A Road Trip

Betty Anne, Shelley & I took off Sunday after church for St. Andrews. ROAD TRIP!!! Of course the trip started off with Shelley driving Betty Anne's new standard car, so just as I was about to down a great gulp of water from my Nalgene, she decides to shift gears and I'm suddenly SOAKED- thanks Shelley!

Anyway the drive was nice, we talked like we haven't talked in years, and honestly it feels like it must have been at least that long since we all just sat down and jabbered outside of church activities! You know what one of the things I absolutly love about sitting down with a handful of women for the afternoon (or at least the women I love to hang out with), we don't waste our time talking about trivial things, but dive into trying to solve the worlds problems! :)

We arrived mid afternoon to Kingsbrea Gardens, a gorgeous place!

This is picture of the lily, unopened is one of my most favorite pictures! Doesn't it just remind you of people and potential beauty; haven't we all met people like this? haven't we all felt like this? Afraid to open up and expose ourselves, yet in remaining closed to the world we withold the deepest, most beautiful parts. I love this picture and I'm so glad I got it!

It was rather hilarious as we took off through the gardens. Betty Anne & I drawn by our eyes "oh look that's pretty!" and Shelley keeping her eyes focused on the map, making sure we saw everything and trying to keep us on track! How exhausted she must have been! LOL! Of course Betty Anne & I just laughed at her mulling through the map, trying to reorientate herself, and consequently trying to get "US" back on track. So we continued to laugh "ooooo isn't that pretty!"

There were some really neat things to see, including water fountains, fruit trees, billy goats and peacocks, not to mention tons of SUNFLOWER (a personal favorite), and just a gorgeous array of flowers!

I would love to go earlier in the season another year and see things different again I'm sure! That's the great thing about gardens, really well kept ones always have something different and beautiful to offer each time you go see them!

And to sum the whole garden experience up, Betty Anne said it best. We stopped at the end of the MAP (yes the map Shelley!) at the cafe and restaurant for a cool drink and as Betty Anne told our waitress "A round of cookies for all!"

When the garden closed we headed downtown to mull about the shops, forgetting that it was Sunday and most of the shops closed by 5pm. So we wandered around a little bit and then went to my favorite place for dinner (well ok, maybe the only place I've ever been in St. Andrews for dinner, but it's my favorite non the less). It's this little place, you walk through this garden path to the back of the house, and sit out on the water, and WOW did we ever get a sunset! It just kept getting better and better and better! 4 times I got up from our table and sat down next to the rail to take pictures. I wish I could show you them all here, but I'll show you the best one. The colours just kept getting better and better! Definitly the highlight sunset of the summer!

Anyway, all said it was an absolutly GREAT day (one we've been planning for 2 years mind you!) although a late night coming back!