Our friends Carole and David are making a big move from the Bay Area, California to Ashland, Oregon this week. They've been raving about Ashland so much to us that we decided we should spend our summer family vacation there. And I could not thank them enough for suggesting such a wonderful, relaxing place.

I wanted to share with you our vacation pictures in Ashland. We had such a blast: from fishing on Howard Prairie Lake, doing a tour of Harry & David factory headquarter in Medford, having a picnic in Lithia Park, wandering in Rogue Valley Farmers' market and of course watching several plays such as Henry IV, The Merchant of Venice and Pride and Prejudice.

To make a sweeping generalization, I found the food in Ashland to be very good. We really enjoyed Green Leaf, an organic restaurant just a block away from the theaters. We rented a home in Ashland so I could do plenty of cooking, which meant that we didn't really get a chance to sample a lot of the restaurants. There's always next time, and there will definitely be a next time. We're really looking forward to coming back soon.

Our drive to Oregon: Mount Shasta.

I adored Rogue Valley Farmers' market. We found yellow raspberries that were delicious (even though I thought they taste like regular red raspberries).

The girls had a blast. We organized several picnics with all sorts of cheeses.

We rented boats and went fishing on Howard Prairie lake. We bought a Dora-the-explorer fishing rod for my 6-year-old sis-in-law. She was so excited. Lulu and I caught 2 trout. I marinated the fish and grilled them on the barbecue; they were delicious!

We visited Harry & David factory in Medford. The company is 75 years old and is known for their wonderful fruits (I love the pears), candies and other gift foods. We saw how their famous chocolate/caramel popcorn called "Moose Munch" was made. The smell was intoxicating! We also saw the gift-basket assembly lime, a finger-licking-good mint and white chocolate truffle line and their hand-tied personalizable gift bows.

All in all, a big thumbs up for Ashland. It was a great visit and we'll certainly be back for more. 

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