the girly who shall end all girls

whitetail deer are probably a reservoir species for covid-19

/insert rant here about how this is what happens when sprawl takes over their habitat

i am horrified for my family in PA. but also, if whitetail are carriers, i don't see why blacktail wouldn't be the same. the island deer population is down but there are still a lot of them living in close proximity in western Washington.

it turns out the ubiquitous giant bunnies (there is even a nest under the shed by our cottage) are domestic meat rabbits gone feral. on the last walk tonight we also saw a deer and an owl.

there's a small orchard of heritage apples nearby. it turns out that this used to be apple country before irrigation arrived in Yakima; the apple trees are all grafts from old homesteads on the island. origins mostly in New York and New Jersey, plus Connecticut, England, and (of course) Denmark.

Filters have arrived and the redneck air purifier is running. Some part of me is deeply satisfied by creating a seal with duct tape. I’m a little concerned that we’ll stress the fan motor, but keeping it on low seems to be good so far. The dog is dubious, but it took her about six months to stop avoiding the humidifier.

our annual group camping trip ended up just being me and C this year (we even boarded Leela). ( covid risk/mitigation talk )

it was a lovely time. i read at least one book a day and as many comics collections as the library would let me check out. i worked on a mindless knitting project. we cooked over the fire, and hiked, and sat by the lake, and did a sightseeing drive up route 20. i broke down and bought an air mattress* so there was extra-comfy lounging and cuddling and napping. i had not one, but two hobbies fail me: we couldn't get a big enough car to hold my kayak,** and i had battery failures for the Nikon *and* the GoPro...so i explored being that person who takes pictures with an iPad. not having the dog in camp meant that there were chipmunks literally underfoot and fewer squirrel lasers.

the creek near the north campground has a tendency to wander due to trees falling down the mountain during storm season. the old bed has been dry for over 10 years now, and it's no longer a barren strip of rocks:


i think the new bed is well on its way to undercutting the campground loop road in a year or two.
( the creek trying to take out the road )

for some reason we never drove eastward before this year. there are a ton of scenic viewpoints up the mountain and trailheads we hadn't tried before. so there were pictures of the lake from above and a hike by a creek where there used to be prospecting for garnets and gold.
( views of Diablo Lake )

we made a lot of great food; i especially loved the night we made steak over the fire and roasted beets. there's something really satisfying about just slipping the skin off of a fork-tender beet. the grocery randomly had heritage eggs so we had blue-shelled eggs with vivid yolks for our breakfasts. C also figured out on this trip that he could use potato chips instead of graham crackers for gluten-free s'mores. (salty chips are delicious with the marshmallow and chocolate. i'm looking forward to perfecting this with Pringles and never buying graham crackers again.)
( roasted beets )
( hash with heritage eggs )



*we've always slept on thermarests like Serious Campers, not an air mattress like Wusses or Old People. i'm accepting my cronehood now, i guess.
**there were lots of day users getting in and out of the lake, and i think my corona paranoia would have made assembling and disassembling my folding boat near people nerve-wracking, so even though there were a couple of perfect paddling days i probably had a more relaxing trip without it.

good times.

yesterday was one of the sweet fine days days on the edge of autumn - bright, warm, glorious. (okay, it could have been cooler. but it also didn't require sunglasses, so I'll take it.)

i got out of bed like it was a workday, and met up with mimerki, e_bourne, and knitta D to visit a fiber mill on Whidbey Island.

we got to ride in Adrian, and we practically drove right onto the ferry. we found a great spot for breakfast in Langley, with quirky decor and a thing for apples.



then we toured the mill, which is small but mighty. the equipment came from Oklahoma and Indiana; we are beneficiaries of the decline of the US textile industry. I came home with pin-drafted roving made from Washington wool, alpaca, and angora. its all so pretty and soft. We were amused that there are tufts of fiber all over the place, including the gravel driveway. they foisted apples on us from their trees, and gave us bottles of water, and there was much fiber nerdery.








after that, we hit Whidbey Island Distillery. the tour was very cool, with a bit of serendipity- we were there at the same time as the Metropolitan club. fun facts: their spirits are distilled from local wine and they get the wine in trade (half the distillate goes back to the wineries to make fortified wines) the still itself is computer controlled and the distiller can adjust it remotely from his phone.

then we tooled around Langley some more, where we saw these awesome sheep and goat portraits, and got ice cream. Then we had another lovely ferry ride. It was a truly superior day.

part one here
part two here

we bid a fond farewell to the Pacific coast and headed back towards our base on Hood Canal via the Hoh rainforest.

i prefer the Hoh to the Quilcene. the trails in the Hoh were more luxuriantly moss-covered, and it was easy to get mom to places where she could see giant trees. but it was also the jumping-off point for more difficult trails to return to later.


there are signs all over outside the visitor center (closed, we never did show up at the park when one was open) that people have been hassling elk and getting charged. eep. we do the accessible loop trail with mom and then run into a young woman who whispers that there are two elk *right over there*.


we did a lot of silent watching while i shot many-many photos. the elk were standing right at the beginning of the Hall of Mosses trail, which was the walk dad and i were there to take. we wandered away for a little to see if they would move on. nope, those salmonberry bushes were delicious and far from gone. eventually we did what several others did - moved slowly and quietly, averted our eyes, and walked right by. an unconcerned elk proceeded to take a leak just as i was passing within arm's reach. for future reference, they smell like horses.

the trail is wonderful. i kept expecting ents.



the next day, we headed to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival via the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry and Whidbey island.


there was a ton of construction when we got there, and we spent more time in the Pendleton outlet (mom's favorite) than i had patience for, but it was a sparkling day and a good last stop before getting the units pizza and an orgasm at Madame K's and dropping them at an airport hotel.

part one is here

so...it turns out my teenaged niece A is a Twilighter. since we were wandering through the area where the books are set, i decided to be a cool aunt and take pictures for her. the effort to attract Twihard dollars is sometimes very clever and sometimes just pathetic. both approaches seem to be working, so more power to all the entrepreneurs scoring during the recession. this was my favorite:



the set is here.

Forks is...familiar to anyone who grew up in an economically depressed rural area. La Push, the Quileute village, is much more appealing to me. it's on a spit of land facing James Island, between Rialto Beach and First Beach (if i understand correctly, First Beach is part of the reservation, but the surrounding beaches are part of the national park although the tribe has hunting/fishing/gathering rights there). i reiterate that we had a great experience as guests of the Quileute Nation and it's a perfect place to stay.

this was the view from our balcony.



i only had to step out the sliding door to take this one.

anyway, sunsets, surfers, and fishing boats were right there while we sipped tea.

our first morning at La Push, i was out of bed before seven and off to scout Second Beach. it can only be reached on foot, from a wooded path over the headland - mom has limited mobility, so i wanted to see if it was something she could walk. no, definitely not. while the trail is relatively easy if you don't have a disability, it's still uphill then downhill with a long series of stairs, followed by a scramble over a wide and ungroomed field of logs. on First Beach there is the occasional path cut with a chainsaw. here, no civilization except for a demure privy on a spur off the main path and a target sign so that you can find the trailhead from the beach. i was the only person there that morning.



it was the new moon, so the tide was way way out and i could walk right up to rocks covered in tidal life.


apparently i was too busy taking pictures to see the otter go by.

i'm still kind of exhausted, but Olympic National Park is wonderful and i want to go back with C in tow the entire time and a better plan. we only had one full day of rain, and that day was spent driving, and visiting beaches that are still awesome in the rain. that rainy day was also the first of our two-night stay at the Quileute nation's resort, which is very nice in an understated way and is right on the beach. highly recommended. more about that later, along with elk and tulips.



we stumbled onto prime shellfish harvesting time at a state park on our way to Hurricane Ridge.



and it was foggy and snowy at the top of the mountain. sometime i will go there later in the year and actually see more. as we drove back down we got below cloud level and could see well out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca when we weren't staring at the blacktail deer.



after that day, we started traveling the southern route of the 101 loop, which for us was faster since we weren't crawling along the (oh so scenic) Hood Canal at 35mph. which led us to the nearer rainforest.



after that, we had a quiet day where our main activity was getting C to the Bremerton ferry. and then we struck out for the Pacific coast.



the thing to do with the picture of the rock is to view it at original size and count the starfish. (i've found at least 19.)