Came back from the Palmer fair this morning. Took longer to get from Kenai Lake bridge to Soldotna than from Palmer to Cooper Landing. The road was open at 1030 hours when we came through but the smoke was worse than bad.
Noticed some flames along the road by the Kelly Peterson lakes and (don't ya know) it seems they closed the road again only a couple of hours after we passed as the fire flared up in that area.
Wasn't unbearable driving at 15 miles an hour (visibility low) as we put the air con on and had all the vents off with the fan on maximum. Had a small opening in the wing that kept much out of the cab as the interior pressure was greater then incoming atmosphere.
Would not want to do that trip again anytime soon though. Once you start out you are rather committed...
