Velda and I took a day off from chores to play hooky.
First we went to the Rhododendron Species Foundation and Botanical
Garden which is at the Weyerhauser property at Federal Way, WA.
In addition to the gardens, they raise
unique plants to sell. Velda found
a number of very unique species of rhodies that she could add to her garden, several were from China. They were having a sale (50% off) and heard
if she joined the Foundation, she would get another 10% off - so she filled the car (quite literally). By joining, they reimbursed her for our entry fee.
While she
was selecting just the right plant for her collection, she met and talked with
some gardeners that were there for the sale. They had a nice chat about gardening in the northwest. Uh oh, they ended up exchanging phone numbers. We spent a number of hours there on a
dark and overcast day. After she
filled up two wagons of plants she wanted to purchase, we did a quick tour of the gardens. We could have spent hours looking at
the gardens but that is for another day (with better weather) and a little earlier
in the season.
We also spent some time
(cut short by rain) the Weyerhaeuser Bonsai Gardens, which is adjacent to the
Rhody Garden.
Later we drove over to Black Diamond
Bakery for a very late lunch and eat some of that bread made in a wood fired oven.
http://www.blackdiamondbakery.com/
We
had not been there for many-many years and it appears to have changed
ownership since we were last there.
Since we weren't that far from the North Bend Outlet Stores, we made a quick stop there. Velda did some
shopping and found her prep bowls that she had been
looking for months as well as more coffee flavors to buy. As evening set in, we headed back home. We felt like tourists on vacation. It was a great day to spend an overcast and rainy day.
No comments:
Post a Comment