Pre-Anniversary Date

Saturday, Oct 26, turned out to be a beautiful day. That week, the local news ran a story on a new hiking/nature preserve about 20 minutes outside of town, so we checked it out. It was just okay. It's still pretty rough as they are still developing it. We walked about 2 miles, fighting mosquitoes the entire way. If I was going to get malaria, this would be the day. Yep, I once again forgot the bug spray. And once again, Double D played caddy with my camera equipment. Carrying all that equipment around is getting really old. Well, maybe it's me getting old, but we won't go there.

Not much to see on this hike and the heat put the kibosh on my desire to take photos.

Black swallowtail

Abandoned train tracks bordering the new preserve

Unknown wildflower. Anyone know?

After the hike, we were pretty hungry, so we thought Bass Pro Shop's restaurant might be a good place to try. Do y'all have one of those? It's a huge hunting equipment store chain. We love eating outside and this location had a large pond with ducks. The mallards were quite bold, walking up to our table, demanding food with their eyes. We finally gave in with a few pieces of bread and some crackers. How did they repay us for our kindness? By pooping all around our table. Leaving took some careful maneuvering. Oh, and the food was AWFUL!

We managed to have a little fun before dinner with some of the decor.

Double D trying to ham it up

Oops, too late!

After dinner we looked around at the indoor pond and wildlife. It was too dark for photos which made me sad, because there were two very real, plump wood ducks, lounging on the fake cabin steps. Getting past that, I spotted a pink fishing pole and I finally had an idea what I wanted for our anniversary. Double D got one, too; a black and silver one. I'll tell you all about our anniversary day fishing in the rain in another post. :)

Y'all have a great weekend and be good!

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Camassia Natural Area

Camassia Natural Area was on our agenda for a wildflower hike on the third morning of my Portland adventure. Unfortunately, the wildflower peak had come and gone, yet I managed to find a few gems out there. If anyone can help with identification, I'd be grateful.

Coast Lotus or Witch's Teeth

Shot on ISO 6400. The only reason I can tolerate the 5D Mark II. 

What was I thinking?!

When the sign says you must be in good physical condition to hike at Clark Creek, it actually translates "Must have completed AT LEAST 3 months of boot camp, sanctioned by the U.S. Army".

What a freaking horrible birthday! I won't bore you with the details of Double D's scary driving getting us there AND him passing by several gas stations because they were .02 cents too high even though we were on Double E. Ha! I just realized Double D was on Double E. Anyway, twenty minutes into the hike, after going up one particularly steep incline, I knew deep in my gut that I had made a terrible mistake planning this hike. Possibly a fatal error. :/

At one point I sank down on the gravel path and cried. Double D kept trying to encourage me that I could do it. I envisioned needing an ambulance, but with no cell service so deep in the woods, I feared death was imminent. Good thing I had obeyed the warning on the web site about bringing bottled water, though one bottle each wasn't really enough.

When I returned home I only had 40 shots on my memory card. We heard birds everywhere, but because the trees are so tall and there were so many of them, the birds could not be seen. This is what I managed to get with my camera when my hands and legs weren't shaking. Don't worry about trying to compliment these photos as I know they are not my best. I hesitated putting my name on them and posting them at all.

As I came up a hill I saw these trees. I thought "How pretty!"
It all feel apart after that.

There are six waterfalls on the established trails. We only saw two.
And those two were so pathetic that I had no desire to find the other four. 

One of the few stairwells. More of these would have been helpful to have
something to hold onto. Imagine negotiating 8 extra pounds of camera gear
on the inclines with no railings or steps. BRUTAL.

Ebony jewelwing damselfly

Any idea what type of lizard this is?

Hilary, thank you so much for selecting Battle of the Birds as a Post of the Week! What a huge honor. Thank you, thank you!! Please visit Hilary's blog to see other POTW winners and Hilary's own amazing photography.

On a separate note, I am on a Facebook sabbatical for an undetermined time. It has not enhanced my life in any way. In fact, I either feel depressed after reading all the challenges that people face, or I feel less than adequate as I compare my life to those who seem to be living large. It's not healthy for me, so I hope those who recently befriended me will not take it personally. It's something I've been struggling with for quite some time. I've been on Facebook since 2007, and I've had to remove myself a couple of times for the same reasons.