Wednesday, May 17, 2017

2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - APRIL 27TH, 2017

APRIL 27TH, 2017 

12.29 p.m.  Lovely to be in one spot for a few day. I love our traveling but staying in my pj's later than usual has been restful. Gregg went out and dropped a couple of items off at a dry cleaner, and brought me oatmeal from McDonalds.  He had his usual and picked up a latte from Starbucks for me. There is obviously food here but the first day it was hard to break the cycle of traveling. He picked up milk for his sister at Safeway and showed me a photo he had taken of a very artistic and colorful display of veggies.  Hello California!  I do love your artistic spin on things.


 We are using his sister's washer and dryer to catch up on our laundry. 


She had been busy this week and as we were two days early, had not finished the week out.  We went off to a book store Gregg had heard about in San Jose.  


2.56 p.m. we had fun at Keplers. His sister had given him a book about the founder, the reason for his interest. A very nice place not that we need an excuse to go into any bookstore. 


Gregg bought a book on philosophy. I purchased three relatively smaller books by Mary Oliver, one of my favorite poets.  And of course there are always greeting cards to look through, ones that I don't see at home.  There was also a list of authors shown.


We ordered a drink at a place with seating outside. I can't remember its name now, but it was very pleasant sipping on a lemonade and looking through our purchases.  






Next on our list was the Arizona Cactus Garden at Stanford University.  We learned about it on Yelp.  

3:59 PM.  It was lovely, very interesting. There were lots of lizards running around, and birds. I saw a cactus wren. We didn't have the camera with the zoom lens, so it was impossible to get decent photos of them.  But I got a pretty decent shot of this bug with my cell phone.  I saw several of them on the cacti, and then found this one crawling on my top.


It is a Tussock Moth Caterpillar.  I put him back on the nearest cactus and was very careful not to touch it.  Some species tend to feel like you have been stabbed with fiberglass and can give a nasty rash.  I don't know if this is one of them but I wasn't taking any chances.


Such a pleasant place, first to take photos and then to sit on a bench in the shade and admire the surroundings.


We had difficulty finding it at first, and asked several people if they knew where it was.  We were on the grounds but no one seemed to be able to point us in the right direction.  We muddled on and found it not too long after asking the last person.



We spent a very pleasant hour looking at all the plants.  It wasn't a big garden but very enjoyable.


When it was time to go GPS took us on the back roads.  It was rush hour and the freeway was a solid red on their map.  Staying off the freeway made it a pleasanter ride home.

5.57 p.m.   We are back at the house and waiting for both sister and brother-in-law to come home.

9.43 p.m. I am tucked up in bed for the night. Gregg's sister and her husband took us to a very nice restaurant with Mediterranean cuisine. Neither Gregg nor I can remember the name of it now but it was a very nice restaurant, and lovely to catch up with them both.  We came back and chatted a little more and then we all went to bed. 

34 comments:

  1. Denise, that is a beautiful and fascinating caterpillar! Thank you so much for photographing it. I love bookstores as well! I never knew that McDonald's has oatmeal. The garden is beautiful! And I love this photo of you with the blue top and you have such a lovely smile. You look so relaxed. Your photo of the peppers and spinach makes me want to make a salad! Lovely post and photos, thank you so much for sharing. :)

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    1. Hi Linda, you are very welcome :) and thank you for your sweet comments. Yes, I would enjoy a salad right now :)

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  2. You got such an excellent picture of this unusual caterpillar! I must admit that I might scream if I saw it crawling on me! I would not have believed how huge this cactus plant is if I had not seen Gregg standing in front of it! The cactus flower is beautiful, and reminds me of the sun and it's rays. I didn't know Chelsea Clinton had written a book!

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    1. You have a lovely way of describing things Ginny. I will admit that I don't like being startled by fast moving bugs, such as spiders, but I still reach for my camera once I gather my wits :). I have always been fascinated by all insects ever since I was a little girl. I seem to remember hearing that Chelsea wrote a book but it is a bit of a foggy memory.

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  3. Love that pepper artwork.
    Bookstores? Sooooo much temptation.
    And of course I love the gardens. You really packed a lot into your trip.

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  4. An interesting day for you both. Great pictures - all except the ones of the Tussock Moth Caterpillar (had to go back to check it's name!). I hate caterpillars.

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    1. Hi Valerie, I remember my dad not liking caterpillars, especially as they used to eat the vegetables in his garden :)

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  5. Cute little caterpillar going to be a butterfly and those of the prettiest Peppers I've ever seen period have not seen Digi art like that gorgeous as are all your beautiful photos

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    1. Thank you Sandra and I agree about those Peppers.

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  6. Oh don't you love gps navigation! I always check the traffic before heading out. Thoroughly enjoyable post

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  7. The caterpillar is quite an unusual looking one!

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    1. I agree, I have never seen one like it before.

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  8. Enjoyed your post again, thank you.
    I especially thought those vegetables were very artistically displayed and so colourful.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan, that pretty display just begged us to buy :) All the best to you too.

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  9. Beautiful cactus flowers! I don't think of them, as flowering. Not having any experience, with them. But they certainly do. :-)

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    1. Thank you LC, I have never seen cactus blooming in such profusion. It made it all the more special seeing them.

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  10. What a lovely day you and your husband had! I like the smiling peppers and all those books available. I probably would have gone with the Chelsea Clinton book! This is really the time for citizen involvement in our world.

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    1. I would be very interested in Chelsea's book too :) and I couldn't agree more.

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  11. Hello, sounds like a great visit and time with the family. The books sound interesting and I would love to visit that garden! Cool looking caterpillar! Have a happy day!

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  12. Thanks for sharing this wonderful time!

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    1. Thank you Christine and you are very welcome :)

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  13. Hi Both and another fascinating post, the artistic vegetable display is incredible, wonderful to see peppers smiling. Also what a beautiful caterpillar, I could spend all day chasing them!!. And you have got another book of poems, so I look forward to seeing some of them used in the blog. All the best, John

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    1. Thank you John, I expect I will share one of Mary's poems some time :). All the best to you too, Denise

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  14. That was a beautiful pepper display for sure, but I wondered what happens when people start selecting, especially the green ones! Also a very colorful caterpillar. You and Gregg did look like you were having a good time in the bookstore and sipping your drinks. Sounds like a lovely day capped with the family.

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    1. I believe there are supporting shelves between them :)

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  15. Nothing like a good bookstore. Our daughter really enjoys Mary Oliver, too. I forget what her favorite is from her. The Cactus garden is so interesting.

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    1. Thank you Ellen, I agree and I am happy your daughter like Mary Oliver. I have so many favorites.

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  16. What a great trip and your sharing the excursions are so delightful Denise! I've scanned through the most recent posts.

    I have a question tho, are you still the hostess for Today's Flowers?

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    1. Thank you Anni, so happy you are enjoying them. To answer your question I am no longer the host of Today's Flowers. I closed it quietly when I got sick a few months back.

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  17. I love bookstores...just love to browse.

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