Oh what a wonderful and highly emotional weekend we had!! We got away finally and went to first Tenja Canyon out in Lake Elsinore California to go camping. But we ran into a complication with it being rainy (which I loved) and the camp site we choose was covered in poison oak! Tequcinally not a camp site since we decided to go out and camp fully on our own in the San Mateo Wilderness!!
This is a picture of the poison oak. Just one photo I figured was necsseray to show just how much it looks like a totally normal plant that Loretta would probably try to just eat. 
Luckily since it was raining and everything was covered in poison and I was terrified to even let Loretta out of the car to play we slept in the new Subaru Outback The Boyfriend got!! Strangely putting all the seats down and cuddling up in the sleeping bag was a lot more comfortable then you would think… Till you had to get up.
This is a picture of the little critters that where all on scatter from the rain. I got two good pics and almost stepped on 20. There was a lot of jumping around and saying no! Don’t step there! Ha ha ha
This is just a fun picture of the camp area we choose. It was beautiful but even in the photo you can see all that bright green foliage at the bottom there… That’s poison oak… I have never been in so much fear of going to the bathroom….
So because I said this was highly emtional and the car was comfortable for a little bit we decided to go down to Anza Borega CA!! All of the flowers where blooming everywhere and it was just magical!! I have no idea what the name of these flowers are but they are gorgeous… Even the cactus!! 
This is called the Teddy Bear cactus… Not sure why other then it looking super cuddly from a distance… And if you have ever hugged a cactus before (which I have) you’ll know for you it’s rough… And painful. 
Loretta was having an amazing time running around through the flowers and digging HUGE holes in the sand!! It was adorable… Well in all honesty I believe everything she does is adorable until it’s attacking my face.
That’s the start of the dig! 🙂
Oh these desert Lily’s! They are so beautiful to me and I love their long long leaves!! Or stems? Whatever they are they are gorgeous!!
Then The Boyfriend found this very pretty piece of Quartz just hanging around. It was so pretty that we took tons of photos and put it back exactly where we found it so someone else would be able to have the joy we did in finding it! “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” That’s what it said on the sign entering Anza 🙂
This bush or tree was distracting me. The beautiful orange flowers. I was trying from every angle to get the best picture I could of it. I wanted you to be able to see the wonderful orange blossoms on it and not see how dangerous it is… Soooo many throns!!
These are what I’m calling “Deserts Lilacs”. If you happen to know the real name of them that would be amazingly helpful. They are just so beautiful and I mostly took this photo for my mama! They are one of our favorites 🙂
Over all the trip was amazing and exhausting!! Can’t wait to go back already!!
Love,
Emily
Emily's Ardor 