I got up early in the morning again to drive back to the dealership to install the part on the jeep. This time, it rained last night, as I could see the rain glistening on the jeep and the grass. It was a bit chilly out as well, with some fog that would thin out as I approached the main road.

I drove into the dealership and got the part, only I was expecting just the boot and not the whole harness; they couldn't sell individual parts of the harness. At least it was $13 for the whole thing, so I pulled off what I needed with the mechanic's help (it was VERY HARD to pull it off!), and I struggled to pull off the makeshift part off of the motor. But I did it! I replaced the vacuum boot part of the harness! My first parts replacement on my own! I'm keeping the makeshift part and the rest of the harness in case I need it. I started up the motor and ran the motor a little high to help with the vacuum pressure (I think - I'm not a mechanic). It drove fine back to the cabin. Everything works like it's supposed to.

I got back to the cabin to figure out the rest of my last full day here in Columbus. We went to meet with Christelie at the Catholic high school where she works in IT, and then to a vegan place I was told about earlier.

I chose rice and beans, as I had found out something earlier by accident from Sophie. She has a friend who mainly eats only fruits and veggies. He cannot have corn or wheat, as he has severe reactions to them, and this stuff hides in a lot of processed foods, so it's simply easier for his family to not buy them. One reaction that stood out to me is the boy's reaction to corn with itchy and dry eyes, which I have had since my 20s. I've not had this issue lately, since I haven't been eating corn. I became convinced that I ought to try avoiding corn to see if it helps with my dry eyes. By now, I could see better at night, as my monocular polyopia is not so bad by the end of the day like it usually is. In the south, mexican food is commonplace and hard to avoid. I literally grew up on the stuff, and I might have been ignoring this symptom from the time I was a child, and no one here in the remote south could put two and two together, as it has been mild in reaction for me, but enough to affect my vision. The wheat takes the stuffing out of me now. Last night, I had potatoes and beans as dinner (though not optimal because of miscombining), I seemed to be unaffected in my climbing.

Anyhow, we had a good lunch, as it would be my last chance to see her again on this trip, as I would have to start back home tomorrow morning (cry). We took her back to the school before going to the Conservatory (www.fpconservatory.org).

We got to the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens here in Columbus, which is located off of Broad Street. This is something that has to be seen. It was built in 1895. The oldest part, which is the Palm House, was built in the Victorian style. There are eye-opening things to be seen here, a few of which I'll mention. This conservatory has about 400 different plants set in Franklin Park (88 acres).

We went into the lobby area, where you see lots of sunlight come in through the glass ceiling.

You'll see unusual glass works of art on both sides of the elevator shaft that leads you to the lower level of the Conservatory.

You'll see another one similar, but of a cool color, blue and hanging from the ceiling.

There are many others scattered through the Conservatory, and they're probably made by Michael Cohn and Molly Stone of Cohn-Stone Studios or some other artists (I'm seeing other names on the web site). There is a glassblowing facility where you can see demonstrations on a daily basis, but we were too late to see it. Normally, the lobby area is empty or filled with people doing tours, but today was a weekday, and a dinner/benefit is being prepared for the evening after the Conservatory closes.

The first thing we got to see was something I had only seen online: Hungry Planet; What the World Eats. This is an exhibit of photos by Peter Menzel, a photojournalist and published by his wife, Faith D'Aluisio. They have traveled the world to produce such works. Here we were, seeing near-life size photos of the families the world over that shows what they buy and eat in a week's time, complete with a breakdown of how much they spent on what during that week.

The developed countries have the scarier dietaries, with incredible amounts of processed food and little in the way of fresh fruits and vegetables. One thing that stood out in the exhibit, and Panna had to point it out to me; the photo of the German family had NO ONE smiling. No one... It made me wonder what was weighing on their minds that day; a death, bailing out irresponsible countries in the Euroland, personal issues in the family, or just not a happy family. You could just see families in emerging economies beaming in smiles despite what hardships they have to endure to get their food for the week, or day even.

At some point in this whole tour, we had been downstairs looking at a really good display that teaches you via an interactive display where your food in the grocery store comes from. It'll instruct you to pick your favorite items (3 or 5 of them) and put them in the appropriate categories (animal products, plant products, etc.) in an effort to teach you what you may or may not know about the nature of the foods you buy.

The next thing we saw was the climate exhibits, which included high-altitude Himalayan mountains in one room, a tropical rain forest in another room, a desert in the third room, and the pacific islands in yet another room. The first three rooms are in the North Conservatory. We would see the pacific islands in the South Conservatory.

Walking into the Himalayan exhibit, you'll see plants that live in the temperate climate around 6,000-9,000 feet. First is the poster presentation about this biome (a grouping of region~ or climate-specific plants in a particular room), then this cool rock arch entry into the biome itself.

To one side is the "hole in the wall" where you can see the waterfall from the inside. If you look up, you'll see glass artwork in the ceiling of the rock arch. A creative way to provide lighting through the arch!

Coming around the arch is where you'll see the waterfall that we saw from the other side. You'll see plants including conifers, deciduous trees and shrubs, vines, understory plants, flowering plants, etc. Remember that in all the biomes, you'll get to see the seasonal changes, but with temperature control throughout the year.

The next room was the tropical rainforest biome. The plants you see come from the equatorial regions of the world. Blooming plants can be a sight to see for those who live in the area, as the winters can be quite long. It is very lush and green.

The third room was the desert biome. Here, you'll find plants adapted to the very dry climates like cacti, landscape plants you'll find in xeriscape residential yards, and succulent plants.

My aunt and I CAREFULLY horsing around a Saguaro cactus.

There are also stones set up as part of the landscape.

Exiting the last room, we went outside into the courtyard, where we found plants and glass work blended together. The glass work is made in the shape of pumpkins, squash, and other vegetables.

The next thing was the Palm house, which is the oldest part of the Conservatory. Here, you see 43 different palms from around the world. They include those that are endangered in the wild.

You'll see the fiddle-leaf fig tree, which is a must-see; it's over 110 years old and one of the first trees planted in the Palm House. It looks like it's around 40-50 feet tall!

There are palm leaves that are huge, some spanning more than 5 feet across!

There is a particular species that grows out more horizontally than vertically and has the distant look of the neck of camels with its leaves sprouting out in all directions from the last 3 feet of its trunk.

You can see that the architecture of the building is Victorian, modeled after the Victorian 1893 Chicago Columbian Floral Exhibition.

You'll see a water fountain that is located in the center of the building.

The next room was the Show House, where the bonsai plants were shown.

The first one we saw was about 365 years old. That is not a misprint. 365 years old. It's hard to believe that this diminutive plant is far older than our country!

They come in all sorts of shapes, as you'll see in the photos.

We then went outside in the Zen terrace.

I saw this cool solid black rock water fountain that has water flowing down all sides from the center hole. It's maybe two feet high.

Looking to the east is the glass house that is the South Conservatory, where the pacific island water garden is.

We then went into the hall way that leads to the South Conservatory. It's separated from the rest of the Conservatory for a good reason. There are several butterfly species that live there, so the hallway has full-length mirrors for checking to make sure you don't have butterflies "hitching a ride on you" as you leave the building. It also helps to check each other on the way out, just before you exit into the hallway and watch the mirrors as you walk along, check each other again, and then exit back into the Show House.

Walking in, we saw a large size butterfly with a wingspan of about 8 inches across. The wings were moving very slowly, almost like a model of a butterfly, and they were blue-greenish in a reflective manner. I tried to get a photo of it, but it disappeared before I could adjust the camera for it. A beautiful sight to see, though! I saw a smaller butterfly on a palm leaf as well.

There are gorgeous flowers and vines of the jungles here.

There is glass artwork mixed in with the greenery, including a very convoluted work made of many pieces of glass that must stand over 15 feet tall and has glass tubes of red and yellow colors in the second photo.

You'll see coconut and banana trees (which by the way do bear fruit, and the lucky visitors get to taste them!), ferns (ancient varieties!), and something like a lobster claw flowering plant common in the pacific island climates.

We eventually made our way to the koi pond that the stream feeds into. There are glass balls sitting here and there in the pond, adding an interesting touch to the view. I wonder what the fish think about them. Do they push them by rubbing against them?

These koi fish were very big, a few being around two feet long, five inches or more in diameter, in several colors; some were gold, orange, white with spots, reddish orange with white base and black spots.

They swam with gracefully slow movements. Sometimes, they would come to the surface and break the water, and sometimes they would settle on the bottom, laying close to each other, even touching. As we were leaving, there was one, one of the white-red-orange mottled ones sitting at an angle seemingly looking up at me with its left eye. I waved at it as we headed for the wooden staircase leading to a great overhead view of this room. You could see outside through the glass panes and just imagine that the glass buildings weren't there, and you could see over all the vegetation giving an open-air feeling.

The Conservatory was closing, so we had to walk our way out through the "hall of mirrors," checking for any butterflies hitching a ride on our clothes and looking over each other as well.

Here are some marigolds with a beautiful orange color. They were situated outside the entrance.

This place is well worth the visit, and I would put all day into it if you have the time. It is also very involved in the local community, offering a variety of programs and classes on horticulture, gardening, going green, etc.

By this time, I had that kind of feeling that you get when a trip is coming to an end. Sadness was just starting to creep in, and I was not looking forward to leaving my family and The Forest for home. We still had one more evening to enjoy before going to bed for the night. We left to go for dinner at Whole Foods Market. For some reason, I felt I had to have this photo on the way there.

After we got our food and sat at the table, eating for a very short while before I heard something like an accordion (I wasn't sure, but I heard something) and saw Panna's face just melt at something behind me. I turned to see this older man sitting and playing an old accordion and singing. I got up to take pictures and talk with him.