We take a trip each spring to view wildflowers and gardens. Our favorite place is Tucson. We love to spend a few days in the desert searching for wildflowers and hiking. In 2005, we spent time camping in Death Valley and also made a quick trip to Tucson. In 2006, we visited Anza Borrego .

We have been watching the rainfall this fall and winter. The drought has continued across the Southwest and Mojave. But Southern California has had a lot of rain. We decided to extend our Riviera experience and visit the ‘California Riviera’ – Santa Barbara.

It looks to be a good wildflower year – if it doesn’t get hot in March. April will be the best time for us and hopefully we will catch some flowers.

Besides wildflowers, the main place we want to visit is Lotusland. We met a couple from SoCa on the trail in Tucson that raved about it. KHB just blogged about it .

I gave them a call today and made reservations for a tour. Now that we have the reservations I can start to make the rest of plans. I looked and found this lovely cottage in Santa Barbara – Sycamore Cottage. I talked to the owner this evening and they have an opening. It sounds like the perfect getaway for a long weekend.

We are planning on flying into Burbank and stopping at the Getty Museum on the way and maybe driving up through Antelope Valley. We also want to do a hike in the mountains around SB. Figueroa Mountain looks to be a good place to hunt for flowers.