Flower Fields

We're already 4 months into 2018 and this is my first post to document our lives in California.  I knew this would happen at some point.  The stopping and restarting.  It's inevitable.  I'm going to try my best to keep up with this thing.

It's not like we haven't done anything since January. Hell, we had an amazing Disney cruise with friends and family, followed by a few days at the parks for starters.  It was an great way to begin our year. A post for another day.

A couple weeks ago, we got to experience the Carlsbad Flower Fields.  I had no idea this beautiful piece of land covered in flowers as far as you can see, was only a few miles from the house.  If I would have known it was going to be this good, I would have purchased season passes and visited a few more times. 

For only $16 per person or $32 for a season pass, you can enjoy roaming the flower fields as long as you want. There are various greenhouses as well, full of poinsettia's and orchids.  Gardens of snapdragons, succulents and roses. There's places to purchase seeds, plants and flowers and a few booths selling arts and crafts.  You can even hop on a tractor trailer and take a ride around the fields for five bucks.  

Before you even get to the fields, below are just some of the beautiful flower gardens you can experience.

Once finished you can head to the flower fields. They're done in sections and you can tell that each one seems to be planted a couple weeks apart, ensuring that when you visit for those three months, you can guarantee you'll see flowers in full bloom.  

You're only allowed to walk on the perimeter and must stay on the walkways.  You're not allowed to pick flowers or bother the workers in the fields.  They do however, have a couple spots that go into the fields for photo opportunities.  

You can't leave without a selfie in the fields.  Although my allergies were also in full bloom, it's a place we'll definitely be back, year after year.

2017 was quite the year...

The past few years have been filled with a lot of ups and down, with everything from serious surgeries, health issues and our political climate, to the joys of getting married, buying a new home, enjoying friends and family. 

This past year was a crazy one to say the least.  Careful sometimes what you wish for, because a small email to someone could start the ball rolling and before you know it, you've both got new jobs, selling your house and moving out west. 
It all was a whirlwind.  I look back and the entire time was such a blur.  Stress is the last thing I need in my life, but I would have to say that it was one of the top most stressful times of our lives.  It's strange to have a sense of excitement and dread at the same time.  Happiness and sadness all rolled into one. 

At the beginning of July 2017, we packed up the dogs and made the long trek to California. 

Although we're weren't able to buy a home right away, we were able to rent from a friend and put together ourselves a home for the time being.  Now that we're getting familiar with the area, here's to hoping that 2018 brings new experiences in our own place.

 

 

 

One of the big draws for us moving was the weather, the beach and the ocean.  Some that live here tell us that they don't even think about the ocean that much, that it's become so common for them.  I can tell you that it won't ever be the case for us.  Are we able to go to the beach every day on the weekend as we did when we moved here?  No.  Life gets in the way.  But we go every chance we get we head down to walk along the beach, enjoy the beautiful water and depending on the time we're there, enjoy some of the most beautiful sunsets we've ever seen.

 

This will never, ever get old.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

In an effort to find familiarity and to have a taste of home, we sought out local Mexican food and margarita's.  It might seem kind of silly to some, but this place has become a Friday tradition and reminds us of home.  Not only because of the amazing food (It's not TexMex, but it will do) and really strong margarita's, the staff know us by name, the manager comes to chat with us and we even had our favorite waiter that soon became a friend. 

 

We felt like we belonged somewhere.

 



 

 

We have been lucky to have had family and friends visit us already during our 6 months out here.  Having people visit brings us such happiness.  Despite absolutely loving our new lives here, there is always this lingering homesickness that tugs at our hearts. 

 



 

 

 

 

California also brought out our love for all things Tiki.  Didn't take us long to find one of those speak easy, hidden type Tiki bars called False Idol and a long standing icon in the Tiki world, Bali Hai restaurant and bar.  Even made a trip to Palm Springs and had to look up a Tiki Bar there.  I think we were both born in the wrong decade. 

 



 

 

 

 

 

No post about California would be complete without me gushing about Disneyland.  We admit, it's one of the best perks for us moving here.  It wasn't the only reason as some might like to believe, but it definitely pushed us to say yes.  We've had to learn all over, how to visit the parks.  Before, our trips were planned and we spent 4-5 days enjoying all we could, staying in our DVC at the Grand Californian.  Now that we're less than an hour away, we find ourselves only going up for part of a day.  We can no longer last opening until closing anymore.  It's just different.  We spend a lot of our time wandering the parks, eating, shopping and riding something on occasion.  After 8 hours, we head home.  We miss those long weekends.  We've already planned some of those types of trips for 2018. 

 

 



 

 

The only bad time during our stay so far, was losing our boy Max.  We joke about him being an asshole and always said, that if or when he goes, we hope it's really quick because he would have made an impossible patient at the vet.  Again, careful what you wish for because one night within minutes, he went from a vibrant dog running around the room, to losing his site and ability to stand, collapsing on our patio after what we think was a stroke.  Just like that he was taken from us.

 



 

 

What helps us, is having this goofball of a dog with us now.  Oberon is so lovable and sweet.  He's made losing Max a lot easier to deal with.  How can you not love this face?  His Christmas photo from daycare, has to be one of the best photo's.

 



 

 

 

We're both so excited for what 2018 will bring.  Although 2017 brought it share of challenges, we wouldn't change a thing. 

 

Here's to a wonderful New Year!