Saturday, August 15, 2015

Cross Country

last views of the Tetons

After leaving Jackson, Wyoming we drove east, getting our last views of the Tetons from the west side. The first day we ended up in Boise, Idaho. As usual, we avoided the interstates, making for a bit longer journey, but a much more pleasant one (IMO). There was a forest fire just south of Boise and the smoke made for a colorful sunset.

Boise urban sunset

Driving north-west from Boise we encountered another forest fire.

Oregon Hwy 26 fire

At first we thought we'd pass by it, but we got closer and closer till we ran into a road block where they weren't letting traffic through. After a short delay they let us through, even though the fire was burning right beside the road. We saw on the news that they closed the highway later in the day.

Oregon Hwy 26 fire

This was with a telephoto lens, but the fire had burned right up to the roadside in places.

We had planned to camp that night, but there was a huge windstorm going on so we ended up staying at the River Lodge on the Columbia River. It was too windy to pleasantly walk around outside, but from the hotel lounge and restaurant we could watch the waves crashing into the shore.

Columbia River

All the smoke and dust in the air made for a colorful sunset.

Columbia River sunset

The next day we drove along the north side of the Columbia River (the interstate is on the south side). There are a number of wineries along the way but we didn't stop since we had too much driving to do. We got good views of Mt. Hood (which we had climbed quite a few years ago).

Mt. Hood over Columbia River

We turned north from the Columbia River and drove through beautiful forested mountains past Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, although cloudy skies prevented good views of them. We're now within striking distance of Seattle where I have a computer conference for a few days.

See all 25 photos as a slideshow or overview

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