Thanksgiving Point: part 4.

The path eventually led us back to the waterfalls.

A water nymph in a sweet sundress was dancing on the stones on the shoreline.

(Sometimes I have a hard time deciding if I am seeing a fairy or a child when they are sighted in such scenery.)

Food venues lined the top edge of the amplitheater. Strawberry short cake was was a menu item at one little shop; I think they should have given this lass her portion for free. With that dress she was the perfect walking advertisement for the treat.

A few booths were offering jewelry and Dutch treats. One was selling a rainbow selection of parasols. Aren't they gorgeous?

It had been a lovely visit.

It was such a lovely place that both the sun and the moon shone over it!

As we walked to our car we passed people still arriving. The grounds would stay open until eight; I imagine some fabulous photos could be taken of the flowers tinted by the colors of sunset.

(Seeing people with huge camera lenses made me feel very out gunned. On the other hand, this guy is wearing a Dallas Cowboys shirt; everything always has to be bigger in Texas...no wimpy pocket sized camera for them!)

So...where had we gone?

Here's a photo of the ground's map. The amazing Italian fountain that was in yesterday's post is at the top of the map, and believe it or not, I didn't include pictures of some of the stops (like the rose garden-still quite bare) and we missed some places (like the green house).

Now aren't you wondering how this garden came to be?

Amazingly, it is only fourteen years old! The 54 acre property was purchased on Valentine's Day 1996 by Alan and Karen Ashton, a local couple who had wanted to find a means to give thanks for all of God's blessings upon their lives.

Alan created a product that you may have used at one time: WordPerfect, the rights to which he eventually sold to Novell. With the vast profits, he and Karen purchased the land, and began to consider how it could best be used.

Originally the land was a dairy farm; as the couple had eleven children, they at first considered just letting the property become a family farm. Karen had always found gardening to be a great comfort to her in times of trouble, and she wanted to make a garden available to other to enjoy.

Thanksgiving Point now includes the garden, a farm area for children to visit with animals, other hands on activity areas throughout the grounds for children, a museum of ancient life (dinosaur bones!) a golf course, restaurant, and shopping area. An Art Institute offers year around classes as well.

To learn more about Thanksgiving Point, you may wish to visit their website HERE.

Thanksgiving Point is a non-profit organization; events are sponsored by various businesses.

(I personally would like to take a moment here to thank all the pooping chickens who made the tulip festival possible...)

Eventually we had to get back to the rest of our Saturday.

Back to plain old regular Salt Lake scenery.

Yawn...

Lake Utah at the foot of the mountain...need to go fishing there soon.

Fishing...hummm...

Right across the freeway from Thanksgiving Point: The Massive Outdoors Sports store!

Bernie had to get some fly fishing gear. Of course!

(How do the employees think with all those trophy mounts staring down at them as they work?)

Warning to Canadians: Don't honk.

Just roll down your car window and yell!

I wonder if they need a librarian?

I could see me as a Gun Librarian.

I wonder if I would have to wear camo while I worked?

Seeing the ladies in saris at the garden set off an Indian food craving. Obviously with such a busy day I had had no time to cook. This mixed meat dish was amazing; each meat had been seasoned differently and was fork tender as it arrived at our table so hot that steam was still rising from the mix.

By the time we got home we were ready for bed.

It had been a VERY full Saturday.

(and we both took naps on Sunday. We were totally bushed the next day!)

Thanksgiving Point: part 3

Next we came along side a meandering stream.

I continued to be distracted by color and shading upon the tulip petals.

I can almost feel a brush in my hand tracing the watercolor like shading.

Of course if my daughter had been with me (at any age...at any time...) she would be wading in the stream just like this little girl planning to.

The Salt Lake area has such wonderful sculptures of children engaging in happy childlike behaviors.

(Distracted by a full blown blossom for a moment...)

Any second now that foot is going to touch the cold water and we will hear her squeal...

The stream led on...winding under several small bridges and into various pools before ending up in a small pond with this detailed sculpture of egrets.

At least I think they are egrets.

(And my children begin to sing along with me that famous Frank Sinatra hit: Egrets...I've had a few, but then too few to mention..)

All around the pond a swath of tulip blooms were following the sun.

Nice waterside landscaping. Wonder what will be planted there after the tulips are done?

Oh...I forgot to mention: there were HUGE koi fish in the pond!

(That's Bernie in the orange visor with the rest of the kids.)

Fish of all sorts of colors and patterns were swimming about, and poking their heads up to gape and beg for treats.

As we turned to walk past the pond area we saw this curious structure.

(I got distracted by a robin in a tree for a moment....)

It was a stairway/waterfall with tulips and pink blossomed trees and lots and lots of people!

(My ADD really kicked in...ohhh look...a yellow and red tulip!)

Oh wait...we gotta see that thing too.

Wow...it looks like a bouquet on the ground.

When I stand in the middle of that thing and look up....wow, sky lace!

Back to the tulips...

Yes I did tiptoe....

Where was I?

Oh yeah, the stairs and fountain thing.

(A white tulip! I love white tulips!)

Apparently (we learned later...) this feature is known as The Italian Fountain.

Mesmerizing; the water falls over 25+ times.

I didn't catch who the sculpture was of at the top.

The whole area swarmed with kids sticking their hands in the water, splashing their siblings with the water, parents corralling their brood for stairstep pictures, by age of course.

I wonder if the water is lit up at night....that would be gorgeous.

Back on the path....

I'm always looking for ideas for plants to use under bulbs, to cover the ground before and after the bloom. Blue pansies sure look good, like water or shadows, and seem to make the flowers glow brighter by comparison.

The other question of how to cluster the bulbs: Yes, cluster by color masses.

The blue pansy portion of the path spilled out to the Meadow Garden. Serpentine grass paths were perfect for strolling, and children enjoyed rolling down the lawn as well. Every time there was the slightest grass covered hill, there were children rolling and somersaulting like mad.

Apparently the park's electrical energy needs are supplied by wind.

I kept thinking I would get tired of taking tulip pictures.

I never did.

Golf carts with drivers were available to anyone who wanted one. The drivers were quite willing to stop and start as directed by their passengers, and would go where ever the passengers wanted to go. I was especially amused to see Indian ladies in bright colored sari riding along backwards. I would have loved to have gotten a picture of them standing so colorfully garbed next to the flowers.

A great hill to zig-zag down in a golf cart...

Shutter bugs are the same everywhere: You hear a squeal, and exclamation, and then whatever posture is needed is assumed until the desired shot is obtained.

The Tulip Festival lasts until May 1st, I suspect that with the snow that we are getting today there will still be blooms to see for awhile longer.

Go ahead...you decide which of those last three pictures I shouldn't have bothered posting.

I'm not sure if these folks brought their own Segways or if there are Segways available to the visitors. I must find out; if they are there for the visitors I want to try one next visit. It will be a total waste of Segway power as I hate to go faster than a snail's pace when there are flowers about to be photographed.

And yes...tomorrow there will be more sights to see!