Petals: Mt. Evans- Goliath Nature Area

 The wild flowers were in full bloom while at Mt. Evans.  This was amazing.  It made the drive absolutely gorgeous.  Part way up the mountain is a little stop called the Mount Goliath Nature Area.  It is just fabulous stop!  It is a whole bunch of wildflower gardens.  And a bristlecone forest.  To the best of my knowledge I'd never been in one before.  They are awesome, they are like the oldest living trees or something strange like that... expect a post.

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,

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.

Petals: Yellowstone National Park

Sorry Micaela, I have to, I can't post about flowers without Y'stone.  It would be a tragic omission.  So as much as I don't want to, here is my petals entry about Yellowstone.  Yellowstone has some pretty awesome things in it, bears, mountain bluebirds, forest fires, and some awesome flowers. 

Probably my favorite flower in Y'stone is fireweed.  But sadly I don't have a good picture that I can find. :( It is such a pretty color, and it makes the dead fall, and burned areas look really cool the summers following a fire.  Yellowstone burns every year, in some area.  Usually it is a bunch of little fires, since 1988 at least.  But I have worked in the park for some pretty big ones.  It is always interesting to see the park the following years, to see the burn area, and the subsequent recovery.

 

The fun thing about Yellowstone flowers is that you never know what you are going to get.  There is a wide variety of flowers in the park, and sometimes they only show up for a short span of time.  Things like lily pads, I had never seen so many until Yellowstone.  Now in the spring, I expect to see them.  (I get them near home too now).  Yellowstone has ruined me.  But that was a good thing!