Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

We enjoy using the reciprocal program that is part of our Garvan Gardens' membership when we travel. We decided to check on Lady Bird's wildflowers on a warm, sunny Austin day.




The large rock buildings that surround the courtyard as we entered were impressive. I also liked the wind sculptures that lazily twirled in the breeze.





We started on the woodland trail and then ventured on another trail in an open field where Leon stopped to investigate a small cave. I bet he did not stop to think about snakes, but he sure wished he had brought his hat to walk in the sun.



We were disappointed in the number of wildflowers we saw. There were some Indian Blankets and Bluebonnets blooming but we saw more flowers on South Congress.






We started down some more trails to find them closed. There are some real possibilities here and hopefully it is beautiful in the summer. Perhaps we were just too early in the year. I left wishing we had revisited Zilker Gardens instead.

Waltz across Texas

Well it is time to waltz down to Austin and check in on two week old Finn, my great nephew. We stopped in Athens along the way and visited my friend Pat.  He homeowners' association even provided an rv park for us! 

In Austin we settled into our handy home for the week at the Elk's Lodge along with 5 other rv's in their tiny parking lot. But it did not matter once we squeezed into our spot because there was a lot to do and see.  We started with South Congress and some of the odd shops there. We still haven't figured out why people back into the parking spots.

We learned once we were there that the well-known South By Southwest Festival would be happening and what excitement that added to the local flavor.

A favorite slogan around Austin is "keep Austin weird" and many folks give it their best shot!

At dusk we descended on down the hill to watch the bats fly out for their evening meal from the Congress Street Bridge.  This only happens in the spring and we had several missed opportunities on other trips into the city.

The crowds gathered both below and on the bridge and waited patiently.

And at dusk the bats came out in droves, right on schedule! They seemed to keep coming forever. I can't imagine there is room for them all under that bridge!

 Another day we rode our bikes on the Lady Bird Johnson bike trail along Barton Springs Road. We eventually made our way to Zilker Botannical Garden and enjoyed a tour with several rest stops.

On back down the trail we rode! We should have stayed several more days to ride more but we did not want to overdo it since we had not been on the bikes since fall.

Downtown transportation was quite handy during SXSW with so many people flocking down to  Sixth Street to the various music venues. We enjoyed people watching and made sure we tried a STRONG Mexican martini (a margarita served in a martini glass). 

 This group of youngsters drew quite a crowd but had to leave the area due to their being under age!

As fun as all the activity was, Master Finn was the reason for the trip. He is just such a cute and good baby with parents who seem to know exactly what to do!

Even Finn's grandpa was in town and it was such a delight to visit with all four! They are a beautiful family. 

We loaded up the bus so as to now wear out our welcome and headed further south.

San Antonio Botanical Garden

Again we used participated in the Garvan Gardens reciprocal program to visit the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.

The rose garden was blooming profusely.

It surprises me to see so many "houseplants" blooming outside in December as we go further south.

The gardens showed different types of landscaping for various climates.

The waterfall in the fern grotto would be refreshing on a hot day.

There were beautiful colors in some of the cypress. Here an Egret kept flying across the pond grabbing snacks.

The Flame of Jamaica was my favorite. This was a very large bush or small tree just covered with these blooms.

The acequias is a replica of the system of canals that carried water to all the missions at one time.

We went through sections that represented the different areas of Texas such as the hill country, the arid southwest, etc. This was quite a nice stop on a sunny warm 80 degree afternoon.

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay provided us plenty to do. One day we spent at the nature center looking at all sorts of birds and wild life. I thought these river otters were cute.

The bobcats seemed not to mind that we were there either.

We just love these good farmers markets we keep finding.

Problem here was too many good things to snack on while shopping.

We again used our reciprocal membership to visit the Green Bay Botanical Garden. We prefer Garvan Gardens but this was a busy day with 3 weddings in the short time we were there.

The kaleidascope was pretty awesome - spin the pot of flowers and watch the beautiful colors merge.

The free 30 amp electrical spaces is probably what brought us to Green Bay. Oneida Casino provided us a good place to stay out of the hustle and bustle of Labor Day traffic. Well it didn't turn out to be totally free but pretty cheap!!

Of course we had to drive by the Green Bay Packers home field. More important was the sports bar across the street where we watched the Razorbacks win their first game!! Sooooie!

Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI

Little more than 30 miles away we visited the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 132 acre combination of wetlands, woodlanes, meadows and gardens are truly enjoyable. This summer they are having an exhibit of Dale Chihuly's glasswork. It is amazing how his art reflects the surroundings with each piece. I only have 100 more photos.

There is also a sculpture park and both large and small are scattered throughout.

Several glass enclosed buildings had collections of carnivorous plants, tropical plants, etc. I especially liked the carnivorous ones.

Did I mention Chihuly?

And some plants are even real.

A 45 minute narrated tram tour took us around the sculpture garden. This is the biggest horse I have ever seen!

Water was everywhere: marshes, ponds, waterfalls.

So who woke this guy up!?

There was also a farm with sculpture animals and a child's area with ponds that were a replica of the great lakes. The kids could start a boat at the top and watch it float down through all of the lakes. The gardens were built 15 years ago and it is a first class operation. We were pleased to use our reciprocal agreement from Garvan Gardens to get in free!