don't be surprised if your ride home takes a little longer than the ride in. safety first

I'm hoping the ride home is quicker. I'm taking a slightly different route home that includes a couple nice descents but also avoids the roads that commonly have lots of 5 o'clock traffic.

One thing: A schoolbus will never move into opposing traffic to pass you. They just won't do it and the police will not respond to your protestations regardless of rule of law. They regard their cargo as more important than just about anything else. This is why they stop at RR crossings and why they stop both lanes of traffic even if they are picking up on only one side of the street. Kids are precious and a bus driver will never cross the median for any reason at all. And, even as a cyclist, I think this is correct. I'd time your route so you don't cross paths or you cross paths at a location convenient for everyone involved.

was the "open lane" in opposing traffic?

how was your first ride home?

Part 2: The Ride Home
It was pleasant. I was a bit faster on my ride home, but I also changed my route, taking into consideration high-traffic roads, inclines, and distance.
Without giving away my exact home address and work address (after all, a certain degree of anonymity is kinda nice hence my name "BrockLee") here's a Google Map of my route home.

For comparative purposes, here's a Google Map of my route to work yesterday morning.

And when I rode to work again this morning I took a slightly different route yet. Hey, I'm refining the trip and trying to figure out exactly which route is most efficient. This morning's route was definitely best so far, keeping me off major roads as much as possible. No school buses either!

Yes

I really like helmet lights, headlight and taillight... I use a Vis360+.. If I had just one light this would be it.

SO COOL!

Oh, I also got honked at for the first time while commuting home last night. And it wasn't a "Hey there, cutie!" kind of honk. It was the "Get the hell out of the way!!!" kind. I had to go onto the road because a skateboarder was taking up all 24" of the bike lane and I couldn't go around on his right. I had veered onto the road plenty far ahead of the car, but they still thought I should get out of their way.

looks like you have some mountain biking near you?

"Dress for the second mile"...

Yes. Old school roadie wisdom applicable for the commute as well. If you're comfortable in the first ten minutes of the ride, you've overdressed.

glad to hear of the bike ride! congrats! hope to hear many more days. it will be hard at first not going to lie. maybe try like 3x a week (this is ambitious). be sure to stretch after your morning ride and after your afternoon ride. leaving 15 min sounds perfect for doing that. you need your body to stay limber so it's a good idea to take care of it!

sooner or later you'll be commuting everyday welcome to the addiction

Well, sorta. I really like it. But in this region the summer heat will force me to drive. Summers are far too brutal for me to ride 12 miles in and 12 miles out. And if I ride slower my wife won't be happy that I'm home so much later.
Indeed! Unfortunately, I have no mountain bike. Downieville offers a great downhill every year and that's not far from me.
This is wise advice. I'll have to remember that. I now have more than one sweatshirt in my office that I don't need in my office.

ah yes. extreme weather will do that. best of luck~

This was proven untrue on my commute this morning. I had only a tiny 12" of shoulder to ride on, and I don't try squeezing myself onto a shoulder that small because some cars try to stay in the lane, and therefore drive too close to me. So I ride about 24" to the left of the white line. No motored conveyance with more than two wheels can squeeze past me without crossing the median.

And so it happened - A Special Ed. school bus, you know the short kind, crossed the median to give me room. :-)

Well, that bus is obviously a bit... slow...

In any case, don't count on schoolbuses giving you space.