We pass through Thomas, WV on our way to Blackwater Falls, and I always stop.

It’s a very depressed mains street, but they’re slowly rebuilding, and it’s interesting to see these changes over time.

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Saturday we drove to Audra State Park. I asked Michael if there was anywhere he wanted to go, so he grabbed the WV guide books and found Audra State Park.

The drive was lovely, and the park itself was a pleasant surprise.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I don’t like taking picture of people I don’t know. (Hell, I generally don’t like taking pictures of people I DO know.) The reason there are so few pictures of the river is because it was FULL of people, hanging out and enjoying the cool water and lying on the rocks sunbathing.

As we dawdled in getting our hotel room, we didn’t get a room close to Williamsburg. The nice thing about this is we got to drive around the Colonial Parkway, which is gorgeous.

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So my cousin Liz graduated from college this past weekend, so we took advantage of the trip and wandered around Williamsburg a bit. Hadn’t been there since I was in 6th grade, so it was pretty much all new.

We didn’t pay $40/person to tour the houses, because we only had part of an afternoon. Despite that, it was fascinating.

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Here are some non-Botanic garden flower pictures.

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Denver Museum of Nature and Science

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Because I am inexplicably drawn to cemeteries, Michael and I walked to the Parker Cemetery.

It was somewhat odd–I’m used to cemeteries around here, and found myself somewhat shocked at how recent the stones of the founders were. Of course, I’m pretty sure at least some of the stones had been replaced.

Plot and stones of the founders of Parker, Co.

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Monday we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens. The visit would have been more enjoyable if there hadn’t been grade-schoolers running and screaming and generally being out-of-control maniacs on the paths.

But aside from that, it was a beautiful day, and there were lots of spring flowers.

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Our other hike was at Red Rocks, which I am told is a venue where music is sometimes played. I thought it was a lovely hike.

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We spent a week in Denver, hanging out the Janiece and Anne and Susan and Stacy (and attendant family members) and not only did we have a wonderful time, I was able to be convincing of the need for hikes.

Our first trip was to Dinosaur Ridge, which is a free park. It was a steep hike in parts, but beautiful, and I was sorry my ankle didn’t like the climbing, because I would have liked to have spent more time there.
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Various things that struck my fancy as we wandered through DC.

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We took a long weekend and spent two days wandering around the Washington DC Mall. Although it was cool, the weather was so lovely we spent almost all our time outside.

We so most of the major monuments, including the WWII Memorial and the MLK Jr Memorial, neither of which was on the Mall last time we visited.

The Washington Monument is visible from just about everywhere.

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Hard to believe how many flowers were blooming in early March.

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