8/28 Smoky Drive from Oregon to Idaho

Everyone knows that there are a lot of fires in Northern California, but luckily not so many in Oregon and Washington as in past years.  However, the wind is blowing north from California, so a lot of places hundreds of miles from fires are still getting smoke--sometimes thick and sometimes not so thick.

I had mostly been spending the last three weeks in southeastern Washington, just across the Columbia River from Oregon.  Mostly, all we had there was a very mild haze on some days.  However, I left there this morning to drive to Boise, Idaho, and ran into varying degrees of smoke.  The photos here are in chronological order. 

In this photo, taken on I-84 in Oregon, you cannot really tell that there were mountains in the distance.

In the next three photos, taken a few minutes later, you can just barely see the mountains in the distance.

Getting a little clearer, partly because I am getting closer. 

Much clearer in this photo taken a hour later.   This is high desert and very dry, so they are lucky this area has not burned this year. 

Nice drive through some pretty scenery.  Just a little bit of haze here. 

Almost to Boise.

My purpose for stopping in Boise is to get some repairs done on my brand-new electric bike! My old one was rusty and was in bad shape after seven years being hauled around on the back of my motorhome. 

This new one was more expensive, but it has some really neat features like disc brakes and headlight and tail light permanently attached and running off the big bike battery.  I also like that it is a low step-thru and 24" size instead of the 26" size I have been riding for the past decades.  The smaller size fits me better and will be easier to ride.  

Another neat feature is that not only do the handle bars adjust up and down, but you can bend them forward or backward, depending on your preferred reach.
The problem I noticed on my first couple of rides was that the front disc brake was rubbing on the front fork, and I did not want the paint damaged.  The Pedego dealer in Boise added a thin washer so it no longer rubs or makes a scraping sound.  He also checked several other things and tightened a few bolts, as well as put more air in my tires. 

Here are two photos.  Note that fenders are wrong color, but new ones have been shipped to my son's house, and I will find a Pedego dealer near there to get the new blue ones put on.