On to Olympia

September 9, 2022

Almost there

The day began cool and with clear skies. And as we came down from Medford into the Grants Pass area, the pine-covered hills were a welcome sight. Especially after the unending toasted brown of Central California.

However, as we approached Eugene, smoke haze began to blot out the sun — we assumed this was from the Mountain Fire burning over 11,000 acres east of Eugene. The Air Quality Index (AQI) read 79, but it seemed worse than that to me.

Smoke haze from the Mountain Fire as we approach Eugene.

The situation reminds me of our San Juan tour in 2020, when the smoke from the west coast fires followed us all the way to the islands and we were unable to ride on many days. I’m hoping we don’t see a repeat of that awful fire year.

The haze seemed to clear some by the time we got to Portland. Where we got caught in rush hour traffic. (For future reference, rush hour on Friday starts very early in the afternoon.) The slowdown gave me a chance to reminisce about when I lived in Portland during the 70s and 80s.

In Olympia, our stop for the night, the AQI reads 99, and you can taste the smell of burning trees. The wind is coming from the NE, and there are red flag and air quality alerts for Bellingham tomorrow. I fear for the future of this land I so love.

In spite of these worries, life goes on. For dinner, Rich and I discovered a gem of an Italian restaurant — Casa Mia, founded in 1952 and still going strong, serves a mean lasagna, crisp yet fluffy-light garlic bread, and wonderfully rich butternut squash ravioli. I can’t speak personally for the rest of the menu, since I didn’t taste it, but the wood-fired pizza and apple tarts look amazing.

Here’s to a good dinner and a successful Pacific Coast tour.

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