There was a nice sunrise to start our fifty-third day in Eugene, OR. All the lights were green, but the sun was very red due to smoke due to the wildfires in Oregon. An Italian restaurant had a mural painted on its building. It featured an Italian style town with the restaurant in the Oakway Center. The I.D. 4 stands firm under the Hendricks Bridge and next to the McKenzie River. We continued traveling down the McKenzie highway next to the river and we noticed that many of the trees were not green along the highway. In fact, they had been burned due to recent wildfires in the area. Next, we drove over the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project, a dam, in Leaburg, OR. We then started making our way through the Willamette National Forest by the McKenzie Highway. A scenic route engulfed by very tall trees. Some of the trees had actually been burnt by fires in this area as well and the air over the mountains was also very smoky due to the wildfires. Next we drove by The Three Sisters from McKenzie Pass. The Three Sisters is a set of three volcanic peaks in the Cascade Mountain Range in central Oregon. Summit McKenzie Pass would be the route we took at over 5,000 feet elevation. We drove around the mountain near a cliff. Waves of gray volcanic rock and pine trees covered the landscape. We then headed out of the park through the tunnel of pines. Our next stop would be at Les Schwab Tire Center in Redmond, OR. We appreciate their service and having us at their facility. They checked out our Hankook EV specific Kinergy AS X tires after 20,000 miles driven on the tour. They confirmed that condition of the tires were first class. We arrived in the town and there was a Superman statue inside of a phone booth, where Clark Kent would often change into his alter ego. We met a gentleman and his dog. They were headed to a T2 van meetup, called Descend on Bend. He was a proud owner of the bus and decorated it extensively including a cactus in glasses and a sombrero. We started heading toward Crater Lake National Park. The sunset was astonishing. As we drove we could see the red ball in the sky above the tall trees burning through the wildfire smoke. There was a crew of ATV riders in the forest. They were nice enough to take a photo and talk to us about the area. We crossed the Rogue River; 215 miles of flowing water that opens in the Pacific Ocean. Some cliffs that lead into the river were grayish white and like very sandy clay. We crossed the border into The Golden State and our day then concluded in Yreka, CA.
