On this final day of our vacation Dana had planned for us to see the famous Huntington Gardens, a huge plot of land in the South Pasadena area, containing not just indoor and outdoor gardens but an art museum as well.

Unfortunately, Lizbeth’s health gave out on this day and so she stayed home to recuperate while the rest of us explored the Gardens. Once again, we disappeared inside a place large enough to create its own setting and hold onto it:



A couple of indoor structures recreated rainforests and bogs. In the bog area I got to see a Venus fly-trap, face-to-face, for the first time. I had seen them in pictures and on TV shows before but never in person. Below, my two desert-raised children react to the humidity inside—or one of them does, anyway:



When the weather grew warm we ducked inside of the air-conditioned art museum and wandered among bronze sculptures and oil paintings, and ate lunch in the shade near a snack bar there.

Near one end of the Gardens was an open re-creation of a traditional Japanese house, surrounded by many examples of Japanese gardening and architecture, including a Zen rock garden and also some koi. Here, my kids and Georgia regard one of the koi:



The Japanese area left a strong impression of my kids, because they are so enthusiastic about anime and, by extension, most things Japanese. In the gift shop, which we visited before leaving, Chloe saw what looked like a real jade necklace, and wanted to buy it, but only if it was “real jade”. As it turned out it was real jade, and as such, too expensive for her to spend her money on, I told her. But she was undeterred and pointed out to me that she had been saving her allowance for a long time and that it was her money—and indeed she had the money for it!

This was the last full day. The next day we would have to leave after the early traffic tide to return to Tucson.