13000 miles later, the bus is in the driveway, barely. The rear sidewalls are too wide to fit backed in actually. Plus some branches had to be trimmed. It’s not a good fit, basically.

The smoke is thick. From the bike path to the Emeryville pier peering out at the Bay bridge, Yerba buena island, treasure island, SF and the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun is plenty high to normally be full daylight.

As far back as Colorado we saw signs of the fires. In Sequoia National Park, the thin smoke made for an eerily beautiful paleness. Coming further north and especially west, specifically as we crested the hills marking the western end of the valley, showed the smoke was reality and there was plenty. Our stop to walk at Redwood Park shortly before arriving put us right there in the thick of it.