Fleur de Lis, pretty historic and a weed! Then the road less traveled.

The wild iris in bloom at Salmon Creek Trail

The fleur de lis is not a lily at all, but the Iris Pseudacorus, so a pseudo-lily?

This invasive water plant grows in shallow water or near swamps and blooms briefly on the Salmon Creek Trail I trek along with friends.  An attendant forest ranger, one morning, pointed the plant out as an invasive weed needing to be eradicated.  Then he said it was given the historical distinction of having saved a king in France in battle because it formed a mat for him to travel through positioning his army to best advantage. Thus it became the Fleur de Lis.  Okay I checked Wiki and: ‘Clovis [the Merovingian king of the Franks] adopted the symbol [fleur de lis] when water lilies showed him how to safely cross a river and thus succeed in battle’.

Driving home from the Long Beach Peninsula I followed old highway 4 taking my time to imagine what the trip was like for Lewis and Clark in the 1804-06.  This road twists along the north side of the Columbia River. It wends its way through bogs, amid forests, over streams and rivers that feed the Columbia and bottle necks in historic towns with graveyards commemorating folks who resided there before and during the Civil War. 

Rosburg Telephone

I stopped at a graveyard filled with Swedish settlers' bones, but was most taken by the telephone booth, sans telephone, left to herald the newfangled conveniences of the 50s and 60s.  Then there was the side trip to see an historic covered bridge.  The cover was placed over the bridge to keep the bovine travelers from slipping on wet, slimy wood when crossing the creek.  Might have been nice for the humans as well, you think?  These farmers were so practical, eh!

Still Creek

Also, of note are the logging trucks which are still harvesting for the pulp mills 'up the road'. There is definitely what locals call the "smell of money" when driving through Longview, WA.

Columbia River

Fertile banks of Columbia

All good here and planning my trip home to NZ soon.
Yes! J