The Pacific Northwest!

[luzula]

I and podfic_lover are currently in a motel in Brookings, and tomorrow we're heading towards the Redwoods. Here are some photos of our trip through the Pacific Northwest so far. Basically we are hiking around in nature reserves, and also meeting up with fangirls, and I love it! Although my cold is still not gone. /o\


podfic_lover is disappointed that American motels do not actually look like they do in Supernatural. The most quirky one we've stayed at so far was yesterday--it was cheap and a bit seedy, but hey, it had chickens in the back yard! We fed the chickens with bread crumbs from the window.


Okay, so I hope you know that when I say "photos of the Pacific Northwest", what I really mean is "photos of plants of the Pacific Northwest", because that's what I tend to photograph. This is lettuce lung Lobaria oregana, which is a lichen I find very cool. There are benefits of an oceanic climate.


Shore pine Pinus contorta, living up to its name. Probably the tree most hated by Swedish environmentalists, because it's planted as an exotic in large plantations by forest companies. It's fascinating to get to know it in its native habitat, and I quite like it now.


A baby seedling of seashore lupine Lupinus littoralis, with the cotyledons still on it. (Yeah, I had to look up cotyledons--in Swedish we call those "heart-leaves". They're the first leaves that grow on a seedling, often looking very different from the later leaves.)


Evidence that everything is larger in the US (the country is larger, the mountains are larger, motel beds and restaurant portions are larger, the squares on the waffles are larger). This particular instance shows a big tree stump with a blueberry bush on it. In Sweden, blueberry bushes never go higher than your knees.


Sea lions! Wow, they are so cool. They're like a cross between a seal and a dog or something--so much more active than seals. I could watch them for hours (and I probably did).


Flowering salal Gaultheria shallon, which is a new genus for me. Pretty, yes? I have also fallen in love with madrone, which is just an incredibly beautiful tree.


Ugly clear-cuttings: not just in Sweden. This is in the area of Mt. Hood.


I will end this with a picture from the Oregon aquarium of a sea otter sucking its own cock. Fun times.

Comments

[sage]

Ahahahaha, oh wow, I was all going to write a comment about how I haven't been to that part of the country since 1984 and how fondly I remember it and everything. And then OTTER! *sporfle*

Also, I got your postcard! Thank you!! The photo of Mt. St. Helens brought back sooo many memories, since in 1984 it was all covered in post-eruption downed trees that looked like spilled toothpicks, plus tiny four-inch high pine seedlings and black, black sooty soil. The new mini-cone in the caldera is kind of awesome. (I shouldn't say new, it's had 32 years, but still!)

I so totally wish I'd been able to go to BP. Hopefully in 2014!

[luzula]

Hee, yeah, the otter cracked me up, too.

I'm glad the postcard got to you! I actually saw Mt. St. Helens circa 1990, when my family lived in Seattle for two years. But I was just a kid, and I don't remember much of it. I do still have a small sculpture of a sea lion made from Mt. St. Helens ash, though.

And yes! We'll see if I manage to get there in 2014 as well.

[isis]

Glad you are having such a great time!

[luzula]

I am, yes! We actually got snowed on today, though. I thought California was supposed to be warm!

[surya]

The otter pic and your comment just made my day! :)

[luzula]

Yeah, that otter made me grin, too. : )

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks for sharing the view from yr eyes. Did you see the otter finish? In other words, how long does it take an otter to satisfy himself? And it is really easy to imagine this as one of those pushy-Ray and embarrassed-BentOn cOnversations.

[luzula]

Did you see the otter finish?

No, I didn't. Maybe he was just playing around? He did keep at it for quite a while, though, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't just grooming (and also, a quick googling confirmed that they do indeed pleasure themselves that way).

And it is really easy to imagine this as one of those pushy-Ray and embarrassed-BentOn cOnversations.

Very true. I kept thinking of the Fraser-as-were-otter story. *g*

[brigantine]

Busy!Otter! Bwahahahahhaaaa... heee. Oh, dear.

Baaaaaby lupines! So cute! I love lupine season.

That is a very groovy little lichen. :)

[luzula]

Yeah, it's a very busy otter. *g*

I loved the little lupines in the sand dunes, they were more understated than the big flashy ones. Lupines in Sweden are invasives, but very pretty ones.

It's a big lichen, actually! Hanging all over the tree branches like lettuce leaves.

[mergatrude]

YAY PHOTOS!!!

Glad you are having an entertaining time. You're certainly giving me an interesting perspective on the place. *g*

[luzula]

You can totally rely on me to post plant pictures! Although Inga is planning a complementary post with photos of landscapes and people. *g*

[wintercreek]

Awesome pics! Glad to see that your trip is continuing to be excellent!

[luzula]

It is indeed excellent! Thanks again for your hospitality and company. : )

[mackenziesmomma.livejournal.com]

Those are some lovely pictures! Ah yes the Salal and Madrones did you know that Madrones only grow within 50 miles of salt water and are deciduous but instead of dropping their leaves they drop their bark?

(Can you tell I've lived here too long?)

[mackenziesmomma.livejournal.com]

Also *points up* THAT was NOT the icon I asked for LJ! NOT THE ICON! (I asked for this one *points sideways*)

[luzula]

Really? You're not thinking dirty thoughts about trees? *g*

[luzula]

No, I did not know that about madrones! Hmm, I'm wondering why, though--I mean, usually trees drop their leaves because they're too costly to maintain over the winter (and there's less sunlight for photosynthesis anyway) but why would you drop your bark? It's very pretty bark, though.

[mackenziesmomma.livejournal.com]

I think that it has something to do with their growth process as well as their family and such. (Here is the wikipedia page about madrones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus_menziesii)

A lot of trees actually shed bark we just don't realize it (paper birches for example shed like *crazy*)

Oh! And as you are out walking (because its getting to be that time of year) if you accidentally come into contact with a stinging nettle and don't have aloe on your person you can use a slug to neutralize the sting. (I apparently pay WAY too much attention to the "weird shit in nature" lecture series)

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

I did not know about the 50 mile range. That is fascinating. It made me go measuring distances on maps, because I thought for sure that some places I've seen them (Zenia, California, to pick one of those most familiar to me) were surely farther than 50 miles from the ocean, since it takes more than two hours to drive there from the coast... but nope. Innnteresting! :-)

[mackenziesmomma.livejournal.com]

I did not know about the 50 mile range.

I didn't either until I went to Northwest Trek a few years ago. That was where I also learned about the slug goo for stinging nettles thing. *nods*

I thought for sure that some places I've seen them (Zenia, California, to pick one of those most familiar to me) were surely farther than 50 miles from the ocean, since it takes more than two hours to drive there from the coast... but nope.

You have to take into account that it takes so long to drive there because generally roads aren't straight they take you this way and that way and the other way to get where you wanna go. *nods*

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

I didn't point out the bird-planted Madrona at the top of my driveway, nor the three P.contorta (one is the interior type, which is usually called "lodgepole" and is straight as a string) and two Pinus monticola although I believe we looked at the P. ponderosa in discussing damage from the ice storm- those are all first sere trees in the Puget-Willamette trough, in drier microclimates, although they are quickly replaced by Pseudotsuga menziesii when they shade the ground enough to retard evaporation. One of the pieces of evidence for the early origins of the burned prairies is that the pollen profiles are dominated by pines which are succeeded by grasses and reeds/sedges.

I was so glad to see you and have time to talk plants with you; my life is short of that activity these days!

Julia, especially the talking part; I mostly talk to Baaachus

[luzula]

I believe you mentioned the lodgepole pines, although I didn't realize at the time that they were the same as Pinus contorta. Also, my plant guide is only for the Pacific Northwest, and today we've gotten down into California. Lots of new plants that I can't find in the guide, which is a bit frustrating, but I don't think I'll buy a new one--I have to think about the weight of my baggage...

[ride-4ever.livejournal.com]

You and podfic_lover are seeing more of the Pacific Northwest than I have seen, and I LIVE in this country...but as you observe, it's a BIG country. I'm enjoying your pics and commentary TO THE MAX...no one but you could provide simultaneously such beauteous pics of flora and fauna AND a sea otter sucking his own cock! (Wish I had that last as a userpic with caption. XD)

[luzula]

Glad you're enjoying the photos/comments! Yeah, it really is a big country--I've seen most of Sweden, but then it's much smaller. You're welcome to use and modify the otter pic, if you want. : )

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

Augh! How did you come to my neck of the woods and I didn't know about it?! I tots would have visited with you at the Oregon Coast Aquarium (and the otter would have you know he was doing nothing so vulgar as sucking his cock; he was grooming. Grooming! OK fine so same thing :-)

I live in Eugene and I love Madrones (Arbutus menziesii)! And we have tons of salal growing naturally all in our woods (Madrones grow all around us but there were none in our yard so I had to plant some :-)

I love a lot of the trees, flowers - plants in general. All of them, really (except the poison oak and the invasives :P) I would really have enjoyed botanizing/naturalising with you :-)

Yes, the Pac NW has all the largest trees - the largest in the world (the redwood) and a close runner up - the Doug-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), the largest maple - the aptly named big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) and several others.

And as noted above shore pine is that same as lodgepole pine (so named because they make great lodgepoles and were used as such). The difference in habit is strictly environmental.

I don't ever tire of sea lions either. I love that in Newport and other places you can check them out just lounging around the piers and whatnot. They'll have just got settled and stopped barking at each other when another one arrives (or leaves) and they all up and bark at each other again!

Anytime you want to squee about NW flora or fauna please let me know! So sorry to have missed you :(

[luzula]

Oh hey, I had no idea you lived around here, or I would have been glad to meet up! Fangirls, they are everywhere. And I always love to geek around in nature with people. We were in the redwoods today, and wow--it made me feel all reverent.

and the otter would have you know he was doing nothing so vulgar as sucking his cock; he was grooming. Grooming!

He was keeping up the "grooming" for quite some time, I'm just saying. Also, a quick google confirmed that they do indeed play around with themselves. : )

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

Well, I did admit it's all one to otters.

But they do groom quite a bit of the day - like cats, only even more so, because they depend on the air caught in their fur to keep them warm. So lots and lots of grooming! And playing! It's all good! :D