Orchids for your pleasure!

One of the annual events at the North Carolin Arboretum that I never tire of is the orchid show and sale. Of course, if you follow my blog, you have seen photos posted just about every year. Well, I took photos again, and so I'll share a few. I'm always amazed at the different colors, shapes, sizes and arrangements. They are certainly varied and it's hard to pick a favorite. 

And there were many vendors there selling all of these different varieties. Interestingly, after looking over all of the choices, I brought home a Macodes Petola, which has a very unremarkable flower stalk if I can get it to bloom. I was attracted by it's petite size and it's magnificent reticulated leaves.

Here it is!

It was a great vacation!

When Maggie asked if we wanted to go to Puerto Rico with them in mid March, I have to admit we were a bit hesitant. We already had some travel plans at the end of February and quite frankly by mid-March we are likely to have some nice spring weather here at home to enjoy. We also didn't know if Puerto Rico would be ready for visitors yet.

But then we quickly realized that sharing vacation time with family is such a special treat... how could we even think of saying "no?"

As it turned out, winter storms delayed Maggie's family's arrival by a couple of days, but that gave Russ and I time to get acclimated, fill the refrigerator, and enjoy a lovely "adult" dinner by the beach.

 As we hydrated ourselves and filled our bellies with delicious food, we were able to enjoy the beautiful sunset from our table.

Our rental  hacienda was in Rincon on the western side of the island. It was a property that we had stayed in a year and a half ago, so we were familiar with the amenities and location. It seemed to have survived quite well through Hurricane Maria and was equipped with a generator in case of power failure. We did see downed power lines and unusually leaning power poles, evidence of tree loss, and blown down signs, but in general Rincon was up and running and looking good. Everything was lush and green. In this climate, the flora regenerates quickly.

Once the twins arrived, many hours were spent in the pool and we even had a swim up bar!

Seriously, days here are very relaxing. We do expend some effort keeping well hydrated and submerged in pool water or relaxing at the beach.

There is a fair amount of nonsense with 4 year olds and we played a lot of UNO.

 One of our favorite beaches is called Steps Beach. I wonder why they call it that?

Besides the beautiful ocean, there are lots of shade trees to relax under or to climb.

 Though we do eat many meals "at home," we did also try to support the local economy by eating out often, too.

Palm trees abound, though there were more of them before the hurricane.

 Sunsets were lovely.

 And the local fauna included this iguana who regularly visited our pool.

Good bye to a wonderful vacation!

Rise up, Puerto Rico!