As we finally headed east, all of our best predictions had us leaving all the smoke of the West Coast behind us as soon as we were over Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades. Little did we know that we would be far into eastern Oregon before the smoke would begin to dissipate enough for us to see beyond a mile.

In addition to the lack of visibility, there were always new fires on the horizon; we were constantly checking all of our apps to make sure the roads we wanted to use were open. In some cases, they were closed before we got to them and we had to reroute. Fortunately, we were never close to the fires (although with all the smoke it’s hard to know how close they might be). But it is very strange to be driving along and suddenly realize that there is a huge hill right next to you that feels like a giant who’s been watching you arrive, or to see a huge castle in the distance that morphs into a grouping of grain elevators. It is a great way for the imagination to go wild.

By evening we were in Wallowa at a lovely campground on the Wallowa River, and our evening sky was much clearer.

Morning brought us a new day that had a heavenly start with a fresh cinnamon bun from Kaufman’s Market in La Grande.

I wish I could take this market home with me, or else move next door to it. It’s a Mennonite community market with some of the most remarkable cheeses and meats from the local farms, as well as baked goods that all looked as appetizing as this one.

We ended the day in Idaho, unable to to do our Hell’s Canyon drive because the canyon was filled with smoke. We have to come back again! By the end of the day, although we still did not see a bright sun and blue sky, the visibility was much better, and I’m hoping that tomorrow we will have no more wildfires on our horizon.