L.A. COUNTY ARBORETUM

I haven't been to the Los Angeles County Arboretum since I went as a kid in elementary school on a field trip. All I remember was being on the tram, the peacocks and a whole punch of trees and plants. Its about the same but as an adult I appreciate it in a different way and I think that much like the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens it is a photographer's dream location.

There is a difference between the Arboretum and the Huntington Library in that the Huntington Library seems more funded, more manicured and they have more buildings. It is a museum/library and research center. The Arboretum is strictly botanical gardens. The truth is, I actually enjoyed the Arboretum more. First of all it was less crowded. Second, I so enjoyed the peacocks that were just everywhere. I saw more birds, butterflies, ducks, geese and squirrels than at the Huntington.


Before I even got to the entrance building there was a peacock out front that had all of the little snaggle toothed kids who just got off the bus in awe. I was in awe too and happily took a few pictures of this beautiful bird strutting it's stuff. I paid, walked through the door and didn't get a few feet before I saw another peacock perched in a tree.

If the amount of pictures I took is anything, I took 468 pictures by the end of my little adventure and a lot of them were peacocks. The tram wasn't working today. If you're going to go and you don't want to walk a lot, please call in advance and check to see if their tram is running. They were doing a lot of work and planting so roads were restricted for tram use. I walked, and walked, and walked but probably saw a lot I would not have seen otherwise.

My favorite part of the Arboretum was the Tropical Forest around Baldwin Lake. For a short while it was easy to feel that I had actually stepped into a tropical forest. The drop in temperature was immediately felt - cool, tranquil and quiet except for the squawking birds. Take a little walk with me and see some of what I saw....

I thorougly enjoyed my day out at the Arboretum. If you're looking for something to do put on your walking shoes, take your camera and venture out to the L.A. Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Its $7.00 for adults, $3.00 for the tram and parking is free. It's directly across from the Santa Anita racetrack. Get up to the 210 and exit on Baldwin. It's about 2 blocks south of the 210.

THE LOS ANGELES ZOO

Image from http://www.lazoo.org

With all of the pictures I took I completely forgot to take one of the front entrance so I borrowed one from the Los Angeles Zoo website.

I don't think I've been to the Los Angeles Zoo since I was in high school on a field trip with my Biology class. The reason I specifically remember is that our bus was detained leaving because a couple of the kids broke into one of the vending machines and got caught. Just stupid!

The day was overcast and the mood of the rather cloudy day seemed to live in the animals because they were all either sleeping or lazy.


Some were complete no-shows and reminded me of the first Jurassic Park when they were taking the first tour and none of the animals were around. Thankfully it picked up and even though many were sleeping or lazy, I still got some really great photos.



Rather than do a slide show I put together a video of some of the pics. I hate that I had to leave so many of them out to narrow it down to 10 minutes. All in all, I hope you enjoy it and if nothing else, it makes you feel the need to visit your local zoo.

AZUSA CANYON

If you like off-roading, seeing a little nature, 4-wheeling you probably know about Azusa Canyon. Take the 210 Freeway east to Azusa and head north. That's all. You head into the Angeles National Forest and pass the San Gabriel Dam. I've been up there a lot because I had a friend who did some 4-wheeling and had a sand rail. We stopped going there after a while because it got too crowded. But, it's the filthiest fun you'll ever have.

This picture is from my own personal archives and was taken at Azusa Canyon. There is always a little water there but right now there's a lot more water than usual, probably overflow from the damn after all the rain we had. Most times you can drive right under that bridge in the picture above. There is plenty of water everywhere and the mountains are beautiful and green, again after all the rain. It's a great time of the year to take a little drive and there are quite a few turn-offs as you head up the hill where you can stop and take pictures and more further up past the bridge where you can get out and take a look at the streams of water flowing down the mountains in the river beds.

Get out, take a drive and get some fresh air. Get out of the city and see what else Southern California has to see.

HUNTINGTON LIBRARY & BOTANICAL GARDENS

Today I decided to get out and I went to the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. Well, actually it's not Pasadena it's San Marino which I just learned today. All this time I thought it was in Pasadena. Anyone in L.A. knows where Pasadena is (most famous for the Tournament of Roses Parade) and if you're going to visit L.A. and you don't know, it's about 12 miles north of downtown L.A.

There's a little too much background information to give so I'm just going to quote this from the site and suggest you take a look at the About Page. The history of the Huntington Library is pretty interesting and is actually a research and educational institution.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution established in 1919 by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington. Henry Huntington, a key figure in the development of Southern California in the early 20th century, was also an active collector of rare books and manuscripts, art, and plants. By the time he established the institution, he and his wife had amassed an extensive collection focusing on British and American history, literature, and art, as well as rare and spectacular plant specimens.

If you plan to go, make sure you're wearing your most comfortable walking shoes because there are 120 acres of theme gardens complete with an amazing variety of trees, plants and flowers. You can walk across the expanse of lawns to admire the fountains and statues, sit on the bench under the shade of a beautiful, massive tree, sit on a bench in the camelia garden, stop to have something to drink or nibble on at the Tea Room & Cafe. Step inside the Conservatory but a warning for the ladies. If you've got curls you want to keep you might want to stay outside. The moisture and waters spraying from the ceiling will mess up your hair.



There's Japanese Garden:



A Chinese Garden:


The Camelia Garden:



The slideshow below will give you a little more of some of the things you may see and mind you, I was there three hours walking a very leisurely pace and still didn't see everything. If you've never been, what are you waiting for? Even if you go alone, take you iPOD (I did), put your headphones on and just enjoy a beautiful day and some truly beautiful gardens. I've also got some macro shots of flowers from the gardens on my photo blog Eyes, Mind, Heart.