The Red Writer is ready for a quick getaway - from wildfire smoke

   POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - When Admiral Fox and I first got The Red Writer T@B trailer, one name we considered briefly was Escape Velocity.

     That name certainly seemed fitting today as I uncovered The Red Writer, got the new wheels torqued and brought it back to our condominium. It's our safe-haven hedge and rolling lifeboat in case the smoke drives us out of here.
    And it's close to doing that amigos, it's very close.
    This morning we awoke to near zero visibility outside (photo below), a mixture of coastal fog and smoke from wildfires way north of us. And it's bad enough that health authorities advise staying indoors.
     California is on fire - but so are the states of Oregon and Washington north of us.
     As the fog burned off, the smoke stayed right here with us, making the air quite toxic, (See the Purple Air map below)
     At the moment, we don't have a plan, exactly.
     But by late Saturday we expect to decide whether to activate Operation Red Writer Evac and quickly skitter to the east, into Nevada and maybe other Southwestern states where the air is fresh.
     For now, The Red Writer is parked safely right outside our condo, gathering falling ash on it while we make up our minds whether it's best to fight the smoke or take flight. Biscuit is ambivalent about it, provided he gets to chase squirrels. (See photo below).

View of San Francisco Bay at 7:30 a.m.

AIR QUALITY MAP: The purple essentially means, don't go outside

Ready to roll out of the smoke

Biscuit and the squirrel have a love-hate relationship - mostly hate...