Luray Caverns ~

Went to the Luray Caverns last Saturday. Was 2 1/2 hours away, but worth the drive.

Was rainy, Cloudy, hard to see the hills... but it was nice to be on a road again, that was like Cornelius Pass in Oregon.
Twisty!  LOL

Was told the Caverns were cold, they weren't to me. Would of liked it to be much cooler... but was a nice change.

Interesting all the different smells. 

Had to use my Canon without the try pod or flash, because there were soooo many people! 

Hope to do another trip, when there are less people about.

DH and DS really enjoyed the caves too.

The Start of the journey under the world.

The photo above,shows how dark the Caverns were. Luckily the Canon can handle low light well.

One part of the ceiling

Caves within a Cave.

Reflection on glass smooth water. What you see on the bottom of the photo, isn't really there. 

How cool is that?! LOL

The above photo, is just of the water and reflection.

All the photos above are from the Reflection Pool.
Was incredible to see in person.

The Waterfall of Stone,  45' tall.

What they call the Xmas Tree/Sea Shell/layer cake.  A very interesting formation to be sure.
Two different photos, one from above and the other from below.

Have a few more photos to go through and will post them when I am finished.

Ginter Botanical Gardens~

We heard of a big Green House awhile back but never got around to going, until Yesterday.
We decided to visit the minute it opened on a Sunday morning. That way, we would pretty much have the place to ourselves.
Was so nice looking~~~~
Decided to buy a yearly pass.

The gardens are very well done, clean, no trash any where. They clearly take pride in these gardens.

Look forward to many future visits here.

There are a number of well done Fountains on the grounds.

Pretty little pond with a couple of turtles in it.

Inside captures of the, quite, large green house. I could use one of these. ;O)

Butterfly that liked my Hat.

Butterfly's every where.  This one blends in very well.

DH enjoying the morning in the Green House.

Just one of the many, many Butterflies.  Will be working on the photos the next couple of days.

Find the Butterflies!

Glamour shots of Katie..... and we can not leave Nari out of course....

Had DS take some photos of Katie for me this morning. 
 She really wanted to say Hi to Nari, but Nari did not want any of it. 

 I did try to take some photos of her loose... but as usual... LOL She did a cute little nicker at me and came right over.

Photo of Nari of course, who was not impressed.  LOL

Katie and the Sheep~~

Got..... Sheep?

 LOL  Couldn't help myself.
Caspian is hoping I have a treat for him.

Since taking a photo on my own of Katie and the Sheep.... doesn't work so well.

I had to do it from the other side of the fence.

Sure Katie thinks they are gifted ponies. LOL

The two sheep right next to Katie, is Abby the Finn... and Charming the Katahdin wither. Was hoping the Black and White wether would stay near her, but no such luck. He is taller than her.

She is in quarantine from the other horses for 3 weeks.... then I will slowly let them get to know each other.
Until then, her buddies are sheep and she seems to like them a lot.

Beautiful Flowers~

DH bought me some beautiful flowers.  So many in fact, I could fill up two Vases!  :O)

Big Hens~~~

Can't leave out the Big Hens.
The Buff Orpington above....  was complaining at me, because I was disturbing her very important bug hunting.
Like... Go away human, you are bothering me. LOL

One of the beautiful Welsumer hens.  Really love their very dark, almost Chocolate looking dark brown eggs.

Bantam chicks are growing up~

Wanted some photos of the Porcelain d'Uccle chicks, but it wasn't in the cards.
However, the Lavender Americana Bantams and Quails, did want their photos taken.

Above is a Lavender and a d'Anver Quail.
Quails are a couple weeks younger.

Lavenders again,,,  getting their first real feathers and wanting their photos taken. LOL

Lavender and Porcelains. The Lavenders have the dark beaks and clean legs.

The Quail  Antwerp d'Anvers.  Trying to give me Actions shots.

Has been very hot here, so I get them frozen water bottles. 

They love this and sit all around it to cool off.

Having a lot of fun with them.
They are still so tiny, will be awhile before I can put them in with the large Hens.