Pitching in for the travel fund
Couldn’t help posting this. Last weekend the eldest decided he wanted to make a lemonade stand. It was good weather for it. We are now $16 further along in our travel budget. Nice work, kiddos!
(By the way, we had iced tea as well, the lemonade was in the opaque pitcher.)
This post is part of Photo Fridays at Delicious Baby. Check out her site for more delicious photos.
Fixing for a Farm Stay at Willow-Witt Farm
Lately I have been looking for places to stay for our summer trip. The one I am most excited about is a farm we will be staying at in Ashland, Oregon. Willow-Witt Ranch has been breeding, raising, training, and selling goats since 1991. They are free range goats, so I imagine we will be bumping into them throughout our stay. The farm also raises pigs and chicken.
As farm stay guests, we will have the opportunity to do some chores. Admittedly, I have no idea what exactly this entails. Are we talking about goat-milking? From my understanding these animals are very comfortable being handled, but I wonder how they will feel about a stranger trying to pull milk from their underside. I know the kids, fans of animals big and small, will enjoy whatever task brings them closer to these creatures.
I also feel really good supporting a business that puts such an emphasis on responsible land management techniques. For example, owners Suzanne Willow and Lanita Witt decided a few years ago to stop letting cattle graze on the land, even though cows have been grazing there over the last 100 years. In addition to stopping this practice, the owners fenced off portions of their land from their own grazing goats to allow for forest and wetland preservation.
Small, privately-owned farms are not easy to come by here in the States. In Europe the agritourism business is far more popular, but in the U.S. it is difficult to earn a living maintaining a farm. That’s why I am particularly thrilled to have found Willow-Witt, which has successfully formed its niche with goats (they even train them to be pack animals). The owners also supplement their business by selling pigs and chicken (laying hens and fryers), selling the plant and animal by-products as nutrient-rich compost, offering a meat CSA (community supported agriculture) where subscribers can get cuts of meat and sausage delivered to them on a regular basis, and of course offering opportunities for guests to be a part of it all through farm tours or farm stays. On this property we had several lodging options to choose from; a studio that sleeps four, a furnished wall tent in the wildflower meadows, or pitching a tent at the campground which offers hot showers and a full outdoor kitchen. Since we need two beds, we will experiencing the farm from the comfort of the studio.
Most of our summer trip will be spent exploring large cities. This makes planning easy for me, since I know there will be plenty of activities to choose from each day. I’m good with that. I’m a city girl who likes having distractions within close proximity. But the funny thing is, what I am dreaming of most is the connection you get from staying in someone else’s backyard. Even if I don’t meet the owners, I will be staying in a place I know is dear to them. The kids will no doubt connect with the animals they get to feed or brush several days in a row. Connections are what we remember and what may shape the paths we choose later in life. I can’t choose what my kids will remember or will connect with on this summer trip. I suspect, though, that spending some time loving the animals and seeing the work that goes into their care day in and out will be something they won’t soon forget.
Want to see if there is a farm stay near where you will be traveling? Scottie Jones, also an Oregon farm stay provider, has recently built a great website that shows farm stay locations throughout the U.S. I highly recommend you check and see if one is near your vacation destination or better yet, you can make a farm stay become the destination. If you have had any farm stay experiences or have read about someone else’s, send me a comment or link. I’d love to hear more about what it was like.
More Animal Encounters
My last post, hosted at Go Explore Nature, talked about my unforgettable animal encounter in Yosemite. Along that theme I’d like to share a few shots of other animal encounters we had. Here was a deer who had decided that leaves and berries just hadn’t filled her up enough. Her nose led her into the maze of tent cabins where we were staying, hoping that someone had left some scraps in an open bear box. She sniffed and wandered about a few minutes until finally her nose guided her outside our view. My oldest, of course, wanted to follow her. We, of course, had to convince him to keep plenty of distance.
Though they look gentle and timid, these deer can get spooked easily and have powerful hooves. A park ranger had earlier let us know that in Yosemite’s history as a national park no one has been killed by either a bear or mountain lion, even though they do live in close proximity. The only reported death was by a stag, who was being fed potato chips by a young child. The bag fell to the ground and spooked the stag.
For the most part, the deer were quite comfortable to forage near roads even with onlookers passing nearby.
In one open meadow we were treated to seeing several deer grazing in the same area. One deer, however, was being chased out of the meadow by another young buck. Man they can run fast! Unfortunately the territory the buck was defending bordered a fairly well-used road. The deer was forced to hurdle a fence and wander around the road until he could try to sneak in again when the buck wasn’t looking. Perhaps the amount of onlookers made cars slow down to see what the spectacle was about. At any rate the deer was given free roam of the street when needed, and eventually darted past all the other deer and into the back reaches of the meadow.
This post is part of Photo Fridays, hosted by Debbie at Delicious Baby. Check out her site for more travel photos.
When Nature Found Me
My good friend Debi from Go Explore Nature is heading to Yosemite, one of her favorite family vacation spots. I couldn’t help but share a story about a recent experience that has shifted my view a bit on national parks visits. You can read more about my experience at her website. And while you are there, you may want to wander around her site a bit. It is chock-full of ways to get kids involved in nature.
It’s Monday and I Should Be Dreaming
On Mondays you often see me dreaming of a trip or of something I have heard about. I look forward to participating in the Mondays Are for Dreaming posts hosted by Mara at Mother of All Trips.
But today I am late. Very late. Why? This summer I dreamed up that I would take the boys on a road trip. From northern California we could head north. The longer I dreamed, the further north this potential trip got. Soon it got so long, it would take more days to complete than my husband could take off. Stop dreaming? I had a better idea. He’ll be flying up midway through our trip and joining us for half of the journey.
Now its time for the details of planning this trip. Ahhhh…. now I am starting to wake up. Oh lordy what have I done?
I want to take the boys up to Seattle. I figure we will head up Interstate 5, stopping for a few days at some great places: Redding, Ashland, and Portland. Then from Seattle we will take the coast back down to Fort Bragg and cut inland back home. A month’s worth of accomodations can get quite pricey, particularly during the summer. So I have been searching the net for places to stay. Then, looking at the prices, I began searching the net for how to find a place to stay without breaking the bank. A few great tips I have learned:
Caroline at Kids Go West recently wrote a great article offering several ideas. One included finding a place just outside of a major city. I also consoled with Serena of Grassroutes Travel. An interesting tidbit I learned from her is to find places near the airport, particularly in those cities that offer good public transportation. If, like me, you are looking to Seattle as your destination, be sure to read more of her insights or grab one of her Grassroutes Travels books which cover other popular destinations such as Portland, San Francisco, or Northern California Wine Country (to name a few).
These wonderful friends have pulled me out of my panic. But there is still much work to be done. I open up this forum for all those experienced travelers. I know you have poured over site after site looking for hotel deals and special offers. Help me learn from you. I have many cities to plan for, and many more dreams of trips to come. What methods have worked best for you to keep the cost of these trips to merely an arm and a leg? Pass around those links that you keep in your pocket. What websites do you turn to when your traveling feet get itchy but your pockets are light?
I have gotten to know enough travel writers to say with confidence that we are a group not prone to limit our dreams. I thank you in advance, for your help in making mine becoming our August Adventure.
