LA Arboretum

After a quick stop at the mall, Syd and I decided to spontaneously take a trip to the LA Arboretum. I have driven by the gardens may times near Santa Anita and it was fun to finally check it out.

The entrance to the park.

The land used to be owned by Lucky Baldwin, a business tycoon who made his money from "lucky" mining investments. He built this house near a series of ponds that provided water for his estate and ranch. Now the ponds are the center of the different gardens.

All of the ponds and streams in the Arboretum are home to birds, fish, and turtles. There were many naturalists walking around with huge lens taking pictures of the wildlife. I really liked all of these turtles lined up on the log sunning themselves.

Me and a frog.

There were hundreds of tadpoles swimming around in the water. While we were looking at them I snapped this picture of our shadows off the bridge.

One of the coolest things about the Arboretum are all the peacocks running around. We didn't see any of the males with their feathers open, but it was still fun to see them up close.

 Syd was determined to touch one. In general they weren't scared of people, but I think he would have had better luck if he had some food to feed them... although I don't think that is allowed. 

 The Arboretum divides all of the pants into continents. In the Asian garden there was a cool yin-yang patio. It was surrounded with cherry blooming cherry blossom trees.

 I liked the bright colors of the magnolias.

 This waterfall was marked as a must see on the map. It was at least 10 degrees cooler by the water than in the sun in the rest of the garden. It was a nice change from the January heat.

After a nice two days with no softball, I am feeling much more relaxed. I am looking forward to being back with my team and the best news of the week is only three days until Friday.