Easter Drive to Amador County - 2016

Okay, I'm doing a "throwback" post even though it isn't Thursday.  ALL my posts tend to be throwbacks since I take so many shots and then have to weed through them and do the basic post-production!  

When I'm feeling at my most reflective, I take to the roads to view the beauty of this wonderful planet we call home.  Easter 2016 was no exception.  My daughter was still away at school and I didn't really have any plans.  I visited my mom for awhile and then decided to head up to the foothills to find a flower farm I had heard of, appropriately named the Amador Flower Farm.  

It was a gorgeous day for a drive and I was looking forward to communing with nature so I headed up Highway 16 to Plymouth.  

I saw a lot of beautiful and interesting sights on the way, but rain was a possibility so I tried not to stop until I reached the farm. But at one point I saw these lovely pink bushes in the rolling green hills and couldn't resist. I parked on the shoulder and got out to hike for a better advantage.

  

There was a muddy little creek running through the property; my ideal spot for a horse ranch!!!  

If only.  :-)

When I headed back to my car, I saw this drainage ditch under the highway and thought it would make a cool photo.  Feel free to disagree.  lol

When I'm on one of my photo jaunts, I look for the beauty in everything!  When I got to the farm, I found beauty in spades!  I also found crowds and crowds of people!  I hadn't checked their website recently and didn't realize that they were having a massive Easter egg hunt.  But I was able to sneak in some good shots in spite of the crowds.  

The place is surrounded by vineyards and beautiful lilacs were in bloom.

There were also jonquils and daffodils aplenty!

But ya know purple is my favorite color so one more of the lovely lilacs. 

But the clouds were so gorgeous and the sky so blue that even the bare vines made for stunning shots!

Luckily when I got there, the egg hunts were well in progress so the crowds did start to thin out a bit as I walked around.  They have some delightful gardens and lawns for folks to wander through and even picnic which I saw many families doing.  I contented myself with getting some close up shots of the flowers.  

One of my mom's favorites:  Iris

I love this next flower and shot.  Bokeh!

I don't know what it is; it looks like a purple poppy which I didn't even know was a thing!

And there were some red ones too.  Well, red and pink

Now these are tulips (I think) lol.  

Once you get past the gardens and the middle where the little store is, the flower fields, more grapevines, and a beautiful little marshy creek invite you to keep walking. 

The creek bed was absolutely FILLED with Calla Lilies

 So beautiful!

Almost immediately upon arriving, I noticed another of my mom's favorite flowers, Wisteria.  And it was surrounding one of my favorite things, angel figures.  But all day there was literally always some one taking a photo of family or friends at this lovely setting.  

I was thrilled when, as I was wandering back through on my way to the car, I found it empty. 

I must have this once a get my dream ranch. I've always wanted to have a special prayer chapel setting. 

As I was just entering the parking area, I saw this family in one of the garden picnic areas.  I could not resist snapping this perfect family Easter outing.  

 And then a little Killdeer led me to my car.  I didn't know they had parking attendants!

As I got in my car, I saw that a cloud had formed a beautiful heart.  It seemed so apropos and I knew my Heavenly Father was smiling down on us on this perfect Easter morning!

And with that, I got in my car and headed on down the road.  I had seen several things that required being turned into photographs!

xoxo

Nikon D3000

Throwback to Wizard Con ComicCon Sacramento March 2014

In honor of two events happening this weekend, neither of which I was able to attend.  That would be the Wizard Con in San Jose and the Sac Anime Festival here in Sacramento.

But, I was extremely fortunate to have been in attendance at the inaugural Wizard Con here in Sacramento and it was AH. MAY. ZING.  But I never got around to posting all of my photos from the event, so I figured now would be a good time.  Enjoy!

Saturday March 8th

On our first day, we got there early and, after spending awhile in the loooonnngg line, we hit the floor to walk around.  The timing was perfect to run into one of our Walking Dead favorites, Micheal Rooker, entering and interacting with fans and press.

We then heard that Norman Reedus was over at his booth.  It was pretty swarmed and difficult to get very many good photos, but I got a few.

Continuing with our Walking Dead theme, Jon Bernthal was also in attendance and signing autographs.

Darla!!!

At lunch, we headed out into the sunshine and saw some great cosplay.

We got in line for the panels because, being noobs, we weren't sure what the best way to do this was.  We decided that since we weren't paying extra for preferred autographs/photos, we were going to concentrate on the panels because we both find it really interesting to hear inside, behind the scenes stories.

Neither of us have ever watched Smallville so I didn't know who this guy was until mid-way through the panel.  Lex Luthor.  And he is hilarious!  I would recommend that if you are ever at a comicon where he is speaking...GO.  You won't regret it.  And he really works in the audience. 

Next up was Lando Calrissian!  AKA Billy Dee Williams.  He had some interesting information and outtakes from his long and storied career.  But one of the best parts was when his newly-announced Dancing with the Stars partner, Emma Slater, appeared and surprised him.  And yes, she was dressed like Princess Leia. :-)

Next up was Jason Frank Green Power Ranger.  Again, another entertaining panel.  And I have never watched a Power Rangers episode in my life.

~~INTERLUDE~~

Love this cool closeup of a light.  

~~/INTERLUDE~~

My 2nd Buffy/Angel sighting!  Spike!  Sans the bleached blonde and ageless look.  

And then Captain Kirk was in the house!  Funny, funny man. 

We finished off the day with another personal favorite...Bruce Campbell.  If you haven't seen Army of Darkness and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., you have not lived. 

Bruce's panel is different from all the others because he pulls fans out of the audience and forms a panel with them.  Then he puts them on the spot and asks them questions.  It was very fun and interesting...but lacked a little bit for me...  I'm not sure why. 

And that was the end of Day 1 (for us anyway).  That was a lot of pictures so I guess I'm going to have to split this up.  :-)

xoxo