Sequim Lavender Festival

The annual Sequim Lavender Festival is the third weekend in July and this year we decided to attend at the last minute.  We were quite lucky to get a place to stay in Sequim so I shouldn't be too picky, right?

Sequim is actually only 3 hours, with leisurely driving, away from where we currently live.  We could have just gone for the day but we decided that we wanted to stay two nights so that we could fully enjoy the town and surrounding area.

J and I have been on vacation since 1 July and the best breakfast we've had so far all vacation was not at Clark's Chambers Bed & Breakfast, of which we stayed at over the weekend, but at Hampton Creek Inn which is a new B & B located in Randle, WA.  Oh the place we stayed at had a decent breakfast but I did not partake in anything but the oatmeal.  If you are going to ask your guests if they have any food allergies then basically just ignore them and have a fit about having to accommodate them then just don't bother to ask them and state that you can't accommodate them.  Sheesh I've never felt so unwelcome at a breakfast table in my life, especially one that I'm paying for.  The Hampton Creek Inn made every effort to accommodate my food allergies.  They made individual dishes, supplied a menu to choose from, and even had vegan options of which I know don't cause me to have an allergic reaction.  So no I would not recommend Clark's Chambers B & B if you have food allergies.

One of our stops along the lavender farm route was the Jardin Du Soleil.  They had the best looking lavender displays, see the photo above I took,  and gift shop of all the farms in the area.  However we did not pick our lavender here as the garden was a bit over run with people and I just detest a crowd.  We ended up further down the route at the Lavender Connection where we did end up picking our own lavender. J was nice enough to do all the clipping while I chose what varieties.  We went with the culinary lavender as I can use it in teas.  Lavender is really good for chest congestion and J does get a few colds in the winter.  Oh and the best part yet, the Lavender bunch was free for active duty military.

While wandering about the town of Sequim in search of antique shops we drove up a dead end road where according to our Nuvi there was supposed to be an antique shop.  Of course there was none to be found and according to Bill and Jeanne there never was a shop.  However, we did meet two nice folks that have three Shetland Sheepdog.  Just the breed that J has been wanting to get.  He had one as boy.  So after playing with their dogs we were given a business card of a breeder and dog rescue in Port Angeles.  We'll probably be calling them this week.  I'm leaving it up to J to make the call as he is the one most familiar with the breed.

While in Sequim we drove down to the Audobon Wildlife Refuge and Railroad Bridge.  It was a nice walk in the park but we were sorely disappointed to find that the Audobon center was closed until noon that day.  We had places to go and we weren't about to hang around for it to open up.  No big deal we went here just last year so I have photos of the place.  This year I was able to walk the whole paved route without my cane.  Last year I made it only part way before my hip slipped out of joint.

Yet again we didn't make it to the Dungeoness  Spit Wildlife Refuge.  Time was running short and it was raining.  I'd rather not be caught out on a 5.5 mile long sand and gravel spit with wild weather.  No thank you I'd rather not get wet and sucked into the ocean.  Maybe next year we'll finally make it to the light house and back.

Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about our trip to Port Townsend.