A Smoky Day

On the road by 8:15 a.m.  We spent the day driving on I-90 west from Deer Lodge, Montana to Ellensburg, Washington.  The sun was not able to shine through the smoke.  When you could see the sun, it was red.  The smoke was the thickest around Missoula. 

This is the only picture I was able to take in Idaho.  I wanted to take pictures in Coeur d'Alene but the smoke was so thick, the picture would have been of only smoke.  We were disappointed to not be able to see the beauty of that part of Idaho.

We stopped at a scenic view along I-90 in Washington.   There was so much smoke that it was hard to see the view.  From the overlook the Columbia River can be seen.  Can you see it?

The Columbia River is a little easier to see in this picture.

Sandy enjoyed getting out of the motorhome for a short walk.

We were surprised that the terrain of this part of Washington was almost desert-like with short scrub bushes like you would see in the deserts of Arizona.

I-90 crosses the Columbia River on this bridge.

In Washington, we passed by several large areas of burned land.

As disappointed as we were that we were not able to enjoy the scenery of this area because of the smoke, we were even more disappointed when we heard that we will not be able to go to Mount Rainier because of fires in the area.  Access to the park from this area is on a road that goes into the northeast entrance.  There is a huge fire between here and there so that entrance is closed.   Some of the waterfalls we wanted to see in the Columbia River Gorge are also closed.   This means a change of plans.  We may need to stay on the coasts of Washington and Oregon instead in the mountain areas.

We will stay in this area for the two days for which we have reservations.  There are a couple of state parks that sound interesting.  Saturday morning there is a farmers market featuring locally grown fruits and vegetables, flowers, baked goods, and hand-crafted items that sound interesting also.  I am sure we can fill our time but not visit Mount Rainier National Park.  Fortunately, we had visited the park 30 years ago.  Tomorrow we will get the map out and decide what changes we need to make.  The word of the day is "flexible."

We do like the KOA and the spot we are in.  It will be good to relax after the 450 mile drive we made today.  A good night's rest and clear minds will help us decide what, if any, changes need to be made to our itinerary.