A Picnic & Stroll

Sunday after church Bill & I went with friends Benny & Tommie to Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It was a beautiful day for a picnic & a walk/hike. I walked until I thought my legs would drop off my body. I finally had to give up & say we had to head back because they were aching so bad. But it was a beautiful day & Benny & Tommi hike every day & are so knowledgeable about plants, flowers & trees. It was so fascinating. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous. Pictures don't show the beauty of the color. You just have to come to Arizona in April to enjoy it!

Since I can't remember the names of any of the flowers, I'll just let you browse through a trip through the desert. This was the view from the picnic area.
Tommie & Benny, friends from Georgia
Can you tell by the mouth expressions we were feeding our faces??????
This plant looked like miniature bananas as flowers.
Mexican Poppies
This was a beautiful honeysuckle. The blossoms weren't quite all out yet, but the fragrance was heavenly.
Already I've forgotten the name of these roses. It was gorgeous. Benny, Bill & Tommie
Iris - ah ha, I did know one!
I love these little blue flowers.
Hummingbirds were all over the gardens.
A beautiful view of the mountain. Look at the rock formation. The little one in the middle looks like it is hardly attached.
Looked like velvet flowers
"Something" rose
Cactus in bloom
I love the design on the cactus below
A beautiful stroll & view
Red Gum Eucalyptus
These were the most unusual greenish flowers on this tree. The leaves grew right out of the flower.
This huge yucca was at the entrance. Unfortunately we were on our way out in the truck when I took this & was facing the sun. It was huge.
I hope you weren't bored walking down through my flower garden. It was such fun to walk around & enjoy & not think about having to pull weeds! Tommie said they've been here about 10 times & still have not seen everything. This was the first time they had walked through where all the flower gardens were. I wish I could have walked farther. There is a suspension bridge further on from where we stopped. Another year & we'll go again. My friend Jan called while we were eating & said she had been looking for someone to go with her & hadn't gotten there yet, so next year.....we've got a date in April when the flowers are out!

Today I cleaned at the park model again & got the rest of the kitchen, the hallway & the bathroom all done. Tomorrow or Wednesday I'll get the bedroom done. Then it's just the AZ room (which doesn't need much done) & the living room. I've left that because I need to make some decisions about what to do with the walls. Some minor repairs need done to the wallboard & then I'll either paint or paper. I could wait until next year, but I'd rather do it this year. I don't want to think about what needs to be done when we get back. We will have enough to do with just moving the posts out on the patio so we can get the truck in there.

So, until next time.............The Traveling Cardinal's