Monarch Sanctuary

In February we went on another CLO (Community Liaison Office program) trip that took us to a beautiful place called Valle de Bravo. We were suppose to meet up at the embassy early in the morning and take the bus to the location, but Gary got the time wrong so we ended up missing the bus. Since we already paid for the excursion we decided to drive up ourselves and meet up with the group later. It was not how we had planned to go, but it actually worked out in our favor. Since we arrived later we were able to see the butterfly's moving around, because it was warmer and the sun had come out at the right time.

Getting ready to go on the adventure!

 We took horses up the mountain to the butterfly path. Gary rode on Palomo which means Dove. I don't remember the name of my horse.

Gary took a picture of me on my horse, but he took it when he was on Palomo so the angle is weird.

 Aurora enjoyed her first time riding a horse!

Apparently they make a new path every year depending on where the butterflies make their new home so the path was pretty narrow so it took a long time to move everyone up to the site. Unfortunately, that meant that we had to stand in line for about an hour which wasn't very fun, but luckily Aurora did really well despite the long wait. It helps to bring snacks along the way. ;)

  Patiently waiting to see the butterflies.

 This was right when the sun started to come out and the butterflies were flying around. 

 It's hard to tell in this picture, but there were hundreds of butterfly's hanging on the trees.

 This whole tree is covered in butterfly's! As we were watching them fly around all of a sudden one of the branches broke off because it was weighed down by so many butterfly's! Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of it. 

Lots of beautiful butterfly's!

 This is where we met up with our group and had lunch. Unfortunately, we missed the boat ride around the lake that was included in our trip.  

 It was a beautiful place and the weather was perfect!

Even though we didn't take the boat tour we still enjoyed walking around this cute town which was very European in style that was a fun surprise! 

Desierto de los Leones National Park

In February we drove to this beautiful Monastary which is located in the city believe it not. It reminds me of the beautiful places you can see in Maryland like the DC Arboretum which is near busy roads, but you would never know it when you walk around there. It was so quiet and peaceful here. The mature trees and beautiful flowers everywhere. It truly is a beautiful sanctuary! The air was cool and clean and it was a perfect oasis to get away for the day.

Here is the front entrance!

 Some of the flora I saw on our way in.

All ready to go and explore! 

Gardens in the front courtyard

Another courtyard/garden area

Family selfie!

Unfortunately, we couldn't go inside the building, because of some recent earthquake damage.

A pathway down into more garden space.

A beautiful tree lined path.

A bigger view of the Monastary.

A huge courtyard that once had pillars that arched over the top of the building.

A statue that once had a head at one point...lol

Some of the original painting on one of the walls.

One of the many rooms.