Along for the Ride

We started out over a week ago on a road trip for the Thanksgiving holiday.  This is actually an add on to our 'real' vacation, but it has become quite a journey.  We are seeing family and friends who we do not get to visit very often.  In fact, I have one friend that I met that I had not seen in 25 years!  It has been a fun and crazy journey.  We stop as we go, without much of a plan, all so we can get to our main destination (yet to be revealed to my readers).

One of my plans for this little road trip was to bring back plant specimens that could be on the State Wildlife contest.  For the most part, I have been asking to pull over on the side of the road to gather grasses and taking pictures of trees along the way.  However, I have also been fortunate to have several stops at national parks where the plants have been nicely labeled so I know the plants I am gathering are correct.  I try to take the specimens already gathered to compare to these labeled plants. 

Here are a few of the plants I have gathered along with a few pictures, along with location:

Agarito

American Beautyberry

Ash

Catclaw Sensative briar

Dewberry

Elbowbush

Elm

Four-winged Saltbush (Wupatki Nat. Monument, AZ)

Hackberry (Montezuma Castle Nat. Monument, AZ)

Honey Mesquite

Juniper

Little Bluestem

Live Oak

Mulberry

Persimmon

Plains Bristlegrass

Prickly Pear (outside cave entrance at Carlsbad Caverns, NM)

Rusty Blackhaw

Southern Red Oak

Sumac-little leaf (Carlsbad Caverns, NM)

Verbena

Western Soapberry (Montezuma Castle Nat. Monument, AZ)

Yaupon

Not a bad start to my specimen list.  I can’t wait to get back to show the group.

Also, our picture taking skills have been used to take great shots of the mountain scenes across three states—Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.  Still more of this to come as we head off on our ‘real’ vacation in just two days!



train shot by Henry

 

snow-capped mountains by Michelle