Lavender Festival and Rain Forest Trip

Over the weekend, we took a trip to the town of Sequim (pronounced "Skwim")  on the Olympic Peninsula to attend their lavender festival.  I never would have thought that rainy, cool Washington would be anywhere near an ideal climate for growing lavender!  But, there are many micro climates in our state, and Sequim is in what is called "the banana belt", meaning that it is much drier and sunnier than most of the state!

 There are over a dozen lavender farms in town.  We visited two of them, and I got to pick my own fresh lavender bouquet!  The scent and sight was amazing!  Row after row of gorgeous, fragrant lavender, of more varieties than I ever knew existed!

I was picking my bouquet alongside hundreds of honeybees!  They didn't even mind that I was there!

 One of the farms had some really neat displays.  Love this "planted" chair!

 And I thought this bicycle was just too cute!

 If you look closely, you will see a bumble bee enjoying this gorgeous poppy!

 And how cute is this vintage baby buggy heaped full of lavender bundles?

 Can't you just smell the lavender?!

 The next day, we went to the Hoh Rain Forest, in The Olympic National Park.  The photos below just don't do it justice!  Of course, it was raining when we visited!  They get an average of 240" of rain a year.  Can you believe it?!

 There was moss dripping everywhere, making the tree branches appear like some strange mythical creatures!

 We were thrilled to see these elk, which were right next to the hiking trail!  They barely looked up at us as we quietly walked by!

 Doesn't this moss covered tree look like some crazy giant insect out of a science fiction movie?

 Roosevelt elk up close and personal!

 And you never know just who you will want to call when you visit the rain forest! (actually, the phone was long gone, I just thought this moss was so funny!).

Hope you are having a great week.  If it is hot where you live (back home in Michigan, they are having a major heat wave!), hope that you are keeping cool!  It is cold and damp here today, I don't think it made it to 60 degrees, and I even turned the furnace on!  Now I'm off to visit all of your inspiring blogs:)