All the flowers! Every year I seem to miss the spring flower explosion that occurs in Antelope Valley. I was monitoring the California poppy’s bloom schedule this year and was bummed to find out the storm we had last month killed the flowers in the valley. The other location to find wildflower fields was in Death Valley which is three hours in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t sound like the fun road trip I had in mind so I was stoked to hear that wildflowers were in full bloom in nearby Ojai. The Ojai Meadows Preserve is only an hour and a half drive from LA and no hiking in hundred degree weather to see them.

Liv and I were in flower heaven but I was also thinking “Please don’t let there be snakes in here!”

Ojai has a great park that Liv was dying to play at, so we stopped by on our way back home.

I couldn’t see adding this crazy merry-go-round in our small park. We saw a bunch of kids fall down while pushing it and other kids came close to trampling the fallen kid. Even I thought the spinning metal cages were dangerous. Yet, I can’t help but feel proud of how badass my kid is!

I really would love this modern swing (which can fit a few kids at once) in our York Park. It’s much safer and comfortable than our generation’s old tire swing.

Ojai Meadows Preserve is located just north of or adjacent to the Nordhoff High School football stadium. To get there, take Highway 33 west (towards Maricopa) from the Highway 150/33 intersection at the Rotary Community Park. Go past the high school and the stadium, turn left at the next break in the highway’s dividing island, park in the little parking lot or along the curb.

I recommend taking the Highway 150/Santa Paula route which is less crowded and much more scenic than the 101 freeway.

Due to California’s drought, I’d recommend getting there soon before the flowers wither and die!