I’d like to finish documenting our spring west coast trip before we go back this summer, so without further ado, here’s the latest entry.
Today’s travels (actually back on March 18th) take us from San Diego to the far eastern edge of California, in Blythe. Along the way we saw magnificent spring flowers, including this hillside just covered with yellow flowers:
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These bright red desert flowers are worth sharing as well:
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Finding ourselves the furthest south we’ve ever been, we took advantage of the situation to drive by the Salton Sea, which is a dying inland sea east of San Diego. Below is a photo showing the starkness of the area.
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We saw something on the eastern shore of the Salton Sea that we’d never seen before, palm tree farms! Upon reflection, they do have to come from somewhere. Now when you see a new shopping mall with full grown palm trees you’ll know where they may have come from.
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We also saw a number of “unshaved” palm trees. Unlike palm trees in residential or businesses areas, these wild or native palms don’t have their old, dead fronds cleaned away. Quite a different look than usual, though I understand rats and other critters live in these trees, so I guess that’s why, besides looks, they are usually kept trimmed.
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Finally, as we approached Blythe we drove through the Imperial Sand Dunes. It was beautiful, both in terms of the sand dunes and the beautiful purple and white desert spring flowers.
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You can click on any of the photos above to view a page with more of the photos take between San Diego and Blythe. From that page you may then view larger versions of all the images.