In Search of Spring Flowers & California Poppy "Super" Bloom! April 2020

Happy Spring!  These are coronavirus times and things are weird.  Not even going to sugar coat it.  So I, being me, self-distance in a car with a camera.  In search of beauty.  

I took a drive up towards Jackson, California in search of California poppies, which I had heard were blooming pretty profusely due to some late rains we were having in this drought year.  The drive did not disappoint!

Soon, I saw entire hill sides full of poppy patches!  

After taking the two pictures above, I turned around at a little closed county park by a river.  As I was pulling out, I noticed that the hillside had blue honeysuckle growing.  It was mostly in shadow, but I was able to get this awesome picture that turned out to be one of my favorites of the day. 

Back heading NorthWest on Highway 49, I pulled over beneath another hillside that was covered with poppies.  I had been heading in the wrong direction to pull over on the winding road prior, and the available pullouts were covered with cars and people anyway...everyone trying to get a photo in the poppies.  

But this time, there were only a couple cars pulled over and no one in the actual flowers! So I got luck and got a few cool shots. 

After I finished at this spot, I pulled back on to Highway 49, went around the corner, and pulled right back off again! This time there was a profusion of poppies and lupine at the top and bottom of what was otherwise a barren red cliff.  It was so cool looking!  I spent about 40 minutes there, wandering around the bottom of the cliff and taking photos of anything interesting.  

There were more than just poppies and lupine on the cliff face!  Beautiful red succulents were in bloom as well!

I finished up by laying on the ground (luckily I had a windbreaker in the car because the side of the road was littered with bits of broken glass and trash - do better people!!) and taking some shots of the blooms at the bottom of the cliff.

I then headed back and planned to stop twice more...once for a gorgeous purple blooming tree I had seen in a meadow but there hadn't been a place to stop on the other side of the highway.  It was so beautiful against the bright green background!  I actually had to lower the color sat in this photo!

While I was pulling away, I noticed what appeared to be a half cultivated and half wild garden at the base of a church on a hill.  There was a drainage culvert which had lush grass and blooms around it.  I had to pull over once again.

I have no idea what these pink cone-like flowers were and Google was absolutely no help.  But they looked so cool mixed in at the base of these poppies!

There were a few solitary white Iris here and there amongst the rocks making of the bed of the culvert and stream.  My mom loved Iris and planted then in our yard growing up.  

This BEE!  in stunning purple blooming clover!!

These flowers were sooo tiny!  I mean...tiny!  Like about the size of a quarter of a dime.  

And a purple IRIS!  Hi mom!

Okay, another unplanned stop.  I had taking some full moon pics in Jackson of the beautiful St. Sava Orthodox Church on January 31, 2019.  I heard that there was a vantage point to see down on the church, so I decided to make a quick detour to see if I could find it.  

I didn't.  But I did shoot a kind of cool photo in between two houses!  There is a piece of pretty-bad Photoshop on the lower left bottom of the photo where I tried to 'shop out a roof.  lol  

My last stop was in Rancho Murrieta.  I had seen a large swath of yellow Lupine growing in front of the construction site of a new Bel Air.  Full disclosure, I didn't see any other yellow Lupine on my drive although there were tons of blue ones.  So I think these may have been planted to make the construction site prettier.   But it was stunning and they were mixed with a lot of wildflowers so I felt justified in including them.  :)

Laker colors!!  Hi Kobe and Gigi!

I loved how the three yellow ones lined up in this photo.

Such a fun and rewarding drive.  I miss nature and road trips so much!  Be safe people.  Be well.  

xoxo

Sony A350

18-70 & 70-300 Lens used

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