Flowers (and fish?) in Orange County

Continuing on the flower theme and even specifically orchids we visited Sherman Gardens a couple times near my parents’ house.

It’s not all orchids at Sherman Gardens.

There’s also some very nice landscaping in the neighborhood.

We also continued with our fish theme after snorkeling in Raja Ampat and visiting aquariums in Singapore and Monterey. We explored the tide pools at Little Corona

and found this fast moving brittle star:

I also braved the cold water a couple days to swim with the garibaldi, California’s state fish and one of the largest damselfish species in the world.

The only octopus I saw was this one at the San Clemente pier:

I guess the most species we saw at once was when Megan ordered a yummy sushi dinner for all of us.

During our last visit to Orange County our original hiking plans were derailed by closed trails because of fires. This time it was because of flooding. First we tried Borrego Canyon and Serrano Road in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, then Trabuco Canyon in Cleveland National Forest.

We settled on a short pleasant ridge walk in O’Neil Regional Park in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Finally we’re heading back to Turkey after six months on the road!