Thanks to an unusually wet winter, California was experiencing a “super bloom”. I’m sure you heard about it – it was all over the news. I did a quick Google search and got about 6,620,000 hits in 0.49 seconds.
One place that was mentioned over and over in the reports was Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (about 282,000 results in 0.89 seconds) and it was about fifty miles from where I was camping. All the news stories recommended getting there early and taking lots of water. I got up at a time that I thought was early and set out to see the super bloom.
I pulled over every time there was a turnout, to see what I could see.
At first, I would only see a flower or two, here and there in the sand.
I think these are called desert lilies.
I liked the tracks in the sand around this one.
Not all the flowers are white.
There are yellow flowers.
Lots of yellow flowers.
I saw these just outside Anza-Borrego Desert State Park – outside being the key word. Although I thought I got up early, I didn’t get up early enough. By the time I got there, the parking lot was full, and parking at all the trailheads that I could find were also full.
Oh, well. I parked on the road outside. That made it easy enough to take a picture of the park sign.
The desert was quite splendid. I was taken with these clusters of mixed plants.
They reminded me of bouquets or arrangements for fancy dinners.
There were cactuses here, too, but I didn’t see as many as I saw in Arizona.
There were prickly pear surrounded by was looks like baby’s breath that would work for Baby Huey.
The ocotillo was in bloom, too.
I loved wandering around in the flowers and snapping pictures whenever it struck my fancy.
In this shot, you can see how the flowers were clustered.
Look how green the hills were! This is quite a different look for the desert in this area.
These lavender-colored flowers are different from any I’ve seen before.
These pink ones remind me of snap dragons.
These remind me of cornflowers – only white.
After a few hours of wandering around, I needed the bathroom. I stopped in at the library. Not only did they have a bathroom that they didn’t mind sharing, they had a book sale.
I thought this might help me plan my travels as I made my way up the coast. Then it was time to head back. This time I stopped at the turnouts on the other side of the road.
This is the badlands.
This area is all about off-road vehicle fun.
Quad cycle fun.
Dirt bike fun.
The scenery is stunning.
Then it was time to head home. There’s the Salton Sea in the distance. I drove until I got to route 89 and then turned left.
Home again!