, Randy and Phil (the guy we hired to do the distilling while we go home and pack) ran two loads Pam took me into the store and showed me all of the inventory and lots of other info. It was a lot of stuff that I am sure I will not remember but also lots of good stuff.

Oh yeah! Two fun things happened this morning. A man came down to the farm to ask if he could come next week to take pics of a hot air balloon in the field to promote the hot air balloon festival he is putting on next year. How fun. And we get some awesome pics and free publicity! Then a group of people came up and asked if they could look around because they had friends in town who have been waiting to see the farm. There is a sign that says we are closed but they really love our farm and just wanted to look around. Crazy, we are popular!

After the two loads were done we had to go get lunch and then head right back to finish up some things before we left for the day. We chatted with edger a little more and then closed up for the day.

Then we headed over to the web design company to meet them and switch emails and stuff.

Then we had dinner in the hotel room and went to bed. I know I keep saying it but this is crazy!

Dinner picnic

After running around town getting things done we were really antsy to go to the farm and check out the house. We called Pam and picked up a key. We explored a bit and then had a picnic out in the fields as the sun set. It is all so surreal. This place is really ours. We have a farm. We are responsible for all this. We are crazy lucky!

Close of escrow

We flew up to Sequim last night to close escrow. This morning we went to the title company and signed all the papers to close on the property. Then we headed over to Jardin du Soleil to meet Pam and Randy Nicholson. We were pretty nervous to meet them. They have created an amazing farm and we want them to like us and feel good about the transition. And we are going have so many questions for them along the way. After meeting them all our worries faded away (they were replaced with others about the whole operation) because they are great people. We felt really comfortable with them and feel that they are genuine in their hopes for us to succeed. They were just finishing up a load in the distiller so we got to see a little about that. We also got to meet Edgar, the current grounds keeper who we want to keep on. Then the Nicholsons took us for a walk around the property and wow what an amazing property. It was a little overwhelming but we have to start somewhere. There is so much to learn.

We are changing everything in our lives all at once. I feel so lucky and am enjoying every minute of this crazy process. I never thought this day would come so soon and am so excited.

Location:Sequim, Washington

7-28-11 Day 108

We woke and got right into the car. I'm writing this from the car at 2:18 and we are just passed Harris Ranch. Paul is on a roll and doesn't want to stop at all. The kids are happy watching their last movie for a long time, Mary Poppins. If we don't stop we can make it home by 5 and that would be amazing so I'm going with it. I can't believe we will be home! It's funny I have wished we were home so many times on this trip and now that we are almost here it does not feel like I thought it would. I think mostly because I already feel that Santa Barbara is not our home anymore. Sequim is. Now it's just a matter of moving all of our crap there to make it official.

Either way we are excited to be able to sleep in our beds, shower in a real shower, relax in a space bigger than 20 by 10 and yell across a house to find each other.

Location:Home!!!!!

7-27-11

Today we head home. We are hoping to make it in two days. I think we can do it.

We packed up Mimi and dropped her off for some R&R. Then off to Portland to visit Laurie, Pauls cousin, for the afternoon. We had a nice little walk and visit with her then back on the road. We made it to Redding, CA at around 1am where we fell asleep as soon as we hit our Motel 6 beds.

Location:The road

7-26-11

Today was a mellow day. We went to IHOP for breakfast then went back to Mimi to play for a bit. Paul met with a mortgage broker to get that stuff all in order. The kids and I found another cool playground where Lola could also run around. We even met a mom, Angela, who was really friendly and had lots of good advice about schools and restaurants. She gave us her number and her husband is a carpenter in town who just started his own business so we will have to use him for all of our stuff when we move.

After lunch we packed up Mimi and the car to really leave tomorrow. She is clean and ready to go on vacation (without us!). We. Aren't sure when we will leave tomorrow because we may meet with the two employees at Jardin before we go.

We went to a great sushi restaurant, Wasabi, for dinner. We are so excited that there is a good sushi restaurant and the owners are really nice.

Back at Mimi the kids took their last bath in her for a long time and went to bed. It's sad that our trip is over but we are so happy that we found our new home and can leave feeling at ease with our decision and confident that no where else in this country is the right place for us. It's been a long exciting trip, one that I'm sure we will be talking about for many years. I am so glad we did this!

Off to bed to dream of my own bed. (and washing machine!)

Peace out Mimi. You are the best home away from home!

Location:Sequim, WA

7-25-11 Day 105

This morning was all about business, realtors, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, attorneys...bleh. The good news is the owners of Jardin accepted our offer. Just a few minor details and we're officially farm owners. Super exciting and super scary.

In the afternoon we drove over to Port Angeles and played at a park. The kids played hard and got super tired. In fact probably too tired as they are having a hard time going to sleep. Good night...shhhhh.....

Location:Sequim, WA