This morning we engaged in our usual, rather sluggish start before jumping into the truck for a short drive to Darlingtonia Wayside located about 5 miles north of Florence. Despite what it sounds like, Darlingtonia is not a NASCAR track or a city in West Virginia. Darlingtonia is scientific-speak for a pitcher plant, also called a cobra lily. It is a strange looking plant that grows in boggy areas but it has a weakness – it needs certain nutrients that can’t be obtained from the bog so it has evolved a unique strategy. It captures, kills, dissolves and absorbs bugs through clever characteristics involving smell, vision and stupidity on the part of the bugs.

Not being bug fans, Peggy and I can truly appreciate any form of life that devours bugs so they can’t devour us. We noted that, as we strolled the short trail from parking to viewing, there were plentiful flying, squirming and crawling insects. However, once we got on the wood walkway and viewing deck surrounded by the Darlingtonia, there were no bugs. I grin every time I think about the nasty creatures that formerly occupied the airspace and ground around these plants. I hope they died slowly.

After finishing up there, we took a spin around nearby Mercer Lake where some fortunate Oregonians have nice houses overlooking the cedar-lined pond. I drove Peggy to a quilting store and sent her inside but she took mercy on me and was only in there for about 5 minutes. We also went to a place called B.J.’s 48 Flavors Ice Cream where some strange things happened. Peg ordered some of their homemade Jamocha Almond Fudge and was quickly served with a small cup of some stuff she described as “Lysol flavored” and with one almond that could not be cracked by expensive dental work or a claw hammer. I tried to get some regular old chocolate ice cream but the girl behind the counter told me that today, as it turned out, they only had 47 flavors. We were not overwhelmed with our success.

We fueled the truck on our way back to South Jetty and our traveling home because tomorrow we will sod off and continue our northward trek.

See the weird plants. Click the link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/QgHQjXZGygKtRA4H7