Prehistoric Gardens - Originally Published 2008

When I was a kid, we used to go on endless driving trips.  Somewhere out on the road, I would see a sign that would catch my attention.  For the next few hundred miles, that would be the thing that would keep me going.  The anticipation would build.  I would drive my parents nuts.  If memory serves, this is how we ended up stopping at Wall Drug in South Dakota.  The Prehistoric Gardens is the same type of business that would drive my little eight-year-old brain crazy.

The Prehistoric Gardens is the vision of E.V. Nelson.  He hand crafted the dinosaurs over a period of forty years and made them a fixture in a piece of an Oregon rain forest.

Unfortunately, Mr. Nelson’s creations are made out of cement.  Placing them in the middle of a rain forest means that the current staff has to fight an on going battle against decay as they keep them in good shape and as brightly colored as they were in the fifties. 

This is a great piece of roadside history that they’re just not making anymore.  Make sure to stop and visit the Prehistoric Gardens.

Rose Test Garden - Originally Published 2008

Believe or not, I am not a gardening enthusiast.  I mean, I can appreciate a job well done, but I’m not exactly on top of my perennials.  That being said, the Rose Test Garden is what I would consider a job well done.  Even knowing f-all about flowers, I really was impressed.  That and the fact that it has commanding views of the city make this a must do. 

Victoria Butterfly Garden - Originally Published 2009

Every saint is in charge of something.  Jude looks over hopeless cases and policemen.  Anthony takes a look out for animals.  For the unindoctrinated, think of it like this:  Saints all have very specific super powers.

Saint Tupin-Upon-Avon is an obscure saint.  Tupin-Upon-Avon is in charge of Americans who do not pay attention when they travel to foreign countries.  I have become connected to St. Tupin-Upon-Avon because she has seen me through a few scrapes, most recently at the Victoria Butterfly Garden. 

You see, in order to get to the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, you need to take a bus.  Without bogging you down in the details about my experience, let’s just say I didn’t so a good job of paying attention to the bus schedule.

We toured the gardens leisurely spending just over an hour among the lush, green foliage and the colorful insects.

Now here’s where my personal patron saint comes into play.  I figured that this bus, like all buses runs every fifteen minutes.  Wrong!  It runs every hour.  We just missed the departing bus and our reward was fifty-five minutes in the warm Victoria sunlight.

Thankfully, after a few prayers to the patron saint of American dumbasses, she sent a bus along so we could enjoy a few hours in Victoria.

Portrait of the artist waiting on a bus.