A Leisurely Trip Home

I ambled home from Arizona over three days. One of the big advantages of being retired is that you can do stuff like that...you're hardly ever in a hurry. And at this time of year it's good not to be in a rush...the weather's mild, and there's beauty everywhere. Here the lizards are enjoying some desert dandelions. At low elevations the wildflowers are pretty much done in the desert, but above 2000 feet in Joshua Tree NP they're still thriving.

A fine patch of globemallow in Joshua Tree NP.

This was a particularly fine ocotillo flower in full spring bloom.

JTNP is a surreal spot due to the vegetation and the rock formations. Sculpted by millennia of freezing and thawing, this park has some of the coolest rocks anywhere, seemingly piled up at random.

The area around Point Piedras Blancas is better known for its large colony of elephant sloats, but after a decent rain year the countryside is covered with lupines.