After almost being blown away at the Poppy Festival over the weekend, Mother Nature decided to provide us with one and a half beautiful days to photograph the wildflowers. The flowers and the weather are quite unpredictable, so this had to be a “short notice” field trip.
Fifteen LPA members gathered at Crazy Otto’s in Acton for a hearty breakfast on Saturday morning.
We left there at about 9:45 a.m. There was a little low fog, but by the time we reached our destination, the sun was out and the weather was warming up. We all met for a group picture before going our separate ways inside the gardens. Some of us headed toward the rose garden and the Japanese gardens. Others went to the desert garden and the conservatory. I think between us we probably covered most of the area gardens, and got some good photos during the course of the day.
We had a large turnout of 18 people for this trip. We began the day with our usual breakfast gathering, this time at Denny’s in Mojave, where we had plenty of time to socialize, pass out maps, and talk about the day’s plans over a good meal before heading out.
February 7, 2006
We didn’t have as many people as we had hoped for go on this trip. This was most likely caused by the trip date. Tuesday is just a bad day to expect a large attendance, but as expected and planed, there were no crowds anywhere to be found, hotels were cheap and lines were short. Driving up was a breeze.
Our members who managed to make this trip came back with some fantastic shots.
Thirteen members showed up for this trip on a cool, but sunny Saturday morning.
Most of the group met at Bakers Square for breakfast before heading out for the ranch, which was only about a thirty minute drive down the freeway.
Once there, we wandered up the hill to the home of that once famous movie actor. We had time to check out the grounds and the beautiful view from the hilltop before the first guided tour of the home began.
Nine of us showed up at Denny’s for our December trip to see and photograph some of the nicest displays of holiday decorations in the local area.
Bill Albrecht was our leader again this year, and along with Dave Anderson, had scouted the area a couple days prior to the trip. They had maps prepared for everyone showing the route to take to see all the best displays.
Sixteen members made this trip on a beautiful Saturday morning. Dennis Goodno led the trip, and had colorful maps, and instructions for all. We started out with breakfast at Denny’s in Palmdale and made it to the zoo right around opening time. .
The weather was just right for being outside. Once we arrived, most of us spent some time around the meerkats and flamingos before heading our separate ways.
Once again, our trip leader Lyle Trusty, picked the perfect time to capture the peak of fall color. For the third year in a row, brilliant color was found during the first week of October.
This year, the most brilliant color seemed to lie between 7000-9000 ft, with bare trees above, and still green trees below.
Our “base camp” in Bishop consisted of hotel rooms with nice warm beds, hot coffee, and Denny’s nearby. After gathering for meals, and exchanging information on the “hot spots”, smaller groups split up and headed out.
