This summer has been a good one for butterflies, flowers, and birds. Possibly because there were significant winter storms and now everything has responded.
Wings and Wildflowers in The Crosby, Rancho Santa Fe, California
USA
San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Birch Aquarium, Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, and More
When Patrick and Sheila Corey flew in from Portland, Maine for a week-long visit, we finally had a good excuse to revisit some of our favorite San Diego spots — and a few we had been meaning to get to. Over several days we made it out to the Safari Park in Escondido, Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, the USS Midway downtown, Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, and a handful of our favorite local places for food and drinks in between. Showing visitors around a place you love has a way of reminding you why you love it.
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
We had driven past the turnoff for Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve more times than we could count during our California coast travels, always telling ourselves we would stop on the next trip. Finally, on a warm July morning, Sandy and I turned off the 101 and hiked it properly — and it immediately reminded us of why it ranked among our favorite spots in all of San Diego County.
Carlsbad Flower Fields: California’s Spectacular Spring Bloom
Every spring, the hills above Carlsbad in North San Diego County erupt into one of the most breathtaking seasonal displays anywhere in California. Sandy and I had been wanting to visit the Carlsbad Flower Fields for years — finally, this spring we made it happen during our California coast travels, and it was worth every mile of the drive north from San Diego.
Sonoran Desert Life in Three Quarter Time: Tucson, Tubac & the Desert Museum
Last Updated: July 31, 2026
So much of travel moves at a pace set by logistics — the next destination, the checkout time, the reservation that can’t be changed. The Sonoran Desert has a way of overruling all of that. You slow to three-quarter time whether you intend to or not, because the things worth seeing here don’t reveal themselves to anyone moving too fast. The cactus wren sitting three feet away on a saguaro arm. The bobcat stretched out in a patch of morning sun. The Costa’s hummingbird hovering in front of a blooming aloe, iridescent purple gorget catching the light. You have to be moving at the desert’s pace to see any of it. Continuing our spring stay at Western Way RV Resort near Tucson Mountain Park, we had two more weeks to let the desert set the tempo — with a day trip south to the artist colony at Tubac and daily visits to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum thrown in. Jake set the pace each morning, and it was always exactly right.
Spring in the Sonoran Desert: Gila Bend to Tucson, Arizona
Last Updated: July 31, 2026
Spring is the Sonoran Desert at its absolute best — wildflowers carpeting the desert floor, saguaros preparing to bloom, hummingbirds working every flowering shrub, and evenings that turn the western sky a deep molten orange behind the Tucson Mountains. We drove in from the west in April 2021, stopping overnight in Gila Bend before continuing to our favorite base camp on the west side of Tucson near Saguaro National Park West and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We needed some minor repairs done on the RV — this was our third stay at Western Way RV Resort — and once the work was sorted, we spent two weeks photographing wildflowers, raptors, woodpeckers, numerous species of hummingbirds, and the kind of sunsets that make you understand why people choose to live in Tucson. Jake was entirely in his element.
