If it were me I would use all of the "experienced" time that I could reference. At minimum, document the length of time that has been accumulated and fully justify and document for the minimum requirements.
I havn't read the california rules and I had PEs that were direct supervisors so my application was straight forward but I thought that there is a clause to allow engineers with an ABET accredited education to sit for the exam without directly working with another PE in an effort to broaden the profession. In this instance you may have to provide more documentation that you were doing "real" engineering during your employment engagements but I believe there is a path for engineers with the correst experience to become Professional Engineers without another Professional Engineer vouching for them.
Since I am unsure of the accuracy of my statements, maybe someone else on the board can verify whether I am correct or not?