Smoke gets in your eyes

Unrelenting smoke over Oregon...

Five years ago when we traveled through our favourite state of Oregon, the skies overhead were filled with the smoke of the numerous wildfires throughtout the state. At mid-day the sun was reduced to an orange orb in the dark skies.

Here we are again...

Thanks to COVID and a closed border we weren't able to travel south this summer as we planned. Which is just as well, since much of Oregon has been reduced to a fiery inferno. The news has been filled with images of landscapes and cityscapes barely visible through the omnipresent orange haze.

The smoke has drifted up to BC and Alberta. Up here in Victoria BC we are now four days into a greyish smoky haze that makes it seems like the middle of winter. The sun is barely visible. The only clue that we are still in the late days of summer is the warm temperatures.

The buffalo don't roam

Buffalo block the road...

At Oregon's Wildlife Safari, the animals are free to roam while visitors are confined to their cars and must slowly drive through the compound...

... unless the animals decide to bring things to a stop. That's what these grazing bison did for about fifteen minutes as they paused in the middle of the road for some important bison business.

An amblin' lama...

Ornery ostrich

"Come at me, bro!"

At Oregon's Wildlife Safari, once we stopped feeding this guy/gal food pellets, s/he got a little bit aggressive about sticking its head in our van to look for more handouts.

I had to shoo it away from the van... which it didn't like at all. We got into a bit of a staring match and, for awhile, I wasn't sure if I was going to win.

Spruce Goose

Too big to get it all in one frame...

In McMinnville OR you'll find the excellent Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. Two large hangars hold all sorts of interesting aircraft and you can even try your hand at a flight simulator.

One hangar is dominated by the Spruce Goose, built by Howard Hughes in the mid-1940s as part of the war effort. This thing is huge... like really really BIG.

The wingspan is longer than a football field. The tail is eight stories high. Even by today's standards this is a massive aircraft, all the more remarkable when you consider that it is constructed almost entirely of wood.

The Spruce Goose dwarfs everything else around it...

Third time the charm?

The sea stacks of Cannon Beach at sunset...

I'm in the middle of planning our summer 2019 trip to Oregon. It will be our third trip in five years.

Once again we are hoping to see the city of Bend and the nearby Painted Hills. On both of our previous trips we had to give up on them due to the thick smoke from wild fires.

It is the grim reality of climate change. It has had a big impact on summer tourism in the Pacific Northwest.

And not just tourism... it's affecting our health. Our son who currently lives in Edmonton Alberta was recently describing the apocalyptic smoke hanging over the city which has resulted in health warnings from local authorities.

Authentic vintage

The remains of an old gas station in Oregon...

Unlike the previous post, this gas station on an Oregon roadside is less vintage and more derelict.

I wonder: Did the driver of the last car to fill up here realize  that the pumps would forever fall silent behind them?

Forlorn and forgotten...

The Overlook of the Wallawas

Apropro of the upcoming Halloween season, this decrepit and deserted hall near our campsite made me think of the Overlook Hotel from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining even though it looked nothing like it.

I think it was the shuttered windows and shadowed recesses that lent it a slightly sinister atmosphere.

Men of Bronze

A contest forged in bronze...

Another view of "Attitude Adjustment", a popular sculpture by artist Austin Barton, that can be found on the main street of Joseph OR. It's probably the most photographed of the sculptures of Joseph.

A man's best friend...
next to another man

Further down the street is this statue. It pays tribute to the days when a half-naked muscular man with a solid moustache wearing only leather chaps could give his dog a bone without anyone judging him for it.

Return to Joseph

Joseph OR... nestled among the Wallowa mountains...

When we last visited the Wallowas of Oregon a few years ago, the entire area was shrouded in the smoke from wildfires.

What we saw was enough to convince us to try again to see it this year. Joseph is the cute-as-a-button town that capitalizes on its western history with dramatic bronze sculptures that line the main street.

The most photographed sculpture in Joseph...

Magnificent Multnomah Falls

One of Oregon's top things to see...

Oregon's iconic Multnomah Falls near the Columbia River Gorge are ethereal in their beauty. They are just one of the many falls in the area that attract thousands of tourists every year.

The lingering damage from last year's massive wild fires in Oregon has made it a challenge to park and see them, as detailed in my Trip Advisor review.

Regardless, we count ourselves lucky that we were able to see them again on this year's road trip.

Fans and tourists get close to the action...