Utah, Idaho, Wildfires and One More Bluegrass Festival (really)

 Sadly leaving Colorado (we'll be back!) we made our way up through some of the bleakest parts of Utah, visiting some family and getting to do a little kayaking in our nephew's neighborhood.

Denis and family paddling

Walking along the Snake River in Idaho

The wildfire smoke made for dramatic sunsets in eastern Oregon

We spent a few days in Idaho at a city-run campground on the Snake River. Not much to do here, but a good place to rest after three travel days in a row.  We were looking at the wildfire situation, especially in eastern Oregon, where we were headed next. The state park just over the border into Oregon, where we had planned to stay, was closed indefinitely because of a fire.  The drive to our alternate camping destination was uneventful, but we could see a smoky haze just over the hills to our left as we approached the climb into the Blue Mountains.  The campground at Emigrant Springs was high enough to be mostly out of the smoke, but during our three days there, the smoke got worse every day.  Oregon was (and still is) experiencing several bad fires.

Emigrant Springs was a key stop for settlers on the Oregon Trail in the mid-1800s

While staying at Emigrant Springs we went into the town of Pendleton, home of the famous woolen mill, and got a nice taste of its unique history by touring the "Pendleton Underground"--a network of tunnels under the town dating back 100+ years. Over that time, the tunnels were home to the Chinese building the railroads, speakeasies and other illegal activities.

Signs of Pendleton's past were everywhere 

The tunnels have been made safe and restored with period artifacts

The Chinese had their own jails underground because they knew their people would not be safe in the town's jails

Many original artifacts were found in the tunnels

The Chinese workers slept three to a bed in these bunks

Speakeasy with drinks and gambling during Prohibition

A Chinese laundry

We escaped the smoky eastern part of Oregon for a music festival on the Washington side of the Columbia River.  The air was mostly clear, though we could see smoke across the river and passed an active fire during the drive there.

We enjoyed some good music and a great bike ride on our last days before driving around beautiful Mt. Hood to our intended goal for the cross-country trip--Bend Oregon

Bungee jumping on the Crooked River in Oregon (we didn't try it!)

Beautiful Mt. Hood looms ahead as we motor toward Bend, where we'll visit our son and daughter-in-law and prepare for our family trip on a cruise to Alaska!