Wednesday and Thursday, 5/6 Sep: Two fairly boring days.  I’m now in Bend, Oregon. Yesterday I drove through the smoke from a major fire in the Sierra Nevadas that closed part of US395. Today I drove through the smoke of an even bigger fire that closed part of Interstate 5.   Several truckers abandoned their rigs to escape the fire.  National news.  BTW, I was in parts of Nevada and Oregon when I experienced the smoke.  Fires are not just individual state problems.

Spent last night in Susanville, CA. I had no idea that it is otherwise known as “Prison Town, USA” (on PBS). Inmates at three prisons make up over a third of the population (yes, they are included in the census). Half of the non-institutionalized adult population work at the prisons. The things I learn on my trips. The sub shop has an “Inmate Special”. Get a sub, walk out without paying, become an inmate.