We set the alarm for 3 a.m. this morning. That's because the flight to get our visitors back home to healthy air was a very early flight! Our granddaughter, Carter, was the sweetest little early-riser as we loaded her into her car seat for the trip to the airport in the dark. She doesn't often get to see the moon, and it was a beautiful orange glow because of all the smoke in the air. It was sad to see our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter leave! But we had a silly good-bye at the airport, as Carter demonstrates how a 3-year-old properly wears a required mask.
We stayed in Reno to be sure their plane could take off, and then we headed back home to the motor home through the smoke. We're guessing this is a beautiful drive when you can see the mountains that line the highway. Today we could only see faint outlines of the mountains right beside the road.
As we the passed the "Welcome to California" sign, we didn't feel very welcomed.
That's because this is another "burgundy" hazardous air quality day for the Truckee, California, area. By definition, the worst (hazardous) category begins when the air quality index reaches over 300. This day we are well above that at 564. That means we are way past hazardous.
As we continued to monitor the air quality, we saw one from a neighboring town that registered 1,103 AQI. That must be smoke so thick you have to cut the air with a knife.
Our camp site in Truckee is the most expensive campground we have booked in our 6.5 years of full-time travel. Tahoe is a popular tourist area that makes it hard to find and afford a camping spot. But our campground had quite a few open spots today as people have left early or decided not to come to Lake Tahoe at all because of the smoke.
We spent the rest of the day napping, and then catching up with blogging and correspondence. We certainly couldn't go outside for anything on a day like today.
We would have left that camping spot and headed east out of the smoke on Sunday, but the U.S. postal service was holding us hostage. Because we were planning to be in this area for a week, we had requested that our mail be forwarded to the post office in Truckee, California. It was supposed to arrive on Saturday, but it didn't. Then the post office wasn't open on Sunday. So Mark was there to get our package of mail when they opened on Monday morning.
From the tracking information, we knew the package was here. But he was told that it would be some time before they could sort through deliveries and find it. It's quite a drive to the post office, so Mark decided to just sit in the pickup and wait. He wasn't the only vehicle waiting in the parking lot, as this family of labradors were also anxiously waiting for something.
After two days of having to stay inside because of the smoke, we did feel a little like we were held hostage waiting for this mail delivery. Mark got to watch the efficiency of the U.S. postal service in action here in Truckee. He had time to analyze this guy's procedure as he looked at each package, then slowly walked to the bin to sort it, then slowly walked back for another . . . Mark wanted to offer to speed up the process and to help find our package. Finally, he went back after noon to check again for our package. Only because he got a different (more helpful) clerk, who looked until she found our package, did we get to leave. Our hostage situation was over because we now had our mail delivery!
Reno, Nevada, is 25 miles away. We've been here twice to go to the airport, but we didn't visit any of the big casinos that this city is famous for. It's a hazardous air day in Reno, as those tall casino motels beside the highway are barely visible through the smoke. We would find out later that this was the worst air quality ever in Reno.
In Reno, we join with Highway 50, that heads straight east across the state. Now that we're no longer held hostage by the U.S. postal service, our plan is to keep driving until we find blue skies again--however long that takes.
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