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While I was in Washington DC, I once again visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  Heather’s post-doctoral work has been with the Smithsonian Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, and she’s had offices at both the Natural History Museum and at the National Zoo.

There was a long, long line to get into the zoo.

It was fun to photograph some of the exhibits, knowing that Andrew and Sylvia would enjoy seeing them when I got home.

The oceans exhibit is simply stunning.

I really enjoyed a new exhibit where people have crocheted a coral reef.  Fascinating conflagration of fiber arts, mathematics, and marine biology (to name a few).

One of the women who spearheads this hyperbolic coral reef project gave a TED talk.  So very interesting!

This totem really caught my eye…

Since Andrew and Sylvie weren’t with me, I got to visit the gem and mineral exhibits this time.

I was surprised to see a large concretion on display.

In Wisconsin, on Highway 14, just outside of Arena, I once visited a bizarre concretion museum (see article here).  The rocks were no where near the size of this beauty, but it was an interesting thing to discover it here!

One of the exhibits I enjoyed most was a Nature’s Best Photography Awards.  The following images were displayed in huge wall prints.  It was humbling and inspiring and invigorating to see some of the amazing scenes nature photographers have captured.  And I so enjoyed the fact that I was by myself, so I could wander the exhibit at my leisure.

I met up with Heather at the end of her work day.  She’s due with twins – a boy and a girl in about six weeks.  Amazing!  So fun to see her:)

She and Michael have had a rather extraordinary last few months.  In addition to the twins pregnancy and life with their now-three-year-old, Evie, they both secured tenure-track professorships at a liberal arts college in Indiana.

So starting in August, Professors Heather and  Michael will be heading to Richmond, Indiana (that’s on the south east border of Indiana, about 7 1/2 hours from Madison).  Heather will be the school’s natural history museum director where she’ll be:

• managing the museum’s collections,
• raising funds for continuous museum improvements,
• maintaining an active research career involving undergraduates,
• supervising student workers at the museum,
• teaching one course per year, and
• providing educational experiences for students both on campus and in the Richmond community.

(that’s according to the job description I found online)

Michael will be working as a half-time professor in the Physics Department.  He’ll be teaching one class this fall and one in the spring, and his job should grow and perhaps expand in future years.  Evie may be attending the on-campus preschool, and their dog Pippin should get to go into work with them!

So many congrats to the Drs. Lerner for this major accomplishment.  Looking forward to visiting you guys in Indiana!

I arrived in DC late on Sunday night.  Joe met me at the airport, and we took the Metro back to his apartment.  He’s living in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, within walking distance to the Capitol.  In the map below, Joe’s home is the red marker, and the capitol building is surrounded by green on the left (click for a larger version).

So neat to get to see Joe’s home.  His first post-college digs.

Joe is a research associate with a non-profit called Taxpayers for Common Sense.  His organization is a non-partisan budget watchdog group, and Joe’s been focusing on energy and natural resources policy.  Here’s an example of a write-up he’s done🙂

Joe lives with two roommates from Bowdoin.  One is working for a public polling firm and the other for the Justice Department.  Thanks for making me feel welcome, guys!

On Monday, Joe headed in to work, and I wandered around his beautiful neighborhood, photographing the flowers and the houses.

I already posted many of the photos from my walk-about on Earth Day.  You can see them here.

Here’s Joe’s apartment building.

Their place is on the second floor.  They have a two-story high ceiling in the living room, two bedrooms upstairs, and one bedroom downstairs.  Joe and his roommates are about the cleanest 20-somethings I’ve ever met!

Looking down the street.  The flowers and beautiful trees help, but I kept thinking about what an amazingly beautiful place they live.  There were kids playing in yards and people out gardening as I walked around.  I didn’t know that areas so close to the Capitol and Mall could be so very residential!

I joined Joe for a yummy lunch of empanadas and tamales along with a great drink called Horchata.

Here I’m in the Eastern Market metro stop – being a tourist, taking pictures.

Here comes a train!

I emerged from the Metro at the Smithsonian stop.  First, I headed down to the Holocaust Museum.  Unfortunately, the permanent exhibition was sold out for the day.  I was, however, quite moved by two of the special exhibits – one on the power of Nazi propaganda and one called Remember the Children.

From the Holocaust Museum, I  walked across the Mall over to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  Pregnant-with-twins-Heather was at a conference, and I was planning to meet her at the end of her work day.  That, however, is a topic for another blog post or two.

Here come the silly Segways (tour info here)!

How luxuriant to wonder around a beautiful town and photograph or do whatever strikes my fancy!

Since it was spring break (the week before Easter too), the Mall was teaming with school groups.  It was actually quite remarkable to me how many people were pouring in and out of the museums.

***

24 hours later…

Tuesday afternoon, Grace treated Joe and me to a wonderful tea at the Wilard Hotel.

I enjoyed the Wilard tea blend along with the following.  Is there no better idea than afternoon tea?  What a divine way to spend some of the afternoon.  Especially when it’s with good friends:)

Here’s Grace and me before parting ways.  We’re going to see her in July when she and Tim and John come out to visit.  Already, I can’t wait!

One thing I missed doing was trying a Nutella latte.  Ahh, well, maybe next time.  The coffee shop, Pound, serves a specially concocted Nutella latte with Kickapoo Coffee (from Viroqua, WI)!  They are just a few doors down from Joe’s office at Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Here’s me and Joe the morning of my departure.  First a couple out takes and then the nice picture.

Thanks Joe, Joe’s roommates, and Grace for such a nice time!

 

One of my very favorite parts about our time in Arizona was watching the sunrise.  On Sunday morning, we woke up just before 5am and headed out to Pinnacle Peak to watch the sun rise over the desert.

When we arrived, it was pitch dark, and we discovered that the park was still closed for a while.

The stars were bright, and we watched the dawn start to break in the east.

I loved the way the saguaro cacti were silhouetted and the bright stars (planets?) hung bright in the brightening sky.

From a deep blue to a rosier hue…

Turning around (and increasing my camera’s exposure settings, you can see Pinnacle Peak warmed by the dawn light.

For a half hour or so, we hiked up the peak.

Here’s a group photo taken by a passing photographer.  By 6:15am, the trail was teaming with runners and photographers and hikers.

It seemed to me that darkness was peeled off the landscape like you slip the skin off a baked beet.

The rosy light brought out the deeply saturated colors of the cacti flowers.

Can you spot Waldo? (a.k.a. Grace and Jennifer).

I love this photo of a sprawling saguaro.

Lara is super-active-athletic woman.  She wouldn’t be sitting down on the trail if I hadn’t asked her to:)

Jennifer teases the cacti.

We’re all continuously amazed by the spikes.

Cactus and sunrise.  If I did HDR photography, this would have been a great candidate as the sunrise was orange and this cactus is so cool-looking!

The soft morning light is so different from the blinding, harsh mid-day light.  Gotta look fast before it’s gone:)

Looking back at Pinnacle Peak as we left.  That orangy-red sunrise really makes it glow.

As we walked out of the park, my friends engaged in some yoga moves:)

Love this one with the sun rising over Grace’s triangle pose.

Beautiful flowers.

And here are a few final shots of the desert sunrise.  All taken by Lara.

Bye bye, desert!  Here’s a photo of our vacation home just before leaving…

After packing up, we drove in to Phoenix for breakfast at Matt’s Big Breakfast.  It’s the kind diner that ends up with a line around the block every weekend morning.  Fortunately, we got there early enough that we only had a 40 minute wait:)  I enjoyed a mushroom, sausage, and cheese omelet with home made lemonade.  And I didn’t eat again until dinner:)

We headed back to the airport, and I caught a couple on-time flights from Phoenix through Dallas and then on to Washington DC, where I spent Part II of my vacation.  Stay tuned…

Frank Lloyd Wright (whom I used to call Frank Lloyd Wrong when I was bored of him) was a regular topic when I was growing-up.  Terry is heavily involved in the Taliesin Foundation…the organization that works to keep his homes in Wisconsin and Arizona afloat.  As a kid, I recall many-a-visit to Wright’s buildings in Chicago and Wisconsin.  Terry was integral to the development of the original Frank Lloyd Opera that was created here in Madison in 1993 (review here).  In fact, Terry came up with the name for the opera – Shining Brow (the Welsh translation for Taliesin) while lying on our couch at home.  Wright thought that houses shouldn’t be placed on the top of hills.  Instead, they should blend with the brow of the hill to become one with the landscape.

Suffice to say, I’m pretty familiar with Wright’s Taliesin home.  For context/comparison, here’s a few pictures I took of the Spring Green, Wisconsin Taliesin in July 2004.

Here’s Mom (right) and Maretta (left) rolling down the hill:)

Frank Lloyd Wright lived in Wisconsin most of his life, and then he created a second house and studio in Arizona.  Today, there is an accredited architecture school that migrates between the two locations in the winter and summer.

On Saturday afternoon, Grace, Kathy, Lara, and I visited Taliesin West and went on a tour.  There were petroglyphs on one of the rocks in front of the buildings.  One of the designs was turned into the Taliesin Architectural Fellowship logo – the thought it that it is like two hands clasped in fellowship.

Here, Kathy, Lara, Grace, and I head down into the gift shop to get ourselves some Wright-ian jewelry and gifts.

I love this design so much, I’d kinda like it to be the logo for my life:)

We had a great, enthusiastic tour guide who led us around the grounds and buildings for over an hour.  The 15 degree angle was a distinguishing foundational design element throughout the site.

More petroglyphs.

This site is actually serviced by its own aquifer.  Wright prioritized life’s luxuries.  In this case, the pool and grass also help to serve as a fire break since they were well outside of civilization when this structure was created.

The desert plants and elements blend with the hill behind.

Love this picture of Lara’s belly!

This picture is looking out toward Phoenix.

Hello me!

Sun shining through the bell tower.

There are three theaters in Taliesin West.  Here’s a couple images of the first.

Outside, we spied an orange tree.  As a midwestern girl, the idea of oranges growing on trees still makes my eyes grow large.  Had to take a photo for proof.

In a sculpture garden, I liked this image of a woman running.

The Wisconsin Taliesin looks out over a lake and maple trees.  Here we’re looking out over saguaro cacti, palo verde trees, and desert.  The view is beautiful both ways!

After the tour, we stopped for some ice cream in the shade.  Glad we got to do this tour, girls!

To start our third day in Arizona off right, Kathy treated us all to a delicious breakfast of huevos rancheros.  Having never made them, I was in for a treat.  They were positively delicious!

I believe the recipe goes something as follows: fry tortiallas shells.  Fry eggs.  Pour beans over and top with salsa and shredded cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes on the plate. Yum!

Here we’re enjoying another meal outdoors.  Warm, soft air feels so good when you’re used to the biting cold air of witner!

After breakfast, we attempted to go to a restorative yoga class.  Unfortunately, traffic on the highway was completely stopped, and so by the time we got to our exit, we were already about 15 minutes late for the class.  So we scrapped that idea and instead went to a nearby petroglyph site.

On this snake-infested hillside, there are thousands of stone drawings done by people 1-2000 years ago.  The drawings were kind of hard to see in the bright mid-day sun, but it was really cool to see artwork made by people so very long ago.

Here’s one of the illustrations.  To make these, the artist would use a rock to knock off the top layer of dark, exposing the design.

Here are some petroglyphs of kissing reindeer.  The five of us got stones with this design as our souvenir from the trip.

In the afternoon, some of us went to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Arizona home…but that’s a topic for another blog post.  After we all were home and had finished our pool-side or in-the-pool relaxation, we got dressed up and went out to supper at a great restaurant called The House at Secret Garden.

Here’s a recreation of our Austin shoes picture.

I think this one here might be my favorite photo from the trip.

We had fun taking pictures together in the gardens around the restaurant before and after dinner.

Although we arrived in Scottsdale with little pre-planning for what we would do or where we would eat, we really lucked out finding some amazing restaurants.  Thanks to my friend Indu who worked with Bryan in Ann Arbor and who now lives in Scottsdale for suggesting this restaurant.

I had Shrimp and Grits with Bacon and Carrots Drizzled with Sweet Corn and Serrano Sauce mmmm.  For dessert, we shared a Chocolate Cloud Cake with House Made Fleur de Sel, Caramel and a Cloud of Sweetened Whipped Cream.

In the evening, we sat around the table, playing games and laughing until we cried.  Good times, girls!  Good times:)

On the second day of our trip to Arizona, we visited the impressive Desert Botanical Garden.  Since none of us are too familiar with the desert landscape, we were all really impressed at the diversity and beauty of the desert gardens.

As we approached the gardens, there were a mix of real yucca bushes/trees and glass ones made by the glass icon Dale Chihuly.  Stunning!

 

The purplish prickly pear-looking cacti on the right of this picture were my favorite. Their colors ranged from deep mauve to a beautiful teal.

So cool!  I think this photo was taken by Lara.  I compiled all our images, so what you’re seeing on the blog is a nice mix of photos by me and Lara and Kathy.

Who knows what this is…but isn’t the symmetry beautiful?

April certainly is a month for blooms in the desert.  And the contrast of the soft petals and the hard, baking rocks was stark.

Love how these caci seem to glow in the sun.

We enjoyed a visit to the butterfly exhibit.

Then I sat the girls down and asked them to let me take their pictures. I like this sequence of Jennifer:)

Lara’s expecting a baby boy in early June, and it was so fun to talk about baby names and to watch her belly shift and bump as the little one rolled around.

Petrified cactus?

Jennifer stretching?  Or perhaps imagining herself like a saguaro?

A few more pretty plants…

Here’s me and Jennifer…and a saguaro

Here we’re all pretending to be cacti.

Taking a moment in the shade.  It was about 95 degrees, and that sun is hot!  Amazing, though, how a few moments in the shade can revive.

Jennifer tries on some gourds.

This plant seems to say, “Don’t mess with me.”

Here’s me and Lara…perhaps discussing some nerdy camera topic.

Another petrified cactus skeleton.

We tried to have lunch in Scottsdale at a restaurant called Cafe Monarch, but they were closing.  The chef/owner sent us down the street to a great place ladies lunching spot called Arcadia Farms.  There, we had another tremendously good meal.

Just because I loved it so much, I’ll share the menu descriptions.  We ordered these three items and shared.  The salads came up as a favorite-meal-of-the-trip for some of us.  The only thing that would have made it better is if the mushroom and cheese tart was a bit bigger:)

• Raspberry Salad with Fossil Creek Goat Cheese
  organically grown baby lettuces, fresh raspberries, warm goat cheese medallions, jicama, carrots, and candied pecans with our famous raspberry vinaigrette
• OUR SIGNATURE Strawberry Chicken Salad
  grilled chicken, vine-ripened strawberries, mixed baby greens toasted almonds and poppyseed vinaigrette
• Wild Mushroom, Spinach and Goat Cheese Tart
  caramelized leeks, fresh baby spinach, wild mushrooms, mozzarella and Fossil Creek goat cheese with organic baby greens

After lunch, we stopped by an REI where Kathy and I got some new summer clothes and Jennifer found a great pair of boots.

Back at the house, we made cool drinks and relaxed by or in the pool.

Here’s Lara and her baby floating.

And here’s my spot at the pool side  Ahhh, memories!

 

After relaxing pool-side for the afternoon, we headed out to a restaurant called Pinnacle Peak Patio where they served ribs country-style.

Look at what cute footwear we have on!  Jennifer found those boots on sale at REI earlier that day.  And Kathy’s red Dansko sandles are embroidered!

Being a cowboy kinda place, ties are not allowed.  Hundreds of cut ties hang from the ceiling, and the floors are dusted with sawdust for dancing.

We shared orders of ribs and enjoyed their home brew root beer.  This table reminds me of a place we went to in Austin and also to a place we went to in Boston when we ate lobster after presenting our research at an Environmental Education conferences.  Red checked tablecloths often hold yummy food.

So ended Day 2.  A fun-filled day with good friends.

Over the last week, I’ve had the great pleasure of traveling across the country to visit with friends and family.  The traveling was inspired by a  plan to meet up with my friends Lara, Grace, Kathy, and Jennifer.  We all went to graduate school together at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan.  Most of us were on a two-year project studying whether an exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo changed zoo visitor’s behavior (here’s the link to our research!).  They’re a great group of girls, and we’ve gotten together a few times in recent years.  In October, 2007, we met up in Austin for a wonderful weekend (blog post here! photos here!).  Some of us were also at Jennifer’s 2008 wedding and Lara’s 2010 wedding.  Kathy bid on (and won) a weekend home rental in Scottsdale, Arizona, so we all traveled…from California (Jennifer and Kathy), Wisconsin (me), and Washington DC (Grace and Lara) to meet in Arizona for a girls weekend.

Enroute to Arizona, I dropped off Sylvia and Andrew at the Dallas airport.  LuAnn was able to get through security to meet us at the gate, so I could wave goodbye and run across the airport to make my connecting flight.  The kids stayed with Granny and Grandad for the week, since it was also Andrew’s spring break.

In Arizona, the weather was warm…actually, often HOT!  After the cold spring we’ve had in Wisconsin, I welcomed the hot sun:)

My girls and I love good food.  It’s the glue that held our master’s project together through thick and thin.  And so when we get together, food becomes a wonderful thing to anticipate and enjoy.

We started our visit of Scottsdale in Old Town.  Upon the recommendation of a friend (thanks Becky!), we ate at a restaurant called Bandera.  Rotisserie Chicken, here we come!

This picture, my friends, is of my favorite dish of the trip.  It’s called Macho Salad.  Ingredients include chicken, avocado, corn, dates, goat cheese, almonds, and some amazing fried corn bread croutons.  I found a recipe online that seemed to be a fair interpretation.  Oh, so good!

April in Arizona is beautiful!  This is my first time to the Southwest, and I was in awe of the flora and landscape.

Me and a silly statue in Old Town.

Check out the cactus!  I’m now a huge fan of cactus.  Such a cool plant!

One of many group pictures we took.  Check out how the light spotlights Lara’s baby belly:)

The next morning (I guess that was Friday), I woke up early and wandered around the yard taking pictures in the lovely morning light.  Here’s the sun shining through a palo verde tree.

And here’s the huge house we occupied for the weekend.

Three suguaro cacti landscaped our front yard.  Like the cactus equivalent to trees!

Lovely purple flowers blooming in the back.

Super cool bush.

Here’s the pool…

Ahh, the morning light!  I wish there was audio so you could hear the Gavin’s Quail and Inca Doves.  There were also Cactus Wrens pip-hopping about, and we saw some Flickrs nesting in the cacti.

Here’s our first morning of breakfast.  There was a lot of laughter and fun!

Happy Earth Day, my friends!

One of my favorite parts about my recent travels was having the opportunity to wander around taking photos of flowers.  Before kids or dog or cats, plant photography held my heart.  Here’s some photos I took while exploring the neighborhoods near Joe’s apartment in Washington DC.

Now that I’m back in nearly-frozen Wisconsin, these soft, bright flowers are all the more beautiful.

If you’d like to use any of these as your desktop background, click on the image, click on “View the photo on Flickr,” click on the “actions” button above and to the left of the image, click on “view all sizes” (the 7th item on the list), choose either the “large” or “original” size, and download.  Enjoy!