Wildflowers and waterfalls at Mount Rainier National Park
January 20, 2025 We saved Mount Rainier National Park for last during our national parks tour in Washington last July. Technically, it was just me saving it for last, as David had flown in early from Texas, met up with a climbing group, and ice-axed his way to the summit ...
Turquoise lakes, waterfalls in North Cascades National Park
January 18, 2025 After two days last July at Olympic National Park, we drove back through Tacoma, headed north through Seattle, and kept cruising northeast. Just 20 miles from the Canadian border we entered North Cascades National Park, the only one of Washington’s three national parks we had never visited ...
Gardens at Denver’s Washington Park are going native
November 23, 2024 Washington Park is the crown jewel of Denver’s marvelous, extensive urban parks system. At 165 acres in a coveted in-town neighborhood, the park includes walking/biking paths, two large lakes, tennis courts, lawns and sports fields, volleyball courts, a rec center, a playground, and two lovely gardens. I ...
Gold in them thar hills: Aspen season in the Rockies
October 23, 2024 In all my visits to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park over the years, I’d never seen aspens turning gold or elk bugling. Now I have, thanks to a late September trip. Twice we drove from Denver into the mountains to hike trails under shivering golden leaves ...
Sunset at Lady Bird Lake
September 20, 2024 A sherbet-colored sunset over Lady Bird Lake during a recent walk turned Austin’s glass skyscrapers into a pastel rainbow row. Kayakers were paddling the rippled water. Just another magical moment in the ATX! I welcome your comments. Please scroll to the end of this post to leave ...
The elegant Pepper Garden with a water view
September 07, 2024 By lunchtime, we’d already visited four gardens on the bonus Seattle day of the Puget Sound Fling. Three more to go! Our next stop was an elegant home right on Lake Washington, with welcoming owners Vangie and Daniel Pepper. Let’s start in the back garden and work ...
Early spring walk at Lady Bird Lake
March 01, 2024 The trail around Lady Bird Lake was pink, brown, and blue last weekend. Peach trees were flowering against a bluebird sky. Bald cypresses were biding their time, waiting to be sure all freezes are over. Eager redbuds proclaimed that spring is here. Their pink-and-fuchsia flowers clustered along ...
Golden hour at Lady Bird Lake and downtown Austin
December 10, 2023 On these beautiful December days in the ATX, whenever I can, I get myself out of the house, make my way through holiday traffic, and set out on the Hike and Bike Trail’s 3-mile loop. If my timing is good, there’s nothing better than seeing the buildings ...
Another fall walk and deer destruction at home
November 29, 2023 Beautiful fall weather enticed me and DH out for another walk around Lady Bird Lake last weekend, but first we stopped at Red Bud Isle to check out the bald cypresses going rusty orange. It’s a good show for Austin! Kayakers and canoeists were enjoying it too ...
Thankful for today
November 23, 2023 Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Americans! I’m finding much to be thankful for today and hope you are too. I’m grateful for cooler weather, walks around Lady Bird Lake, and a vibrant hometown to enjoy. Beauty all around me Peaceful moments in nature And of course family and ...
Pumpkin season at the Dallas Arboretum
October 28, 2023 While in Dallas last week I visited the Dallas Arboretum to see their annual pumpkin extravaganza. The last time I’d seen it was pre-Covid. Autumn at the Arboretum I was surprised to find that Autumn at the Arboretum has been relocated from a shady grove near the ...
Bamboo forest and pond gardens at WynEden
October 27, 2023 During the Philadelphia-Area Fling in late September, we toured Wayne Guymon’s WynEden in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. WynEden is an enormous private garden at 9.5 acres, “with 4,000 different plants and cultivars, 15,000 hostas, 7,000 Rhododendrons & Azaleas, 3 ponds, 3 streams and 5 acres of edited woodland,” ...
Italian Water Garden, trees, and treehouses at Longwood Gardens
October 02, 2023 One of my favorite picture books from my childhood is Marcia Brown’s Cinderella, which received a Caldecott Medal in 1955 for Brown’s enchanting illustrations. Jeweled ball gowns, romantic palace grounds, fairy godmother magic — it all came to sparkling life on the page. I haven’t paged through ...
Wild creatures and smoke-shrouded scenery at Glacier National Park
August 31, 2023 We arrived at Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana in mid-May. It was our northernmost destination on our 5-week RV road trip across the West. As we drove north from Yellowstone, the sky grew bleary with haze and then gray with smoke from Canadian wildfires. Road signs ...
Majestic mountains, wildlife, and Mormon Row at Grand Teton
August 24, 2023 During our RV road trip across the West, we visited Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming, a majestic place where blue, snow-streaked mountains rake the sky above a scenic valley. The Teton Range was formed along a fault line, where, 10 million years ago, colliding tectonic ...
Grizzlies and geysers at Yellowstone, part 1
August 13, 2023 As we drove toward the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park, I twisted my telephoto lens onto my Nikon and held the camera in my lap. Twenty-three years earlier, on a late afternoon drive in Yellowstone, we’d seen a grizzly sow and twin cubs dash across the ...
