Christy Solo

This week’s crawly is yet more proof that Nature never runs out of awesome! In fact, this crawly might be the coolest looking caterpillar ever – and it 100% has the best common name in the history of common names.

I was watching a show on TV the other day and one character was splitting wood with an axe while another sat maybe two feet away. As the axe came down and splinters flew every which way, I cringed and became my mom. It was bound to happen.

Even with gas prices possibly prohibitively high right now, summer is Road Trip Season, so let’s celebrate!

If the moth flying out of your wallet is telling you, “Not this year!” you can still enjoy learning about a few of Oregon’s best Roadside Attractions and make plans for the future!

We’ve met this week’s crawly before, but with the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the United States – we just have to revisit our National Bird (with some updates). Meet the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

On one of my recent journeys into the Rogue River National Forest, I managed to hit at least 10% of the *POTHOLES* on Abbott Creek Rd.

And yes, *POTHOLES* because they have gone far beyond “potholes” at this point. Some could swallow a small vehicle.

Welcome back to Part II of Oregon’s iconic, coastal birds! If you missed Part I last week, go catch up, we’ll wait.

This week we’re headed up the coast to the North Split of Coos Bay (2 hr. 48 min. drive time) to meet Brandt’s Cormorant, Rhinoceros Auklet and White-winged Scoter.

Sometimes it’s a long journey from “I found a cool bug!” to “I can actually write a Crawlies about it!”

To date, this week’s crawly represents the longest journey yet. It took me eight years from the first time I saw our featured critter until I was able to ID our featured critter.