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.

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: Monterrey

I know, I know I've already dedicated an entire posts to gardens in Monterrey, and here is another one.  But hey, at least I finally got one about the aquarium off.  I have a hell of a lot of Monterrey flower photos.
=D  <-- don't mind crazy smile guy over here, he's not that creepy honest...don't judge me...
Okay moving on.  Monterrey, what can I say, but glorious!

Into The Garden...

Old Monterrey Custom House

So, I think I am on a Monterrey kick.  I am really okay with that.  I loved Monterrey and spent a wonderful week there.  It exposed me to a part of Cali that I could totally live in.  And the city was unbelievably charming.  You could tell that it had been laid out before roads had cars.
Gardens, I think I mentioned in a previous post that there were gardens everywhere.  And there were.  I think that my friend was a block away from 2, and there were plenty more less than 10 minutes away.  Sweet.  Some days I wish I could garden, but alas I have a black thumb, kinda.  I do have a lavender plant that my dearest friend Ken gave me a year and a half ago, that is still alive.  It was tense for a few months after the initial re-potting.  But so far so good.  And now I digress....


This one wasn't in a garden, but it was a tree alongside the road as I headed to Cannery Row.  Everything is right with the world when it all comes back to Steinbeck.   I thought this was the coolest flower and having never seen one like it before I took a picture.  In hopes that someone could tell me what it is.

Fuchsia

Pink Hydrangea

So the garden I think I spent the most time in was at the old Custom House, which is a visitor center/museum but it was not open when I was in town.  Drat it all.  This garden was awesome.  There were actually two parts, a front path with cacti and other desert plants and then a back courtyard.  This had hydrangeas, fuchsia, lilies, and orange trees in it.  As well as a wide variety of other flowers. 

There is something special about green spaces.  I don't know if they are calming or something else.  But I am drawn to them like nothing else, except maybe for waterfalls.  Maybe it is the vibrancy or the life around but I could get lost in a garden.

The one on the right another that I fell in love with, but had no clue what it was.  The of course there is the rose, always a favorite.  And that one seems like a good one to leave you with.

All Things Steinbeck

So, I am going to try different styles for these first few posts.  I need to see what works with what, as with the Y'Stone post, that lends itself well to wordy posts.  Some that I have might just be more picture based.  I am letting the posts do what they want.

Beach in Monterrey CA

So, since I left Yellowstone, I have gone on to major trips.  The first one was a year ago this Halloween.  I went to visit my dear friend Ashley out in Monterrey California.  Ashley and I have been friends for years, since our Waldsee days.  And she know of my deep love of John Steinbeck, especially of Cannery Row which coincidentally enough is in Monterrey.  So armed with my vacation pay, I hoped on a plane and headed for the coast and headed to Monterrey the Mecca for my Steinbeck lovin' heart.

Oooh look a courtyard, California is chalk full of them, and they are pretty with gardens.  So the first thing I did was walk to the harbour just to get my bearings, and of course to call my bestest friend.

 Yep, a harbor, boats, pretty much a standard view from my trip.  This was by Fisherman's Wharf.  I spent a quite a bit of time here, it was a wonderful spot to drink coffee, read, write or enjoy the gorgeous weather.

John Steinbeck

The best thing was that everything that I wanted to see was in walking distance. So that meant I could walk to Cannery Row.  Now, I was expecting a commercialized Cannery Row, I had no delusions that it would not be a tourist destination.  And it delivered, but it still had a feel about it, too me at least, that reminded me of the book and what it must have been like back in the days of sardine canning. 

Old Cannery Boilers

At the very end of Cannery Row, in an old cannery building is the Monterrey bay Aquarium.  It is a wonderful place, very open, and designed well, that and they have programs and speakers there all day.  I watched on sharks, it was very interesting.  The rest of the row is lined with shops and restaurants.  There are some museums and the old buildings are fixed up and are part of a walking tour.  

The other thing about Monterrey that was awesome was not only was there a city wide "path of history", but on almost every block in Old Monterrey, there were public gardens.  And I love gardens, so of course I went though each one at least twice.  Taking pictures of flowers is one of my favorite things to do.  Ashley and I also went to Carmel-by-the-Sea (did you know that Clint Eastwood used to be mayor there?), Salinas-to the Steinbeck Museum, and Pacific Grove.  Carmel-by-the-Sea, was a little tourist, boutique, ridiculously expensive town.  Had a great beach.  The Steinbeck museum in Salinas will probably have its own post dedicated to it.  

Full Moon Rise, seen while whale watching

While in Monterrey I went whale watching.  It was an amazing few hours on a boat.  We didn't see much, but we did see 2 whales and several dolphins.  And if you look in the water when the boat is leaving the harbor, you can see hundreds of jelly fish, now what could be cooler than that?