Spring at the Bus Barns

I don't know if I ever told you that I live at a bus company.  I'm sure I have, but it's not important.  I do, live at a bus company, the house was built by my great uncle Joe.  And there is a lilac bush I am in love with.  I love lilacs, everything about them, color, scent, how they look, everything.  There are two other trees in the front yard and a bunch of daffodils and tulips and sometimes there are bleeding hearts.  Love it. I've been watching the trees bud for a few weeks now.  It was an early spring in Minnesota.  And it's been fun to watch.  Just a bunch of pictures, no comments.

International Gardens

As I mentioned it is an early spring in Eastern Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.  As a snow lover this saddens me, but I also love spring.  New life, flowers, rain, the list goes on and on!  Well, I finally made it to a park, just as spring was making its appearance!  I got in the big old truck, (my baby is in the shop).  I headed into La Crosse and went to Riverside Park.  I had planned to find a spot, draw some knots, take some pictures of the river and be done with it.  But alas that was not meant to be.

In Color...

Nelis Dutch Village, Holland Michigan

So I have discovered an online photo editor that I kinda like.  And I was playing around there for the last week or so, and have discovered that I really like pictures that are in both black and white and color.  This is what I have spent the last week doing, now that my semester is over.  Bringing the Pleasentville treatment to my photos.  Most are flowers, I found they were the easiest to work with, but I have some animals, and some landscapes.  Those with vibrant colors were the most fun.

Mt. Evans

My parents came to visit me in Estes and like anyone who works in the tourist buisness, I just wanted to get away for my weekend.  We did.  We traveled about an hour and a half south to one of Colorado's many 14ers.  Mount Evans, which is just out side of the town of Idaho Springs (which is about 10 minutes from Blackhawk, a place with many casinos that I lost money in.)  We left Estes early on Thursday and we had hoped to see Mount Evans that day.  But it was later in the afternoon when we got there and since it is the monsoon season here, it was raining.  And there is no point of being above treeline if you can't see very far.

Petals: Estes Park

So I just had to bring back the petals series for a post on Estes Park Colorado.  As I mentioned I am spending the summer here, and it is just glorious!  And there has been great weather and lots of fun days.  There will probably be a part two of this when I get some more Rocky Mountain flowers.  But I've spend some time in Estes and there were flowers galore.  And a garden of wild flowers,

Wild Thing: Creepy Crawlies

Velvet Ants

 
Going through my pictures I have found a bunch of bugs.  I am not a huge bug person, they are kinda creepy.  Sometimes they are interesting and like to get pictures of them.  Well so long as they are behind glass... I like them that way.  Yeah, I am a girl... what of it!

Some sort of Malaysian Beetle

Scorpion

Grasshopper from the Grand Canyon

Grasshopper from Malaysia

Black Widow

So I have a bad habit of taking pictures of flowers that have bugs on them.  They are really cool and I never notice the bugs.  I am trying to figure out how this happens.  Cause I am sure if I tried I would never manage it.  It is kinda funny.  And this is the only one I can find that is any good.  Pretty sure I've lost several over the years.

Petals: Como Zoo-Teil Zwei

So I know, I know Como Zoo been there, done that...cop out post... Well not really as it is a place that changes all the time.  It ebbs and flows with the seasons.  And in the year between visits there are many things that can change.  They have polar bear now...yes, I know not a flower, but super cool anyways.  And an itty bitty baby giraffe, well itty bitty is not the best descriptive term for a giraffe, but you get my point.  But I digress and on with the pretty!

 

Just a warning, I bet there will be a few orchids in these here pictures.  I like them...so deal with it ; )
But like I said, it was just that much different, and by the way still as humid.  I was really drawn to the fern and palm tree-esque plants.  What can I say, but the tropics would be nice this time of year.  But it was September when I was at Como and an absolutely gorgeous day.

The only thing I would change about Como is to make it bigger, the plant part (conservatory) not the zoo part.  It kinda feels like you go in and boom, you are done.  And I feel as though I am being rushed to get through ahead of other people.  The actual conservatory seems quite large and that there is a lot of space that is not being used, but I guess they do what they can.  But it is one of my absolute favorite places in the Twin Cities!

Petals: Lan Su Gardens: Portland Oregon

Going back to the Oregon trip for this petals.  Are ultimate destination was Portland.  Bascially that was the turn around point and from there is was back to Minnesota.  In Portland we met up with a friend of the person I was traveling with.  We hung out for a bit, and decided to check out the Lan Su Chinese Garden.  It was pretty awesome, but I think most gardens are when they are smack dab in the middle of a city.  It is kinda like a hiding place or peace and quiet in a gigantic mess of city.

 It rained.  I know shocking, rain in the pacific northwest.  It wasn't bad, just some drizzles and an over cast day.  I was really impressed with it, as it seemed way bigger than it actually was.  There were a lot of really pretty buildings and really neat carvings.  I like the decorative door ways and windows the best.  Did I mention fishies, there were a lot of bridges that wove a path over a big old pond.

It was one of my favorite places in the Portland area.  There was something very peaceful about the gardens, it really was an escape from the city.  I could have spent the day there, just taking pictures and reflecting.  There were some beautiful parts that I know I didn't spend enough time in.  But alas, places to go, people to see and the like.  You can only spend so much time anywhere, and you always have to leave something unseen.  Gives you a reason to go back.

Petals: Tucson Arizona

So in the Spring of 2008, after my first Y'stone Winter, I went to the desert with the parents to try and get warm.  Unfortunately it is cold there, excepting a few days in Tucson, Roswell, and Death Valley.  Yeah.  So this next installment of my awesome petals series is going to be about Tucson!  We spent a few days in Tucson, staying with a friend of my dad, one from his IBM days.  I like Tucson a lot even if it a huge city.  I should mention that I'd been to Tucson once before.  When Tina and I did our tour of the Southwest, but we only spent the afternoon their, and it was in the fall.

The fall, as you might imagine was quite different from the spring.  There were still flowers, but not as many as the spring.  The colors seemed muted.  It rained the day me and Tina got there.  It was a quick rain storm.  Must have lasted less than a half and hour.  It was kinda cool, nonetheless.  And when I was there in the spring, it was really, really, really hot.  I much preferred the cooler day of the fall.

Tuscon was fun, but I think that if I wanted to go back, then I would go in the fall again.  The desert flowers would be cool to see again.  But the heat is something I am not too fond of.  It would be cool to see some of the other parts of Tucson, like the national parks and back up Mt. Lemmon, which was super high and kinda scary.