GASSED

FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014

I started feeling woozy around 2 p.m. I found out why when I pulled into Washtucna, Wash., to grab an iced mocha and Gatoraid. I asked the barista how hot it was. She pointed to the wall thermometer: 107. I had just come from photographing a railroad underpass (right) and abandoned homestead. Both times I shot from the asphalt road, which felt like lava under my Teva sandals. My next stop was Othello to shoot a rickety gas station off State Route 26 (above). But no relief here. It was 108. Felt like 118. Gasoline was my photography theme of the day. That morning I had photographed a Phillips 66 pump at a derelict farm in the Palouse (below). By the time I returned to my Ellensburg motel I was out of gas myself. I was suffering from heat exhaustion. But I had gotten a break: I missed a brush fire by two hours on my drive to Ellensburg. The flames closed Interstate 90. Glad I could recover in my air-conditioned motel.

CAMERA  IPHONE 4S