As we drove south on Hwy 101, the perfect blue sky
dirtied. This time of the afternoon
usually means the fog and stratus clouds are invading the coast. Something was different about the look of
these clouds. These clouds were darker,
dirtier. It was smoke. We drove through pockets of wildfire smoke as
we moved through a series of valleys and ridge tops. I’ve found very few moments to be glad that I
still haven’t regained my sense of smell, but this was one of them.
When we reached our hotel in Willits, the parking lot was
full of green USFS trucks and red CalFire ones.
We checked in behind a fire crew boss reserving 10 rooms. In all of our travels, we have never
mistakenly booked a room on the wrong day, but we happened to do that for this
day. By some stroke of luck, the hotel
had a single cancellation: a smoking room on the first floor. It was better than sleeping in the car
overnight. The hotel was also wonderful
enough to provide us with a fan to blow some of the stink out and Matt was very
grateful.
That night, we soaked in the
hot tub with a fire crew from Oregon. It
was their first day on the nearby fire and they were rested and excited for
more action. They were also happy that
their boss let them use the pool.
Normally, they are so covered in soot that even a couple of showers will
not make them clean enough to take a dip.
It was fun chatting with them about their adventurous occupation.
My #1 trick for traveling on a budget: pack your own meals.
3 comments:
I like the sense of being on the road. Traveling. Meeting the fire crew. What would be mundane becomes interesting. I could see how they were psyched their boss let them use the pool.
Hmm. In all my fire days we were rarely allowed to hotel it. It has become so cushy lately.
We spent Wednesday afternoon driving from Boonville home. The smoke was unbelievable. So thankful for the people who help put those out!
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