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Grapevine Botanic Gardens
Driving around Grapevine the other day we saw a sign for the Grapevine Botanic Gardens and for as long as I’ve been in Texas (minus the 8 years in Florida) I had no idea they existed. We thought they might charge to get in, but nope, they are free! Honestly, I loved it more than some larger botanic gardens I’ve been to around here. I think an oak hairstreak, Satyrium favonius on mist flower. Oakleaf hydrangea I was very happy to smell this butterfly ginger. I missed having it this year in my yard. One of my favorite plants in the garden for scent; strong and heady. They had quite…
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Nature in the City: Katie’s Woods
Katie’s Woods Park After visiting the Trophy Club Park we drove around Lake Grapevine and saw a sign for Katie’s Woods. We decided to take a peek. Snakes??? Sweet! Too bad we didn’t see any. I spotted this flower to take a shot when I noticed the little friend underneath the petal there on the right. I moved the flower ’round and ’round to get some shots of what I believe to be Misumenops celer. I loved this little purple flower, thinking it was a violet, but the rest of the plant is distinctively non-violet. Any ideas? We took the trails alongside the lake. Several fishermen were hoping to catch…
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Nature in the City: Trophy Club Park
Trophy Club Park at Lake Grapevine Sunday morning we went for a hike and picture adventure at Trophy Club Park. There is a fee and all of that information is in the link above. We had a nice hike, though we had to share the trails with off road vehicles. We chose to start off in the far parking lot, C, and walk along the lake. We stopped to take a look at some bugs. I narrowed this one down to the leaf footed bug family, Family Coreidae. Some bug eyes…. Another one munching on a flower. The light was gorgeous coming from the east through the grasses that are…
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Trail Tales 7: Southern Virginia (Damascus to Pearisburg)
Relevant posts: 500 Miles Ponies Magic Bus Section Hikers A Beary Special Post Beautiful Woodshole Hostel Well, I did find a few photos from Damascus, this one being The Place, the hostel we stayed at. When we arrived in town we ran into Pirate and his friend at the outfitter and they told us where to find the hostel, next to the burning pile of rubble. Sure enough there was a pile of rubble as the house next door had burned down! The trail goes straight through Damascus so it is easy to stop in and resupply. Apparently after talking to a few other hikers we learned that the AT…
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Trail Tales 6: Erwin to Damascus
Pertinent Posts: V is for Virginia 400 Amy and Me TN/Virginia Border Laurel Creek Falls Leaving Erwin was difficult as usual when leaving a town. Spring was coming out in Erwin and the town was one of the bigger towns we’d been to thus far, complete with a Sonic and Walgreens. We left out and the weather was just beuatiful. The trail out of town was gentle and beautiful, walking along creeks for quite a way. Early on there were still quite a bit of blown downs on the trail, some creating unique climbing situations, others with trails down or up and around the trees. After climbing up Beauty Spot,…
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The Morning Gang
Behind the scenes at Goose Island State Park, on the pier. Discussing the morning’s catch…. Friends drop by to say hello and see where lunch may be at… Hey Bob, how’s life treating you? Just fine Jim, just fine. Loving the weather, aren’t you? Guess I’ll go now, see you later!
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Turtle Love
Ah, sea turtles. I love ’em! I think the first time I saw a sea turtle was when one popped its head up for some air while I was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico off of Port Aransas growing up. At first I thought it was a sea snake, but upon closer examination I realized it was a turtle. I had no idea turtles lived in the ocean, moreoever in the murky Texas coastal waters. Then I did my internship in college and fell in love with them. Unfortunately I didn’t make an effort to get a job working with them when I graduated but I at least started…
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Wonderful Fall
Leading up to the Autumnal Equinox it really felt like summer was going to keep on going. The heat was stifling, the flowers that bloom this time of year seemed to be stalled and the leaves on the trees were holding back. Then it seemed like, BOOM! And everything is like Fall, complete with the lighting changes. The other day we met my brother, SIL and Zoe at the Dallas Farmers Market and held back on taking photos until I saw an enormous pumpkin patch. All I wanted to do was save seeds from the wacky ones! Aren’t they divine? I’ve never been able to grow any gourds or pumpkins…
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(Windy) Wordless Wednesday
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Texas Road Trip: Palo Duro Canyon State Park
I think my favorite state park we went to was to Palo Duro Canyon. It was so beautiful and red! This photo is Chris up on the Lighthouse Peak. It is a 3 mile hike out to the peak and not too rugged in my opinion, but then again I have varying degrees on what ‘hard’ is now with a hiking trail. The only issue is taking enough water since there is not any water along the trail and it can get very hot out there. I highly recommend taking this trail as you will also go by the Capital Peak as well. There was a lot of wildlife along…