Coast To Coast in America - Documenting The Coastal Wildfires From The Windshield

In less than seven weeks, we put 10,000 miles on our vehicle--the one we just purchased in Florida last month. The first thousand were collected between Miami, Florida and Nashville, Tennessee. A few more thousand between Nashville and Knoxville were collected while shopping for shelter. But the majority of those miles were just accrued as we toured across 16 states between Tennessee and California and back to Tennessee.

Pura and I just returned from California where we spent two weeks saying hello as well as goodbye but most importantly--we retrieved the few items we couldn't part with when we left the U.S back in 2018.

My friends in California said "you don't wanna come back here, give yourself at least a year." However, Pura and I had sentimental items to retrieve that couldn't wait that long. Friends we met abroad, along with a handful of virtual strangers said "California is on fire! Be careful you two!" To that I responded, 'relax, it's summer time in California, it's always on fire this time of year.' I couldn't have been more mistaken.

Fact--California is always on fire during the summer months but this year, the one titled 2020, nothing's familiar anymore. There's a noticeably red ambience at times as the sun attempts to shine through the heavy layer of falling ashes and debris stemming from a multitude of coastal wild fires. We captured the smoky haze originating along the west coast of the United States and tracked it all the way to the Ohio River in Illinois--2,333 miles of smoke.

Coast To Coast in America - Documenting The Coastal Wildfires From The Windshield

_{Mt. Aire, Utah
All images - iPhone 8+}

_{Hwy 138 - the back way to Los Angeles
There's 5 layers of mountains in the distance but only 1n1/2 were visible - not a cloud in the sky}

_{Sylmar, California - Los Angeles County
On the other side of that tunnel is Agua Dulce RV Resort. I parked there for about a month during an overtime project back in 2014}

_{Agua Dulce RV Resort - Los Angeles County
What's left of it}

_{Interstate 580
En route to San Francisco - not a cloud in the sky}

_{Interstate 680
Mt. Diablo}

_{Mt. Diablo National Forest
What's left of it}

_{Novato, California
San Francisco Bay under smoke}

_{Hwy 1 - the coastal most highway in the Western United States
Not a cloud in the sky}

_{Mt. Shasta National Forest
Two hours south of Oregon and 150 miles inland of the Pacific Ocean - 'east bound'}

_{Lake Tahoe National Forest in Reno, Nevada
350 miles east of the Pacific - not a cloud in the sky}

_{Salt lake beds in Salt Lake City, Utah
860 miles east of the Pacific}

_{Interstate 70. Utah, USA
Fishlake National Forest}

_{Not a cloud in the sky}

_{Moab, Utah
25-50 mph gusts of wind through Moab separated the clouds from the smoke - 1,091 miles east of the Pacific}

_{Arches National Park, Utah}

_{Reservior at Scipio Lake
Scipio, Utah}

_{McInnis Canyons National Conservation in Colorado
1,200 miles east}

_{Rocky Mountains - Vail, Colorado
1,330 miles east}

_{The Rockies in Breckinridge, Colorado
At 13,000 feet above sea level, the wind was so gusty (45-60 mph) you could see a separation between the sky, clouds, and the smoky haze originating nearly 1,400 miles away}

_{Descending into Denver, Colorado
1,500 miles east of the Pacific}

_{Haze, Kansas
Appropriately named, "Haze," is 1,700 miles east of the Pacific - not a cloud in the sky}

_{Topeka, Kansas
1,905 miles east}

_{Kansas City, Missouri
The smoky haze is dissipating roughly 1,990 miles from the Pacific - not a cloud in the sky}

_{Somewhere in Missouri
At 80mph, I couldn't snap this image again with those tire tracks placed directly in front of us if I tried. I didn't notice it until I began putting this article together - "accident"}

_{Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri
2,210 miles east of the Pacific - not a cloud in the sky}

_Separation

_{Massac County, Illinois
2,333 miles east of the Pacific - blue skies}

Before departing Illinois and crossing into Kentucky, we stopped at Thrive in Harrisburg, Illinois. Other than the outrageously priced, naturally flowering plant, in comparison to west coast prices, the strains were typical. What I mean by that is, I meant to take a picture of the storefront and, coincidentally, I forgot to do that.

Before reaching our final destination in Tennessee, we drove across two more states, Indiana and Kentucky, totaling a 16-state road trip. I meant to snap a picture of that, too, we even stopped at a rest area with a clear view of the Indiana State sign but Harrisburg was a few states back and, coincidentally, I forgot to do that.