desert wildflowers april 2005 hitched up the teardrop trailer & headed for the desert, haven't been for years, needed the desert fix, & what a wonderful time to do it! all the extra rain last year made for what everyone was saying was the best wildflower show in decades. i can't argue with that. here we are in death valley, which was carpeted in gold. & there was a big lake too! my first time there, i'll be trying to return another spring, one of those magical places. went on to the mojave, my favorite stretch of arizona rt.66 (topoc to seligman), visited a friend in portal AZ, kin in sonoita AZ, back to CA to checkout anza borrego, and after a nite with a friend in riverside, had to spend a bit more time in the mojave before actually starting back home. first 2 weeks of april on the road, loved it! not a single motel stay, but i haven't added up my gas bill yet.

life form of the year... DODDER, a parasite! its water, minerals and carbohydrates are absorbed from the host through haustoria (adventitious roots) that penetrate the host's tissue. a young seedling is sensitive to touch and a yellowish stem gropes in the air until it makes contact with a plant. the contact is made firm by one or more coils about the stem. if this plant happens to contain foods suitable to the dodder, then a secondary stimulus is aroused which causes the haustoria to form and penetrate the stem. the basal part of the parasite soon shrivels away so that no soil connection exists. (info Colorado State Cooperative Extension)