Postcards from the Trail

Salvia - or sage's botanical name. G has a small home business, Smartyplants, growing salvias to sell in local plant sales. Many of our travels have involved either visiting nurseries to see what salvias they sell or trying to find salvias in the wild. I remember searching out Mara Nursery in New Zealand and spending a lovely afternoon having lunch with the owners.

Salvias grow through out the world. We found several species in the wild on our trip in Africa. They also grow in the US. We came across Salvia funerea totally unexpectedly while hiking in a canyon in Death Valley in 2005.

Here are a few pictures of some salvia we found in the wild in South Africa:

Salvia africana-caerulea

Close-up of Salvia africana-caerulea

Salvia dentate near Nababeep

Salvia africana lutea in the wild outside Darling

Southern California is another prime region for wild salvias and we hope to find some on our trip this week. Saliva apiana and Saliva mellifera grow in the chaparral of the South Coast. In Anza-Borrego, you can find Salvia vaseyi. I found a great site by Tom Chester which has a lot of details on the plants of Southern California. I really like his plant lists for trails of the area.

We are going to stop at the Santa Rosa plateau on the way from Ontario to Anza-Borrego. Tom has a listing of plants on the Vernal Pools and several salvias are to found. We are planning on stopping since it is on the way and we will have time.

We were itchin' for some sun after our more-than-dreary winter this year. But luck wasn't with us this year. It was sunny in Anza Borrego but it was cold and windy. As expected, the wildflower show was small to non-existent. The fall and winter rains just didn't materialize in California.

We arrived on-time in Ontario and I started a long string of mishaps by leaving my travel folder and hiking book on the plane. Darn if I didn't realize it just as I passed out of security. Fortunately, I kept my boarding pass so I was to go back to the gate and they went on board and found it. It was actually quite fast and I got to baggage before our luggage had been unloaded.

We got our car, a mid-sized Dodge Stratus from Thrifty. Again, I left the folder! This was a sign of things to come. It did take us a while to get baggage and our car so we didn't get on the freeway until almost 10:45 after arriving at 9:40. I was so glad to have the mid-size. I swear everyone seemed to be driving large SUVs. I've never seen so many Hummers on the road. Soon we were flying down I-15 at 75-80 mph and still being passed.

We pulled off at Lake Elsinore at 11:30 and lunched at the In and Out Burger. We made it to the trail head at Santa Rosa Plateau by 12:30. We had realized that we were actually a little early for the wildflowers. Everything still looked asleep But we found our quarries - Salvia apiana (white sage) and Salvia mellifera (black sage).

On to the desert after a stop for groceries at Ralph's in Temecula. We came across patches of snow near Warner Springs. The forecast was for rain but we had hopes that it wouldn't happen.

We made it to Borrego Springs by 5:00 and checked into our Casita. It was very clean and nicely furnished in a mix of tropical and southwestern decor. It was going to be perfect for the weekend. We relaxed and had a nice dinner of ravioli before heading to bed.

The next day, we made a stop in Borrego Springs to check out what was available in town. Not much. There was a grocery store
and a handful of restaurants. We checked out Jilbertos Tacos and made a plan to return for dinner. We went on to the visitor's center at the State Park to get information on where there might be flowers in bloom. The ranger suggested a short walk up Surprise Canyon just behind the restrooms at the Hellhole Canyon trailhead. We also had plans to visit Culp Valley and the parking lot was on our way up.

We headed up Montezuma's Grade to Culp Valley. It was cold and very windy. The distant mountains between the desert and the coast were covered with snow. But we found another salvia. We thought it might be Salvia vaseryi since our trail plant guide said it was supposed to be one there but we think it was really just an apiana or a cross between the two. The plant we found had tall seed spikes which are found on apiana instead of the whorled ones found on vaseryi.

The views were stunning but I couldn't take the wind any longer so we headed back. We found the parking lot this time and went for a short walk up Surprise Canyon. We found several interesting items in bloom, Ocotillo, chuparosa, phacila and best of all several barrel cactus in bloom. But more importantly, we did finally find Salvia vaseryi.

We had a few more hours of daylight so we decided to try to find another location suggested by the ranger, Plum Canyon. By time we got over Yaqui Pass, the weather turned cloudy, cold and windy again. We pulled off the road and checked out some agaves in bloom before heading back. At the top of Yaqui Pass, we decided to take the short xxx loop and watched the shadows lengthen before the sun set.

We headed back to town for dinner at Jarmillos. It was definitely cheap but so-so. I liked my Carne Asada Tacos; nice chuncks of seasoned beef with guacamole on warm soft tortillas. G's chile rellenos were so-so. They were anaheim chiles with some strange cheese filling and a very thick batter. The sauce wasn't great either. Oh well maybe we should have went to Pablitos instead?

Back at the casita, G discovered that we had HBO and we caught part of the Sopranos. It was the season opener. Whoa! what a shocker. We made a note to catch the full show the next night.

Our last day dawned sunny but windy again. We headed south towards Mexico after filling up. Filling the half empty tank cost more than it did to fill my little hybrid! The drive took us down over the pass used by the original stagecoach line to Southern California. What an arduous trip that must have been. The passengers often had to get off the coach and walk up the pass. The views were stunning between the desert and the snowy mountains.

Our destination was Mountain palm canyon. Near the campground was a short two mile loop trail took you to several palm oasises where the birds congregated attracted to the water and food. Between the two canyons, the trail climbed up and over a ridge where we found cactus, octillo and other plants in bloom. We watched the clouds cast shadows on the desert and they moved across. I always wonder what the first pioneers thought of the expansiveness of the desert.

The next morning, we went to the Red Octillo restaurant located in the quanset hut just outside of town. It was excellent! Too bad they don't do dinner.

Sadly, it was time to drive back. We had one more stop before our flight, Rancho Santa Ana Gardens in Claremont. LA was overcast and drizzly but we had a great tour of the garden. Spring was in full bloom with the blues of the ceanothus and bright orange of Fremontodendron. It was a very relaxing 3 nights in Borrego Springs. It was a very relaxing 3 nights in Borrego Springs and a nice end to the weekend.

Well, it is time to make our annual run down to California Mother's Day. As usual, we will drop by the Cabrillo Plant Sale. G is reviewing the list to see what he wants to purchase. I've been researching what we might want to do on the way over on Friday. G's sister told us about Del Puerto Canyon. The road goes from Patterson to San Jose and looks like a perfect place to check out wildflowers. It is also a great birding location. Here is another great link.

We will do our usual and take down our trusty hard sided Samsonite luggage to pack all our plants. G has to be back to work Mother's Day but we will get a chance to visit one or two days before.

Well, it has been another successful trip to Cali both for visiting our family and purchasing stock plants. It was a quick flight and drive into the valley. It was hot especially for May. It was over 90 degrees and we loved it. We spent a two lazy days visiting including a great get together on Thursday night. We had 4 generations for pizza. Everyone from grandma down to the great-grandchildren. Lots of fun.

Friday, we spent a long but enjoyable day. I didn't really calculate the timing but it all worked out. We left around 9am and drove the backroads over the Altamont to San Jose. What a beautiful drive. We meandered along the Del Puerto Canyon road for about 3 hours spotting some nice wildflowers. G was pretty estatic to find a new milkweed. We were at the junction around noon and realized we needed to get going to make it by 3pm to Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, the best flowers were on this section of the drive. Lots of lupine and Chinese houses. But we couldn't stop.

We made it to San Jose by 1:30 which actually was what was estimated - 4 hours from Stockton to SJ. Fortunately, the traffic wasn't bad on Hwy 17 and we pulled into the parking lot at Cabrillo at 2:30pm. We didn't get a chance to stop for lunch. Thankfully, we had some snacks along but we were starved.

We paid our membership and got in line. It wasn't long until 3pm and the gates opened. We grabbed a red wagon and went in search of salvias on our list. We were with a lot of other 'salvia collectors'.

We spent about an hours looking over the selection, talking to the growers and running into other salvia enthusiasts. We saw Betsy and Genny who are always good to see.

We spent a bit going through the garden and seeing what had survived and was in bloom. It is always interesting to see that even in Santa Cruz, some salivas will not survive the winter.

Around 5pm, we left. Unfortunately, the traffic was a bear. It took us forever to get to Gilroy and we didn't make it back to the valley until 8:30. We called Mom once we were in the valley so they could go ahead and eat.

Long long day but fruitful. We spent Saturday packing and everything made it back.

G was talking with a customer a couple of weeks ago and they got to talking about Walla Walla and wine. We had enjoyed our getaway in Walla Walla last year. They said "Have you been to Cave B near Quincy?" G did not know of it but thought I would heard of it. Well, I had not.

We checked out the website and it looked very nice. Fortunately, it is off season and the prices were reasonable. We quickly booked two nights and decided to do it on Thursday - Friday to take advantage of the lower mid-week rate. I noticed that the prices are over double come summer. The Inn is located next to the Gorge Amphitheater and the winery was originally Champs de Brionne. The Inn has been open for two years or so.

Driving through the vineyards, the main inn building raises above the horizon. It is stunning; curved dark gray roof and stone sides that make the building look like it was carved out the nearby basalt cliffs. The staff if very professional and the inn is run by the same company that manages the Willow Lodge in Woodinville and Freestone Inn in Mazama. We checked in and walked a short distance through the Sangiovese vineyard to our Cliffhouse. There are 16 Cliffhouses; each one is a separate bungalow with a full view of the river canyon below.

The bathroom has a stone floor, large soaking tub and separate glass shower. Fluffy towels and bathrobes are provided.

The west wall is filled with windows overlooking the Columbia River. You can walk out to a nice terrace where you can enjoy a glass of wine while watching the sun set to the west.

Located in the main Inn building is a gourmet restaurant, Tendrils. The Chef is a Slow Food Award award winner and has written a James Beard award winning cookbook The menu focuses on local products and producers.

We thoroughly enjoyed our getaway. It is only about 150 miles from Seattle but it feels a world away.

Is Quincy the new Bend?

We take a trip each spring to view wildflowers and gardens. Our favorite place is Tucson. We love to spend a few days in the desert searching for wildflowers and hiking. In 2005, we spent time camping in Death Valley and also made a quick trip to Tucson. In 2006, we visited Anza Borrego .

We have been watching the rainfall this fall and winter. The drought has continued across the Southwest and Mojave. But Southern California has had a lot of rain. We decided to extend our Riviera experience and visit the 'California Riviera' - Santa Barbara.

It looks to be a good wildflower year - if it doesn't get hot in March. April will be the best time for us and hopefully we will catch some flowers.

Besides wildflowers, the main place we want to visit is Lotusland. We met a couple from SoCa on the trail in Tucson that raved about it. KHB just blogged about it .

I gave them a call today and made reservations for a tour. Now that we have the reservations I can start to make the rest of plans. I looked and found this lovely cottage in Santa Barbara - Sycamore Cottage. I talked to the owner this evening and they have an opening. It sounds like the perfect getaway for a long weekend.

We are planning on flying into Burbank and stopping at the Getty Museum on the way and maybe driving up through Antelope Valley. We also want to do a hike in the mountains around SB. Figueroa Mountain looks to be a good place to hunt for flowers.

What a wonderful weekend. It was the third annual Slow Bowl - a get together of friends who have met online at Slow Talk - the forum for Slow Travel. We all love to travel slowly - staying in one place for a week at a time and getting to know an area in depth.

We have been organizing get togethers or GTGs as we call them since the forum started in 2001. In February 2007, Shannon thought it would be good to have a GTG in the Paso Robles area during Super Bowl weekend. We could spend Saturday visiting a few wineries and Sunday watching the Super Bowl. We had a tremendous turnout the first year and have held it for three years.

We gathered on Friday and had a lasagna smack-down. The winner - a gorgeous porcini goat milk lasagna with home made noodles. Saturday, we met at 11:30 at Midnight Cellars for our first tasting. From here, we moved on to Jada Winery. A smaller group moved on to Adelaida Cellars. My favorite - Adelaida Cellars hands down. Not only was the server very knowledgeable but the wines were excellent.

Sunday, a few went to our group favorite, Castoro. One of the other moderators and I went down to Montana de Oro State Park for a quick bluff walk before returning to watch the bowl game.

Monday, it was time to leave. I took a leisurely drive back on a small backroad that ran parallel to Hwy 101. Highway 25 wound along through the San Benito hills which were lovely spring green. The day was sunny and warm. I didn't want to leave.

I love spending the weekend getting to know my on-line friends. It is always great to take social networking 'off-line' and meet other Slow Travelers face to face. Friends, great food, wonderful wine, beautiful memories.

View of the wineries on the west side of Paso Robles

Tulips in Skagit Valley Washington

One of the highlights of spring here in the Pacific Northwest is the daffodil and tulip blooms in Skagit Valley. Skagit Valley is a fertile delta of the Skagit River which is located about 60 miles north of Seattle. Mt Vernon is the main city in the region but there are many lovely small towns to explore. Our favorite town is La Conner. It is situated along the banks of the Swinomish Canal, it has a vibrant art community. Historic buildings line the main street - now with shops and museums. We also just discovered Edison which is north of La Conner and is a hot-bed of local artisan food. There are even wineries!

The spring has been cold and we could tell everything would be late when we made our first trip to the Skagit late in March. Usually the daffodils are in bloom by the last week of March but nothing was in bloom. It was cold and windy.

We finally got a chance to return last Monday - the last week in April. It was a gorgeous day; sunny although the clouds were obscuring the Cascade foothills. Everyone wants to go when Mt. Baker is visible for classic shots of tulips with Mt Baker in the background. It was not to be.

But the colors were gorgeous. The sun was out and color of the tulips just popped! The area has become tremendously popular when the tulips are in bloom. Fortunately they have created parking areas; unfortunately you have to pay $3-$4 for each time.

We found a lovely field in bloom that was a bit away from the main crowd. The center of the frenzy is always Roozengaarde, the headquarters of Washington Bulb Company. Washington state is one of the world's largest producers of flower bulbs. Roozengaarde is the display gardens for the company.

The plus of paying for parking is you can walk in the bulb fields. You have ample opportunities and angles for photos. I think we spent over an hour just meandering along the path between the different colored fields.

After getting our fill of color, we headed for lunch. Our normal lunch spot, La Conner Brewery had a long wait so we went up to Anacortes instead. After lunch, we drove around the area between Edison and Samish Island. Many of the businesses were closed since it Monday but everything looked great. Along with the artisan food stops, there are great places to bird both at Padilla Bay and on the way to Samish Island. I actually went out to check for rentals since it looks like a great place for a getaway.

Okay.. enough on the area - here are the photos.

Workers in the fields picking out rogue tulips before harvesting

Getting ready to top off the blooms before harvesting

Fields of red

Ready for harvest

Fields go to infinity

A prism rainbow of tulips

The Rogue

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My bags are packed I'm headed to the Slow Travel Get Together (GTG) - "A Taste of San Diego". It is a three day get together with members from our forum coming together from around the world. The last get together was in Savannah which I was not able to attend but sounded like a great time.

The planners,Jane, Marcia, Palma, Marcia and Shannon have worked so hard at planning it. Here's a bit of about the last minute preparation from Palma. Many people arrived on Thursday - check out what they have been up to and pictures.

Lots of wonderful people and food. I'll try to blog and post some pictures.

You can not grow up in California without learning about Junipero Serra and the Spanish Missions. I learned about the different explorers who touched California in the 4th grade. Many countries came to California looking exploit the riches of the area. Sir Francis Drake and the Golden Hind potentially explored Point Reyes in Northern California. Bering explored similar areas for the Russians.

But it was the Spanish that were successful at colonizing the West Coast of the New World. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo touch down in what is now San Diego in September 28 1542 and claimed it for Spain. It was not until the late 1700's that Spain sent missionaries to the New World to establish settlements. Junipero Serra founded the first church in California at San Diego on July 16, 1769. It was later moved inland to the current site in 1774 to be closer to water.

I have been fascinated by these men who decided to leave their homeland for unknown lands. We visited Spain in 1985 and toured the area of Extremadura. How similar the land with golden rolling hills dotted with trees. I've often wondered what they thought when they traveled inland in California and found areas that reminded them of Spain.

The first mission founded was in San Diego. I finally got a chance to visit it during the Slow Travel get together. Here are some photos of the beautiful small first mission of California.

Just an hour north of San Diego is another mission - Mission San Luis Rey. It was founded in 1798 by Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasuen who was the successor to Padre Junipero Serra. The mission which is the 18th founded in California and was named after St Louis IX.

It has a fascinating history. Father Antonis Peyri was the first father in charge. Under his direction, the mission became a center of agriculture and life in the region. Grapes, oranges, olives, wheat and corn were cultivated along with many heads of livestock. It became the largest mission in California by 1830.

Mexico won independence in 1821 from Spain and the missions were to pass over to the native people but instead it was taken over by several administrators who grabbed portions of the land.

In 1847-1857, the missions became operational bases for U.S. soldiers as the United States took control of California and it became a state. Several noted soldiers including Kit Carson served at the mission base. The Catholic church petitioned the US government to take control back of the missions and Abraham Lincoln signed an billed to pass control back to the Catholic Church in 1865. There is a copy of the declaration in the mission museum.

The mission fell into disrepair until 1892 until Father O'Keefe took over and rebuilt much of today's buildings. Another bit of trivia I discovered after visiting is Walt Disney used the mission buildings to film first season of the original Zorro TV series episodes. He added the distinctive skull and cross bones seen over the entrance to the cemetery which I unfortunately did not take a picture of. I think you can tell from the interior courtyards and distinctive architecture how it would be perfect location for a series on the early California Spanish colony.

Last Monday, I had a day to spend on my own in San Diego. My flight did not leave until 4:30 so I had an opportunity to explore. Where to go? G really wanted me to go to Balboa Park.

I left my studio and headed to breakfast. I thought about trying the Hash House but after reading all the warning of the large portions, I decided to go to the Crest Cafe which was also in the Hillcrest area near the park. I had a standard American breakfast of eggs, potatoes and sausage with some wonderful orange juice. Perfect to get me going.

It was a short drive from the restaurant to the entrance to Balboa Park. Named for the Spanish Explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, it is one of the largest urban cultural parks in America. Monday is a slow day at the park since most of the museums are closed so I was able to drive over the Cabrillo Bridge and up Prado Drive to the center and park. It was wonderful driving through the East and West Gateways into the center of the park.

This area of the park was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. This fair was to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal and highlight San Diego as the first American port on the Pacific side of the canal. The buildings are in the Spanish Revival style highlighting much of California history. I loved walking the long arched walkways and peaking into the different alcoves and gardens near the center. It was a highly successful park with over 3.6 million visitors over 2 years.

Today the buildings house several outstanding museums. I did not get a chance to visit any of the museums but more the reason to return. But I did thoroughly enjoy exploring it on an Spring day without the crowds.

Here are some of the beautiful building. (Come back next week to see the botanical wonders of the park)

The Botanical Building - Balboa Park

The building I had to visit for G was the Botanical Building. I had actually forgot that it was a lath house instead of a glass house so I was a little surprised when I first saw it. It is one of the largest lath houses in the world and given the warm temperatures of San Diego, it makes much more sense than a glass house which would be extremely hot.

The Botanical Building was built in 1915 as part of the Panama-California Exposition. It has a somewhat checkered history which can be found on the San Diego History Society pages. It does remind me somewhat of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park which is a glass house.

The Laguna de las Flores, also known as the lily pond, is located in front of the building which is stocked with Koi and dotted with water lilies. In the past, the pond bottom has been cemented and it has been used for training naval personal or hospital therapy pool. A strange use to me. Today it is a beautiful reflecting pool although it is somewhat marred by the cement bottom and piping.

There are towering palms and tree ferns inside the greenhouse. There are displays of colorful orchids and other interesting tropical plants. A local elementary school was holding a drawing class and it was fun to see the kids scattered throughout the building painting the flowers.

G would have loved it.

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time there was few daffodils in bloom in the Skagit Valley. I have posted several times about birding or the tulips. Last year everything was two weeks behind and the best blooms were near the end of April. This year, everything is early.

We headed up today. The forecast was for cloudy with some sun breaks. We could see the brilliant yellow patches as we drove through the narrow backroads. We pulled off into a parking area setup for a large daffodil field. The paths were soggy and muddy. We were surprised as we got closer to see the flower edges tinged with brown. The daffodils were not at their prime and slightly past.

We passed several fields of tulips that were just tinted with color. They were still tightly budded but with a good warm day - they will be a riot of color but for now - they are still asleep. We stopped by Roozengaarde where the early tulips were in bloom. It gave us a wonderful taste of warmth to come on this early Spring day.

Fields along the narrow roads

Gardens at Roozengaarde

Just coloring and not yet open

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There are over 20 different gardens located in Balboa Park San Diego. I knew I wanted to visit the Botanical building. I looked over the list of gardens and put the Desert Garden high on the list of must-see other gardens.

I could already tell that San Diego was an excellent location for growing cactus and succulents. I was seeing large specimens of succulents in gardens as I drove or walked around the town. The Desert Garden is located across from the footbridge over Park Boulevard near the Natural History Museum. The garden was planted in 1976 and has matured well. Many of the plants were in bloom.

The garden reminded me a lot of South Africa. Many of the plants were succulents and many were from South Africa - Aloes and Euphorbias. There were not as many cactus as I expected.

Here are a few of the wonderful plants that can be found in the Desert Garden.

Euphorbia candelabrum

Idria columnaris

Dracaena draco

Close up of Dracaena draco

Aloe Barberae - Tree Aloe

Euphorbia grandicornis

Pair of doves

Aloe ferox

Aloe dichotoma - Quiver tree that we saw in South Africa