By chance, I found out about this preserve and made a detour on the way back from Los Angeles to see the poppies in bloom. From the Preserve web site, the peak blooming will not happen until April/May time frame (so if you're interested, you can see them in more vibrant color). Still, I was quite impressed with the golden hills or yellow fields transformed by nature. What a sight. The pictures speak for themselves.
I also found Antelope Valley to be a very peaceful setting. I would not mind having a place there to visit during spring. I suspect it'd be hot in the summer. At this time of the season, the mountains and hills are covered by green grass and beautiful wild flowers.
On the way back, I spotted more beautiful flowers on the mountainside near Frazier Park (Interstate 5 over the Grapevine area). I stopped and took a picture. It does not look quite as impressive as I saw it by eye since there was not anything for a frame of reference. If you've been through that area, you'd know that the picture was of a big mountain.
I also dropped by San Luis Reservoir Visitor Center. The center was closed, but I was able to take a few pictures of the reservoir. If you have not traveled past that area for some time, you'd be glad to know that water is up to the brim of the reservoir now instead of 30-40 feet below capacity last summer.
In contrast with previous trips where I measured my time to see how fast I could get back home, this time I probably set a record for being slow. Yet, it was much more enjoyable. Hope you'll be able to make a similar switch some time.
For your enjoyment, I just posted more
pictures.
Just in case you might want to print (4x6 or perhaps even 8x10), I left those at fairly decent resolution. But these pictures are not the highest resolution. My duplicates of the same pictures are around 8 megapixels in raw sizes. I'll see how large I can make a picture without losing clarity.
Until the next trip in April...