We have had some really smokey skies here at Smith Rock for the past few days. The weather folks are telling us that it’s all coming from fires down in California and Idaho.
On Monday we found out that Glacier National Park has closed the west entrance due to a major fire. This is especially bad new for us since that was our destination in September. As you may recall this same thing happened to us last year so we are very disappointed. We’ll keep an eye on the situation in Glacier and hope the fire fighter’s get everything under control.
August 22, 2018
Still very smokey in Central Oregon and there appears no relief in sight in the near future. It’s really getting hard to catch your breath and our eyes are burning a lot.
On Monday we drove over to Oakridge to spend some time with the Glaspey’s. Jim and I loaded up his new toy, a Polaris Razor and headed up the hill to Huckleberry Flats to do some riding. We had a great time driving around the roads and I have to say that thing is cool!
We only have nine days left here at Smith Rock then we will start our travels to Texas. The west side of Glacier National Park is closed for a major fire as of today so we’re not sure if we can make it up there. We are still planning on getting up to Rick and Patty Stills’ home in Rathdrum, ID on September 10th for right now but as always our plan’s are written Jello.
August 27, 2018
Things had pretty quite around Smith Rock for the past few days but that all changed yesterday afternoon. There was a young man free-climbing near Phoenix Buttress and Southern Tip climbing area, an area that is not normally climbed. He fell off the rock and fell over 150 feet, sustaining life-threatening injuries. The life flight helicopter flew him to St. Charles hospital and then to Portland where he is in critical condition. Not a good day. https://www.ktvz.com/news/man-badly-hurt-in-smith-rock-fall-rescue-underway/786696654
August 29, 2018
Moving day. This morning we hooked up the CRV and after going into Redmond for propane, we headed up US 97 north to begin our fall migration to Texas. The drive up to I-84 wasn’t too bad even though it is the beginning of a 3-day weekend. Traffic really picked up when we turned west on I-84 but we made pretty good time and arrived at Memaloose State Park on the Columbia River Gorge. We’re only spending two days then up to Hermiston for a couple of days.
September 3, 2018
Had a very nice stay at Mamaloose. Yesterday we took a drive up into the hills to Trout Lake, WA. This little town is known for it’s Huckleberry picking opportunities when they are in season. However, the “lake” was completely dry this time of the year.
We did stop in town and checked out the local flea market then had lunch at The Station Cafe which we found to be just OK. The joint was packed and there was only one person cooking. To say she was slow is an under statement since she was cooking one….order….at….a….time. We waited forty minutes for our sandwiches.
Mount Adams, Washingtom
September 5, 2018
Yesterday we left Hermiston and headed up to Rick and Patty’s B&B and RV Park in Rathdrum, ID. We started running into smoke in the Tri-Cities area and it progressively got worse the closer we got to Spokane. It started getting a tad better as we got into Idaho but the air quality is still in the moderate range.
September 8, 2018
Thursday I took Joyce to an urgent care clinic where they gave her a nebulizer treatment that really helped her breathing. The doctor wrote a prescription for a home nebulizer along with the medication. We were able to get that filled at Fred Myers but had to pay for the machine which we will submit to Tricare and try to get reimbursed
Thursday evening we all went out to celebrate Patty’s birthday. She had picked out a new club in downtown Coeur d’Alene that was having a grand opening and had a “dueling pianos” show. The food was alright but the entertainment was outstanding.
Yesterday morning we decided to get out of Dodge and try to get Joyce out of some of the very bad smoke in the Rathdrum area. After a stop for some fuel and to dump our holding tanks, we headed south on US 95 headed to the Hillview RV Park in Clarkston, WA. The drive down wasn’t too bad but we did run into a lot of road construction. Today we are going further south to Grangeville, ID where the air quality is forecasted to be much better.
We left Clarkston about 11:00 Am this morning, got on US 95 south and arrived at the Bear Den RV Park in Grangeville, ID about 1:30 PM. God, these under a 100 mile days are killing us.
The smoke is in this area but not as bad as it was up north. However, Joyce is still staying in the RV as much as possible and we’re hoping when we get to Boise the air quality will be better.
Barry & Joyce
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