Horace is here about nine miles downstream (to the west) of the Twin Sisters, which welcome drivers to the Wallula Gap when they approach is from upsteam – from the north or northeast. McNary Dam would be about a dozen miles behind Sykes, except that it has not yet been built. And so the big islands, Van Skinner and Switzler, that once divided the Columbia River are now submerged beneath Lake Wallula. This exposed location on the Columbia River highway, Oregon side, is well known to drivers for its picturesque effects. It is just the sort of subject Horace Sykes sought and for which he would stop his Sykesmobile – a Chevy.