Off the Beaten Path

I have been obsessed with wildflowers this year. I am constantly on the search for new and interesting blooms and fields carpeted with gold, orange and lilac. I spend way too much time online looking for sites that might lead me to another great display but I keep coming back to one site in particular, Desert USA. Their wildflower reports are up to date and cover the deserts of Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Texas. I may not make it out to Joshua Tree or Anza Borrego like I had hoped but I can still check out shots of what visitors are seeing and find places closer to home to scope out. My attention was most recently caught by a post from someone who spotted some terrific wildflower displays in the Lake Elsinore area. The flowers looked gorgeous and the spot was only an hour from my house. It looked like it would be a perfect little afternoon trip for our family so off we went.

The location on the website was clear. Or so I thought. A trail behind the Carls Jr  and tire store on Railroad Canyon Road. The Carls Jr and the tire store were easy enough to find but the trail.... not so much. We asked around but nobody knew of the trail we read about. We had come all that way and the kids were ready to run around so we forged our own trail.

 

Up into the hills we climbed and it didn't before we were surrounded by flowers.

 

It was beautiful and the sights must have put the kids in a particularly charming mood because they were  too cute running around and holding hands.

 

The kids enjoyed the flowers. Maybe a little too much. It was hard to explain to them why picking all the flowers was a bad idea.

 

Check out my artistic photoshopping. I am just too fancy for words.

 

 

Since we weren't really on a trail and exploring what looked to be the sight of a future housing development, we saw alot of man made wonders including a tarp lined with sand bags to keep the hillside from eroding. I am pretty sure climbing on it was the highlight of the trip for Mari and Ben. Ahhhh, what are ya gonna do?

 

Here are a couple more of my favorite wildflower shots.

 

 

Our path ended as we approached city, sidewalk, and  strip malls again. It was back to reality but we didn't let the hustle and bustle dampen our mood. The sunshine and the wildflowers stayed with us for the rest of the day.