there’s a wholllllllle lot of iphone pictures that i’ve been meaning to post for a while now from a business trip to california that i took with my boss [at the time] and another co-worker back in july, and i’m splitting them up into multiple posts just because we saw so much while we were there. this wasn’t just any business trip – it was hall-of-fame-worthy. best business trip ever in the history of all business trips, i’d even go so far to say. it was that good.
the trip began with two of my co-workers and i flying into LA on a wednesday, where we met up with the california avocado commission, a group that focuses on increasing demand for california avocados through advertising, promotion, and public relations. i really didn’t know anything about the CAC before this trip, nor a lot about avocados for that matter [except that they taste delish], and that was the whole reason that we went on this portion of the trip – to become more knowledgeable about avocados and how they grow. so we spent the next few days driving up the coast with the CAC, visiting avocado groves and packinghouses, talking with growers, and learning more about that lovely green fruit that america has grown to love so much. and, as a bonus, the CAC made sure that we “saw the sights” while we were in such a beautiful part of the country – they didn’t want us to miss a thing. we definitely owe it to the CAC for all the fun we had on the avocado adventure [especially ken, who works for the CAC and served as the planner, driver, and tour guide on the trip. he knows everything there is to know about avocados, and happens to have a plethora of random fun facts on all different topics, too].
we started off visiting a grove in santa paula – ventura county. it was my first time to an avocado grove, and it was so interesting to see how the avocados are harvested.
{just a pup chillin’ under an orange tree}
{avocado heaven!}
{the grove}
{avocado picking is no easy feat}
{basically, you’re on a really tall ladder with a heavy bag of avocados on your back, using a long pole with a rope attached to shears at the end to snip the avocado stems off the branches.}
{this is my boss, colista, trying to pick avocados with the shears. we all gave it a try, in fact, and let’s just say that 1.) it’s a lot harder than it looks/sounds, and 2.) we’re not going to get hired!}
{pretty little baby avocado}
{and then things got crazy. while we were driving through the groves, we saw a bear!! apparently it’s not all that often that they see bears out there [although they see their tracks all the time], so we all couldn’t believe that we were lucky enough to get to run into one! we got out of the car to take pictures [keeping a fair distance], but the bear seemed pretty uninterested in us. so cool!}
{the bear pictures are blurry but i managed to get this one with both the bear and an avocado in the frame} :)
{this particular ranch had a gorgeous overlook at the top, so we went up there and took pics}
{all the bright green trees on the hillsides are avocado trees}
{that view}
{the ladies that i traveled with: trish, who actually works for a produce distribution company that we partner with; cathy, our produce purchasing manager; and colista, my boss at the time, who worked with me on produce quality assurance. at the beginning of this year, colista transferred to the global team of our company and i report to someone different now, but i’m happy that i still see colista on a regular basis. she’s a whole lotta fun!}
{bear prints on the side of this tank}
{we had a really nice bbq lunch in this picnic area on the ranch. the caterer told us that while he was setting up lunch and we were still driving through the groves, a bear had come sniffing around the truck for the food. [it was probably the same one that we had seen.] luckily it went away and didn’t bother him again, but it was pretty wild that there were two bear encounters in one day at the ranch!}
{we lunched next to this cute treehouse}
{best litter sign ever. [read out loud.]}
thank you so much to ed for the delicious lunch and for showing us around your grove! what a wonderful start to our trip!
stay tuned for more cali avocado adventures…