SoCal Road Trip 2006

As we drove into the garden we could tell that things were different than they had been two days before in the rain: today was a bright sunny day, and the first thursday of every month is free admission so the place was very crowded. We walked quickly to the entrance since Rick didn't want to waste a moment of garden time.

As we walked down the first pathway into the cactus and succulents sections we were both amazed; the place is immense! And all of the plants look like they are on steroids! And fertility drugs! They had thousands of beautiful plants packed in. Rick was having a hard time concentrating because there were so many things to take in.

We walked through the cactus area and then through the jungle section where we saw lots of tropical plants and waterfalls. Then it was over to the Japanese Garden, which once again was huge. They had huge bamboo groves with paths running through them.

In the middle of it all was a large Zen garden and lots of bonsai trees in crazy shapes. It was all very peaceful and tranquil. Then we made our way through the herb garden to the conservatory.

The conservatory looked very new and, of course, very large. We walked through to a large courtyard that it wraps around, then made our way back to the cactus area for one last pass through. What a fantastic garden! At 4:30 the garden closed so we headed to the bookstore where Rick bought some great books. Then it was time to hop in the car for the voyage home. We headed up I-5 over the grapevine, encountering surprisingly light traffic. Everyone was moving quite fast (averaging about 80) so we made it home in about five and a half hours, including a stop for gas and one to eat a sandwich. Not bad!

It had been a very action packed week of driving all around Southern California. Despite Mother Nature trying to throw in a few monkey wrenches, we simply switched to Plan B a couple of times, using the weather as great backdrops for many of the pictures. The Mojave Desert is really beautiful and Route 66 is a great way to see it.

For this trip we used our new cameras, a pair of Nikon D200's, each with an 18-200 VR lens and 4GB memory card. They were extremely responsive and took fantastic pictures; we're very happy that we decided to get them!