Friday's Final Finish......

Our visit to the Des Moines Botanical was a great getaway from living in Iowa. The dome has been around 35 year or more and it hasn't changed much.  They did close it down recently for remodeling and they seem to have done a nice job with that.

They added a large gift shop at the entrance, an elevator for the top viewing deck and a new cafe.  They didn't seem to add more space for the viewing of plants but I am thinking that it is still in construction at the back of the dome. The large greenhouse full of blooming plants is old and yet so great to see.  I am thinking that will be the thing they will replace eventually.

We didn't eat at the cafe as they have the prices and kinds of food that resemble the cafe at the Art Center.  I guess it is suppose to be special to eat there but we passed that up yesterday. 

This is the view one sees when you enter through the new sliding glass doors. There are paths that wind up and down this whole area.  It is a lot larger than it appears in the photo.  I have visited other place that I know are a lot bigger but this is good for our area of the United States.

There are many kinds of orchids in the center.  They have pots hanging on most of the stone walls that surround the new elevator and walls along the different areas of the paths. The older greenhouse in the back has so many different varieties of plants. I will be sharing a lot of things from that greenhouse display.

They at one time had a pool and stream that was filled with many koi and goldfish.  The have reduced the number to about five koi and a small number of smaller goldfish.  They are so great to see and every time I see them I want to raise them again. I do remember though from all my bad  experiences of having them get bigger and leap our of my outside pond. When I had younger aged ones they also spring from the aquarium inside.  Finding them laying dead on the ground or on the floor in the house makes me reconsider the idea.

We started off our Thursday with clear skies and by the time we got to the Botanical Center we had the same kind of clouds in the sky.  We had to find a new way to get to the center as they built things on the road that use to run along the Des Moines river.  It was an adventure to get there as the college basketball tournaments are going on in the area.  Once we have learned the new route we can go back again more easily.

This is my last week day off for spring break.  We don't have any plans yet to do anything today.  I wanted to go out and work outside but we were 32 degrees last night and it is going to be cold out there all day.   My brain is still suffering from the time change and I have been doing strange things all week.  I think when my body gets use to the change in time that my brain will return to normal.  Maybe my memory will work better too, but maybe that I can blame on my age.

Thank you for stopping by today.