Balboa Park's Rose and Cactus Garden

I just spent the weekend in the great and beautiful city of San Diego. It was a busy weekend and I took a ton of pics. So for a while, you will be seeing stuff from San Diego-sorry in advance. One of the most beautiful things I saw in San Diego was the Rose and Cactus Garden in Balboa Park. They are actually two different gardens that are next to each other and not mixed.

Going to start with the Cactus Garden which was developed in 1935 under the direction of Kate Sessions for the 1935 California Pacific International Expo:

 

 

 

 

Next up is the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden:

The Balboa Park Rose and Cactus Garden is one of the most beautiful places to walk around in. It is a true botanical oasis.







Music Monday: Roaming Around

Music Monday: I was out of town for the weekend. Spent a relaxing weekend in one of America's great cities-San Diego. I guess having a little vacation inspired me this week:

And now I am headed home:

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

Sulphur Creek Nature Center

Sulphur Creek Nature Center in my town of Hayward is a true gem. It has been there forever. Sulphur Creek is a wildlife rehabilitation and educational center that focuses on connecting people with native wildlife. The center has facilities for taking and treating medical and rehabilitation service for wild animals and birds. The center treats about 900 wild animals a year. It also has a small display of native reptiles, amphibians and insects. It is an educational center for local elementary schools (I remember going there-a 1,000 years ago) to learn about plants and animals:

Pond Turtles

 

Tarantula

Diamond Back Rattlesnake

The next two are two animals that are kept at the center because they are too humanized to survive in the wild:

 

Grey Fox

Coyote

And grounds are so beautiful to walk around and have a picnic or birthday party:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you will never know what you will see walking around:

 

 

 

Sulphur Creek is a special place. It has been around for generations and thousands upon thousands of kids in the San Francisco Bay Area have learned about nature and wildlife there. I know learned there and I took my kids there. It is a wonderful place to learn.

Just Things I See

Just things I see while being out and about:

And Saturday is William Shakespeare's birthday:

And there is always some music:

And little libraries:

But at the end of the movie "War Games" the computer asks "Would You Like to Play a  Nice Game of Chess:

2018 Cherry Blossom Festival

It is the start of festival season here in the Bay Area. I headed over to one of my favorites: The San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival. It was a great time with food, music, fashion and a whole lot of fun:

The 51st edition of the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival was a hoot and we actually had it under sunny sky's this year. Can't wait for next year.