These are the rest of our photos, continued from Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Part 1. 

One of our favorite spots was the bird observation hut in the Native Plants section. (They had, by the way, 900 species of native plants alone, all labeled with tags in the ground. And that was in only one section of the 4-section garden, to give you an idea of the scope of this place. Incredible.) 

Scratching squirrel! 

We sat and watched the birds for a long while. We didn't even need the binoculars here because they were so close. We were treated to a pair of Golden Finches, several pairs of Cardinals, a Red-Headed WoodPecker, and many more happy birdies, along with the squirrels who have equal love for the bird feeders. 

We also enjoyed the large pond in the Asiatic garden, populated by geese and a wide variety of ducks, who all honked and paddled happily after the rain, and turtles, who happily lazed on the rocks. 

Also, I feel the need to share this, because I learned it relatively recently and it seems like many people are unaware. Don't feed bread, crackers, or other snack foods to ducks, geese, or other water foul. It has very dangerous consequences: changing the PH balance of the water, damaging the intestinal systems of the critters, and eventually killing them. There were signs posted around the pond asking people not to feed bread, but I overheard many people talking about wanting to bring bread back another day. It's amazing how often people don't read signs, or care. We are part of nature, too, and its irresponsible to ignore rules like these that protect the wellbeing of the critters and nature. You can buy duck food, or even bring lettuce, if you'd like to feed the animals, safely. Pass the info on to your friends and family, too! 

Quack quack! 

We have special love for the geese. 

We had already seen most all of our favorite critters-geese, ducks, squirrels, birds, and turtles- when we got one final treat: chickens. Tucked away in a corer was the entrance to the exploratory gardens, which was essentially a homestead in the middle of the gardens. They had honey bees, an edible forest, gardens, rain collection systems, compost, and, of course, chickens. Chickens make me the happiest and I can't wait to have our own, so seeing them always makes me squeal with glee. They were the perfect finish to our lovely garden walk. 

After the gardens, we hopped over to the Ackland Art Museum at UNC, which also had free admission. (The gardens were free, too!) We spent the last hour or two browsing their permanent collection, which featured a lot of neat ancient pottery, and their current exhibition, More Love. 

So, today was pretty much perfect: nature, birds, meditation, chickens, and art. It was a great last day of free roaming before we enter about 2 months of work exchanges, beginning tomorrow at the vineyard. Can't wait! 

We woke up today to the soothing pitter-patter of rain on the van, but it kindly cleared up by mid-morning before we went to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Like everything else at Duke, the gardens were huge. We spent 4 hours there, and only saw half of the gardens! Of course, we were walking slowly and stopping to watch birds and wildlife, but still, the gardens are huge; they contain over five miles of walking paths. 

Pine needles had falled and were draping over the remaining leaves on this tree, which looked like they should have fallen off in the fall. From this angle, it looks like a natural mobile. 

This was my favorite reflection pond. With the tree matter that had fallen and was floating near the surface, it hardly looked real. It was serene. On the pagoda next to the pond, there was a group of people meditating. All of the gardens had a peaceful, meditative quality to them today, especially after the rain. Nature felt fresh and calm. From a distance, we could hear the Easter bells chiming from Duke chapel, and, filtered through the trees, the effect was very relaxing. 

Stepping stones across the pond. 

A neat walkway in the Asiatic garden section. 

Blooming Japanese cherry trees complemented the red bridge, also in the Asiatic garden section. 

Dave found a quiet meditation spot of our own: a perfect tree stump in a secluded section on the gardens. 

We loved being at the gardens today. It was one of those days when just being in nature feels like a meditation in itself, and it was wonderful. I will post our pictures of birds and other wildlife next; there were too many photos to fit all in one post. 

Statue of Mr. Duke himself, with the chapel in the background. 

Started in the late 1920's and finished seven years later, the Duke chapel is imposing, impressive, massive, and awe-inspiring. It did not look like something that belongs in America; it seemed like we had momentarily been transported to an ancient European cathedral. 

Can you guess what building this was? This, and all the buildings surrounding it, were dorms. Imagine living here for college. It looks like a castle or fortress! And very much like something out of a movie. In fact, the entire campus seemed like something from an old movie, where there are a bunch of collegiate boys walking around in letter jackets, someone is in love with the pretty girl in the plaid skirt from the girl's school near by, and life is idealistic and populated by philosophy professors and club meetings. 

I love the detail at the top of this building. 

This was taken from the top of the staircase in Perkins Library. Like everything at Duke, the library was on a massive scale. It blows my mind how different the college experience at Duke must be from the college experience I had at Rollins. Our entire library could have fit, literally, onto one floor at Perkins! The library had two wings, two floors under ground level, three more above ground, a roof top, a cafe, and a labyrinth of staircases and elevators. (And though this was the main library, there were about 5 others on campus!) We managed to get lost and wandered around for about 15 minutes looking for an exit out of the building. I love being in libraries, and this one had so much goodness, it was overwhelming. I'm thankful my college was so much smaller and on a manageable, human scale. I never would have made it at a school like Duke...I would have gotten lost somewhere between the library and the cafe and never made it out. Rollins was just my size, but I'm very grateful to know that places like this library exist to house such amazing collections of books, manuscripts, and knowledge. As much as I resent about the red-tape of the college system, colleges and their libraries are wonderful treasuries of culture. 

We spent the day exploring the Duke campus, which is huge and quite impressive. 

It was the perfect day for walking around...almost 75 degrees out and sunny! The first warm Spring day we've had. The dogwood trees are really blooming here now. 

We got to walk right down onto the Duke baseball field. 

Dave having some fun. 

I love all the contrasts in colors here. 

Dave finally got to see his beloved Cameron Indoor Stadium, home of Duke basketball. Unfortunately, the doors were locked and we couldn't go inside, but it was still cool to see. 

Well, every door was locked except one! The door into the baseball locker rooms had been left unlocked. I'm sure visitors weren't supposed to be in there, but we poked our noses in just long enough to snap a picture. 

Duke football field. 

To get that great view of the football field, we climbed up this ladder into the press box where camera crews would usually record the game. Sometimes I forget that I get scared of heights, and when it was time to climb down the ladder, I got stuck and panicked. Obviously, it wasn't very high up at all, and when I finally made myself climb down the ladder, we got a great laugh out of it. Dave even climbed back up to take a picture of me, victorious at the bottom after conquering the ladder. 

After walking around campus for a while, we were enticed by the delicious smell of burgers being grilled, and decided to follow our noses. To our incredible joy, there were hot dogs, burgers, iced tea, cookies, and all the fixings being served for FREE outside of the women's tennis match. It was such a delightful surprise. We got plenty of food, and wandered over to watch some tennis, which was also a free event. Watching women's tennis was surprisingly fun, much more fun then watching on TV. Duke played very well, and it was fun to cheer them on from the bleachers in the sunshine, iced tea in hand. 

This was one of those days that reminds us of the simple pleasures of this trip. It is so nice to not have anything you specifically must do, and just be able to wander about and run into things like free food and tennis matches. This trip has been such a great study in how to live well, and cheaply. We've literally spent under $10 today (bagels for breakfast, cup of coffee, and some fruit at Trader Joe's), and it's been such a magical, wonderful day. Having money often makes you feel like you need to spend it to have fun and enjoy life, but that's far from the truth. Having very little money is leading to so many great, rewarding days. 

I also find that this trip is leading to us slowing down and taking time to enjoy each thing we are doing. After eating bagels outside this morning, we walked over to a store called WomanCraft, which was a co-op where local artists can sell their wares. As we were browsing, we began talking to two of the ladies working there, and had a great conversation with them. When you're not on a strict time schedule, conversations like this become much more common. We learned that both ladies, probably now in their 40's, also traveled across the country once. One had done her traveling in an old converted school bus! It seems people usually have one of two reactions to this trip: they are jealous and wish they could do something similar, or they have tales of their own travels. I'm so glad we're in the latter category. It is so neat to meet such a diverse network of people who have done trips across the country, living out of their vehicle...there are so many of us!