Honestly skip the plants unless there is some good (really, really, really, really, really, really good) reason to keep them. As a California resident get a recommend but think twice about getting the card. Getting the card gets you stopped at international boarders because the state shares the info with the feds, who share it with other countries. To date there have been no cases that made it into the papers of the feds using it to come to anybody's house, but if you are committed to growing do you really want to be even a blip on the radar. The recommendation does not get reported, it is between you and your doctor. Most clubs accept it, I have never been turned away. I have read stories in the SF papers about people being turned away from Canada.
CA does agricultural inspections at the boarder. Sometimes, if not most of the times, they are pretty lax, they just ask if you have plants, fruits or vegetables. But I had a friend who had to take everything out of her car because she said no, thinking they meant fruits and vegetables - in short agricultural products. The inspector saw a house plant and took everything out of the car just to be sure. She was more upset about being stuck in the heat and having to reload her car then CA keeping the plant.
Getting picked up with plants could get you a lot of shitty charges. You may have more then the legal limit for weight, for number of plants, driving under the influence (even if you are not), or LEO may just decide that you need to be checked out even if everything is in order and that is generally 4 business days (for a felony). So get picked up Friday afternoon the clock starts ticking on Monday and do not see a judge until the next Thursday. Even if you win in the long run it is very expensive.
And one last thing: Humboldt county may have changed their laws to more restrictive ones. I did not follow the local initiatives closely but they were leading last time I saw before the election. A lot of the older generation are sick of pot being their major crop and how it wacks out the economics of the area.
good luck with what you decide,
gabrial