Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

I've been getting cabin fever lately. It was Smithsonians free museum day, so I decided to take advantage. The Wildflower Center is in South Austin. Since my neck of the woods is more central/north Austin and I never venture south, I was a little worried about my direction capabilities.

My need to get out of the house on a Saturday was stronger than my fear of getting lost......after all, as long as I can find the interstate I can find my way home.

Thank God for Google maps and the sort. We made it there without a hitch....although it was a little further south than what I thought.....this is a much larger city than I realize sometimes. Just going to South Austin felt like I had driven from Mobile to Dauphin Island.

On with the day. Although the weather was warm, it was comfortable. The extreme heat seems to have disappeared. After Summer and I arrived we just took our time meandering around. We checked out the gift shop first. We grabbed a map and let Summer practice her map skills. She led us by the map to the different areas she was interested in seeing first.

I have to say that this is one of the places that I am glad to get into free. The first time we ever visited the Center was in Jan. 08. Of course in Jan. there were no wildflowers blooming so we got in for free then too. I guess we just might not ever visit this place at the right time of year 'cause I didn't see a whole lot of wildflowers this time either.......of course it's not peak wildflower season and wildflowers really can't grow well with no rain.

Don't get me wrong....the place has a really nice atmosphere and they have really cool educational classes for kids, but it's not one of my favs. :-)

In the end our day was very fulfilling and eventful. Here are some shots of the day. Make sure you read the captions....

Throwing a penny into the wishing pond.



At the top of the lookout tower.



Rapunzel....let down your hair!



There were some little friends just roaming around freely.....you can tell these mice are use to people.





I guess the turtles were very used to people too...they stayed put no matter how close we got to them.



Do you see anything hiding in the pond greenery?????