“Earth laughs in flowers.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Hamatreya”
I took my own challenge from Get Outside Kids! blog entry and headed south to enjoy nature, great weather, and beauty with a group of students at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve and Arthur B Ripley Desert Woodland State Park. Our active group not only enjoyed a bounty of color, fresh air and exercise, but also morphed into keen observers identifying at least 20 wildflower species, 2 gopher snakes, lizards, birds, and a plethora of stink bugs and ants. It was FANTASTIC!
The reserve is just a short trip west of Lancaster, CA or east of Interstate 5 off of Highway 138 in southern California. With the wet winter and warm spring the poppies are unfolding an amazing show of color this year.
TIPS:
– Fields along Highway 170 by the reserve are never-ending fields of color (if you find a Nikon lens cap on the west field, it is mine)
-Get to the park early in the day BEFORE the crowds and bus tours!
–MAP
-Just GO! and smile…
