Livermore (California epic van trip, Post 9)

The air quality continues to be very bad in the Bay Area.

Here’s a picture of my shoes, lol. They aren’t spotted shoes, that’s ash that has fallen out of the air.

We’ve enjoyed seeing Laura and Alex, and I’ve been hanging out with my good friend, Tracey, who lives right here in Livermore. We’ve had a great time but the air quality is harsh, so John and I have decided to leave early. John had a quarterly review at work yesterday, so we needed to stay here for that.

So where next? We could just go home, but we want to be in Tucson for the final walk-thru and closing at the beginning of next week. So if we went home, we’d just have to turn around in a couple days and drive 6 hours back westward again. We could go straight to Tucson but we’d have to get a vacation rental because it’s too hot to camp right now.

We’ve got 5 days, a camper van, and smoke across the entire west coast. Where would you go?

There was a time when I assumed that the beach would always be smoke-free. I think I must have imagined a consistent onshore fresh ocean breeze. But this time of year in particular, the hot valleys and deserts of the southwest cause west winds, blowing dust and smoke toward the coastal communities. To get out of the smoke, we’re going to have to go east for quite a distance.

If we go due east across the Sierras, and then start heading southeast toward Tucson, we’d go through Las Vegas. We don’t gamble so aren’t interested in the strip, plus, covid. Plus, temps over 100 starting tomorrow. We like Lake Mead but don’t have our boat with us or our kayaks or anything.

Another option is to go farther east, and end up in Utah before heading directly south to Tucson. John has a real fondness for the landscape of southern Utah. We had planned to go camping in Utah next month, but we probably won’t have time once we close on the house. So why not do it now?

At the moment, southern Utah looks pretty good. The four corners area is a clear spot in a sea of smoke. Although who knows what it will look like in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, here’s some pictures from our week in Livermore!

Laura and I dehydrated figs from her tree:

She and Alex have a huge and prolific fig tree in their backyard. They keep it pruned down to a bush shape, to better reach the figs, and to keep it out of some overhead power lines.

In addition to drying figs, Laura also made fig pies and tarts.

One day we visited Alex’s mother, Tamara, and her partner, Michael. Tamara and Michael were babysitting for Michael’s kids, who were out of town on a short vacation. Here’s Tamara with the family dog, Bucky, showing us the fancy cookies she was serving in honor of our visit.

Laura

Laura, Tamara and Bucky

Here’s Tamara with her granddaughter, Layla. She’s Tamara and Michael’s first grandchild.

Here’s a picture of me with Tracey. Without thinking I went to stand right next to her for the picture, and she moved away an equal amount, like two apposing magnets. Laura said, “Social distancing!” Oh yeah, oops. This pandemic is such a bummer. Pandemic plus wildfires is surreal.

Here’s Tracey, at lunch downtown. I love this picture, with the covid warning in the background, the American flag, the deserted street due to unhealthy air quality. It’s all so poignant. When I arrived in Livermore the temperatures were over 100 degrees, but then the temperatures plummeted. Not sure if it’s just because of that front that went through the entire western US, or if it was because the smoke obscured the sun for several days. Or both.

Laura, lunch downtown. Note how Laura has her mask attached to her hat rather than behind her ears. It’s much more comfortable! It was Tamara’s idea. They cleverly sewed buttons on baseball caps to hold their masks. I’m going to do that as soon as I’m home. Unfortunately I had not brought a baseball cap on the trip. I could have bought one but I’m trying to stay out of indoor spaces, like shops.

Here’s John throwing a stick for Zane in Laura’s backyard.

John also bought Zane a bully stick, which is a tough, beef-based chewing stick for dogs. He loved it of course. Here he is playing with the small end left after he had eaten most of it.

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