My Trip to the Keck Gardens in Santa Barbara Yesterday

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In case anyone noticed my absence yesterday, I had an errand to run in Santa Barbara, a good two hour drive one way not counting stops or traffic problems. I can't remember the last time I attempted such a drive by myself. The friend I wanted to take had to work, and my husband wasn't up to the trip. The errand was to return something that didn't fit to the Sears Lands End store . I could have mailed it, but I wanted to go back the the Alice Keck Memorial Garden and have a photoshoot when my husband wasn't impatiently waiting for me on a bench as he was last time we were there four years ago. But the trip pushed me to my limits. I stopped three times on the way for restroom use or to get gas. I left about 10:15 am and arrived at Sears about 12:45 pm. I made my return first and then looked around for something that did fit. This was the closest place to home I could return my Lands End items. They no longer have a store in San Luis Obispo where I made my last return. I spent more time in the store than I expected and it was almost three before I arrived at Chick-fil-A down the street. I'd never tried it before and I wanted to. I wanted a sit-down relaxed lunch because I knew my photoshoot would be tiring. It was. One reason I wanted to go to the garden was because I thought I remembered when I was there last time there was some identification of the plants. There were some near my home I'd wanted to identify and I was hoping this would help. It didn't. There were no labels this time -- just a general map on a sign post with broad areas identified and generic trees. I just found a guide with no photos online so I can probably identify the pictures of trees that I took, but many of the flowers will be trickier. Also, I didn't have a good way to label the locations of the photos I took along the paths so I could find them on the map. Here's a link to the map and guide that I found: https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=16771 I spent the most time around the koi pond. I didn't see any koi, but I had a lot of fun watching the ducks. There were also a few turtles scattered around the edge of the pond. If you look carefully you can see one in my photo. It was more fun watching the ducks, since they moved in and out of the water and flapped their wings, etc. Their quacks were relaxing. I wanted to get to the other two blocks of the park to walk around, but I only went across to the playground block because it had a restroom I wanted to use before starting home. I probably should have stayed longer to rest at the park and have a snack from my lunch sack. Leaving a business area in Santa Barbara just after 5 pm probably isn't the smartest thing I've ever done. State Street is a very long street and it has a signal almost every block between the park and the freeway. I only stopped twice on the way home, but I didn't get home until after 8. I was quite tired in the neck and shoulders from all the driving by the time I got home -- in spite of my stops. I've been taking it easy today. But I'm glad to know I can still do a trip like this my myself if I need to -- or want to. If you were visiting this park, would you rather spend the most time looking at plants, ducks, turtles, or koi? Would you be happy or reluctant to make a trip like this by yourself. Fifteen years ago I wouldn't have hesitated, but at 75 I'm not as adventurous as I used to be.