Duke Farm

It's been a long hot summer...too hot for hiking. But just as we can get "cabin fever" in the winter because of being cooped up inside in bad weather, so we were feeling like we just had to get out. A week or so ago, someone had posted an article on facebook entitled 14 Secret Spots in New Jersey where Nature Will Completely Relax You. Doesn't that make you want to get right on this and make sure you visit all these wonderful places?  Along with the article and with each of these 14 spots, a lovely picture was posted. 

So I explored some of these places, trying to decide if there was one fairly close by that we could visit. Then I saw this picture:
 

Wow! A field of sunflowers! This was it...I just had to go there.  So I made our plans. I checked the map - Duke Farm is in Hillsborough, NJ which is only an hour's drive from our house. That didn't sound too bad. We packed a lunch and plenty of water and away we went.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out as beautiful as the picture. For one thing, it was incredibly hot that day - in the 90's. It wasn't too bad in the shade, but there wasn't much of that in the middle of the day. For another thing, the sunflowers were pretty much done. We were about 3 weeks too late.  Here is the real picture:

Pretty pathetic, huh???

The grounds are beautiful though, and we had a very nice walk even though we were extremely hot and uncomfortable. 

 

Duke Farm is one of the largest privately-owned parcels of open land in NJ.  Created by James Buchanan Duke and preserved by his daughter, Doris Duke, the property is rich in ecological, agricultural and horticultural resources. The farm is a parcel of land more than 2,000 acres.

There's an "orchid range" conservatory on the property and we went inside to see if it was any cooler inside. It wasn't! Orchids are always beautiful so we enjoyed them before looking for more shade.

 We were impressed with the property in spite of the heat. We felt it wasn't a wasted trip because now we know it would be worth while to re-visit in cooler weather, especially in the fall or spring.

The rest of the week continued hot and humid with the weather finally breaking on Friday when it rained all day. 

After church this morning, we were pleasantly surprised by how pleasant it was walking to our car in the parking lot.  There was such a nice cool breeze with fluffy white clouds and blue sky - a good day for a hike. I had several things planned, but a hike in cooler weather would be so nice, so why not go for it.

Andy never seems to care where we go, so I chose Pakim Pond. It was perfect. We walked about 2 miles into the woods from the pond. There were lily pads on the pond with even some flowers.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take any more pictures the rest of the hike which was a shame because the woods seemed especially green and full of vegetation. There were a very few leaves starting to turn orange and yellow so Autumn is on the way!

For some reason my iphone froze after this one picture of the pond, and I had a black screen till we got back in the car. I've been trying to take more pictures with my iphone instead of carrying my camera along on every trip. I am such an amateur when it comes to photography with a less than creative eye. I'm hoping to get a new phone soon with a better, more sophisticated camera. We'll see if that helps me to get better pictures. I'm told that you can't go wrong with these new phones. Actually, I probably can - but I'm willing to give it a try.