Umatilla Nation, Near Pendleton, Oregon: Tales from late last night: we sat outside enjoying the Deschutes and watching the birds (osprey, white pelicans, geese, and all manner of song birds) until dark. When we came inside the RV we found a zillion little gnats. All windows/screens had been closed. How did those little buggers sneak inside? They were everywhere there was a light or a light-colored surface. Dave vacuumed them from the floor. I wiped them from the countertop with a wet paper towel. They covered the bottom of the shower - that was an easy clean-up.
It was warm overnight, so we used our rechargeable fan. It is nearly silent, but since I had it plugged-in to the charger, a very faint white light glowed at the charger input. When we woke this morning, a graveyard of gnats were in a neat circle around the base of the fan. Ah, I just love camping!
Before leaving our buggy campsite along the river, even though the sunny skies had turned grey, we hiked south for a mile or so along the river and returned. Two miles and we were away for an hour. Lots of stoppage time. Many photos and a lot to discover along the Blackberry Trail - including blackberries.
Before leaving our riverside campsite, we cleaned and we cleaned the gnats away. We sprayed off hundreds of bugs from the skylight over the shower. I hosed off so many bugs embedded into my bar of soap. Yuck. We vacuumed until the stick vac battery died. We had to drive to Pendleton, so decided to do a deep-clean when we arrived. Off we went.
With our luck - somehow the only GFI (that operates EVERYTHING) in this RV tripped and we drove half-way to Pendleton without the vacuum cleaner battery charging.
Rat Farts.
This issue would not have been discovered if not for our lunch break stop at a rest area where I had planned to place a lovely beef flat steak in the slow cooker with a cup of salsa for tacos tonight. No power! Buttons were pushed and we did get the slow cooker going, but forgot to charge the vacuum battery, so we were DOA when we arrived to our campsite east of Pendleton.
But dinner was the last thing on our minds as we cruised into Pendleton. Stopping at the famed Pendleton Woolen Mill shop, we exited our camper into a smog-filled cloud. Wildfires north of Pendleton were causing all sorts of evacuations and terrible air. Air quality indexes over 300. Due to the cloudy weather, we didn't recognize the bad air as smoke until we went outside - plus we had raindrops on our windscreen for several hours. We mistook the smog for clouds.
Nothing to do, but cook that beef, have some tacos, guacamole and margaritas - and do a little laundry. Dodgers were on TV and lost in Philly.
As we settle down this evening, the air quality index has lifted from 300 to 152. Still very unhealthy, but the sky does seem a little lighter? It's so odd. Usually in a campground, travelers are out chatting and walking their dogs, children are running around and enjoying the evening in the pool. Not tonight. Everyone is inside with air conditioners blasting.
Meanwhile in Mexico - my sister and her daughter are celebrating Renee's birthday. With fireworks!
Until my next update, I remain, your smoky correspondent.
Campground Information: Wildhorse Resort & Casino. We love to stay here as they have everything and a very fun golf course.