Lemons become lemonade when seen through the lens of rose colored glasses.  Having to check out of our hotel earlier than planned, we quickly looked for things to do in South Seattle area that didn't involve going to a mall.  It was too nice of a day and I already felt like I had spent enough money on the hotel. Luckily, Kubota Garden is a free park, being part of Seattle Parks Department.  It has an amazing history from starting in 1927 by a man from Japan, who designed many Japanese style gardens all over the Seattle area, and was later place in an interment camp with his family to rebuilding his business after WWII.  The 5 acres became 20 acres and streames became ponds, swamp lands became beautiful areas that now are available for weddings. 

One thing I love about my daughter is her sense of adventure and to enjoy the moment and be a little goofy.  At first she was ambivalent.  Not really caring but willing to humor me.  When we first started traveling for Rangers I would plan some kind of outing like this each time and then we started carpooling and they just wanted to go and come back unless shopping was involved. This was my opportunity to sightsee and explore our neck of the woods. Lona and I went alone, and I was determined to make this a fun couple of hours. I gave her my camera and was goofy, posing for photos, jokingly teasing that we were going to find seperate places to sit quietly and reflect with a journal.  She might actually have done that and then we got into the groove of exploring, talking, and being comfortable, taking photos.  The camera on her phone takes some amazing photos, I might be a little envious! We ended up cutting our time in the garden short, we were hungry.  This is a place I'd like to come back and explore some more.