Trip Photos V

Before we head out from Carlsbad (and every morning), we come here for our morning latte. There's a nice outside seating area where dogs are allowed and our dogs can be at our feet while we sip on our drinks and enjoy the surroundings.

Then it was up the road to Mexican Hat Nursery in Riverside. It's a fun nursery to visit and well worth the effort to call ahead.

Harvey Welton is the owner, pictured here with yours truly on the right.

We also visited some other nurseries along the way (California Cactus Center, Grigsby, Silhouettes of the Desert, Bachs, B&B, Tanque Verde, Lone Pine, and C&J, to name a few), but we won't bore you with them all.

Random Succulent Images

As a break from travels I decided to just share a few random nursery plant images. No names; just...enjoy!

Trip Photos IV

When we finally do get over to the California coast we always have to stop by and visit Jeff at Solana Succulents at Solana Beach. It's really a very small place but loaded with succulent plants of every description.

And the farther we go on our trip, and the more plants which we add to our van, the less space our two traveling Belgian Tervuren companions have.

That's mama and daughter, Kiani and Osita.

Trip Photos III

The next couple of days took us to Taos - just a short visit this time -

then into the hills between Taos and Santa Fe to find some rocks.

Of course, where there are rocks there are often cacti - in this case, some low growing opuntias.

After visiting a friend in Los Lunas, we then took a quick drive across New Mexico, through Deming (home of The Great American Duck Race), and a whirlwind trip through Arizona (visited three nurseries in about 4 hours) and on to Yuma. But the next day we had a little respite in the Anza-Borrego California State park - always a treat.

Then on to Vista - (actually we stay at Carlsbad, California).

Trip Photos II

After a good visit with our friends in Western Nebraska, we left as a little snow fell...

but not before we got a good looking over by some deer.

Back to the freeway and some lower level snow near Colorado Springs.

Finally, after staying the night in Raton, New Mexico, we headed off toward Taos and got a good looking over by some pronghorns.

Not much in the way of cactus on this leg other than the usual opuntias and chollas.
More tomorrow.

Trip photos I

During the next few days I'll be sharing some photos of our travels during the past couple of weeks. After leaving Oregon and Idaho, and the corner of Utah, the weather turned quite cold and blustery in Wyoming.

It was here that we did our only real cactus explorations. And it was cold exploration.

The Pediocactus simpsonii  was the first to show up, very obvious with these bright blooms. Actually, it took quite a while of walking in the cold wind before we spotted them, as the grasses provide excellent cover. And did I say it was cold!?

But looking down at your feet sometimes brings rewards. The one on the right is Echinocereus viridiflorus, not quite ready to bloom.

...but plentiful!

...and cold! After a brief visit to Nebraska, and some snow flurries, we were ready to head south.

Back from our Trip

Just a quick note to say that we're back from our road trip - 4800 miles of driving through nine western states. Too tired to post tonight but will be back at it tomorrow. Luther

Haworthia pumila

This is a seed grown specimen of Haworthia pumila, the seed collected at Mower's Station. It becomes more impressive the older it gets.

I probably won't be able to post for a couple of weeks as we head out on a 4000+ mile road trip. We'll be visiting some friends and then going to about 12 different wholesale cactus and succulent nurseries in Arizona and California. I'll post some pictures of the trip when I get back. Until then...

Enjoy your plants!