Road Trip

I finally finished posting photos from our road trip. As I mentioned in a previous post, my mom & I left here on the 13th of June. We made our way to Eastern PA to visit her mom & family on my dad's side. Our lunch plans for Saturday didn't work out as expected, so be it. We still enjoyed our time with my grandmother. :) Then we headed to Maryland to stay with my aunt... The journey after that picks up in the next few posts.

*** As my vacation blog goes, just read downward to go in the order for the trip (the 15th to the 20th).
[Not in "blog-like" fashion of the top being the most recent.]

Happy viewing!

June 15th

Sunday morning my aunt took us to Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. There to our delight we discovered a butterfly exhibit!

First they showed us the babies & the plants they enjoy... then to the adults...

I took over 300 pictures of butterflies alone! I don't know how long we were there... since I was preoccupied, time meant nothing.

We did finally leave though when it became too hot to take much more.

We had enough time to visit one (cooler) area... it even had it's misters on to provide extra relief (plant & human).

There I encountered this flower...

I see a face, how about you?

Before we left there was silliness to be had...

Later when we dropped off my cousin at school we had a lovely meeting with Kermit & Jim!

June 16th

Back to Brookside Gardens... (We could have left to do historical things on our way to NC, but we didn't have nearly enough time here on Sunday... I believe we made a good choice!)The inside of a lovely Japanese Maple... and a living sun dial.
There were of course lovely sights and flowers along our way!

I spy an escape artist above (from the conservatory)!

A busy bee (on some creeping St. Johnswort) and some beautiful poppies...

Not the labyrinth I was hoping for! (The geese did enjoy it though.)

Do the turtles do that for balance?

June 17th

A morning well spent at the Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill, NC: "... so, how long have you been here?" Odd and interesting plants... Snoozin' and exploring...
Simple pleasure...
Things to find...
Books... such wonderful things!

June 18th

A morning of sensory delight in Mebane!

And some practice walking too...

Then we head northward to Monticello in Charlottesville, VI.

If you're ever that way, go visit -- Jefferson's house holds some wonderful creations, just as his gardens do! Such a spectacular view!

Our guide on the garden tour was wonderful! Take the tour, it really was worth it (versus walking at our own pace) - she had some great insights to share...

Did you know... the dianthus is called "Pinkie" because the edges look like they were trimmed with pinking shears?

Some very important pollination at work here!