The California Department of Transportation offers a fast-loading page for looking up road conditions. If you plan on making a ski run to Lake Tahoe this winter, you could select “Add to Home Screen” to create a button for that page on your iPhone. For example, I-80, which runs from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, currently shows the following alerts:
This highway information is the latest reported as of Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 23:35 .
I 80
[IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA]
A HIGH WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT AT THE SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE
/IN SAN FRANCISCO/ (SAN FRANCISCO,ALAMEDA CO) - TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED
FOR CAMPERS, TRAILERS OR PERMIT LOADS
[IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & THE SIERRA NEVADA]
**FOR EASTBOUND TRAFFIC:
CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW
TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM 1 MI EAST OF BAXTER (PLACER CO) TO THE
DONNER LAKE INTERCHANGE (NEVADA CO)
EASTBOUND TRUCKS ARE BEING SCREENED AT APPLEGATE (PLACER CO) - DRIVERS MUST
HAVE MINIMUM CHAINS IN THEIR POSSESSION IN ORDER TO PROCEED - PERMIT LOADS ARE
PROHIBITED
**FOR WESTBOUND TRAFFIC:
CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW
TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM TO THE DONNER LAKE INTERCHANGE (NEVADA CO) WHITMORE
(PLACER CO)
WESTBOUND TRUCKS ARE BEING SCREENED 5 MI WEST OF RENO (WASHOE CO) - DRIVERS
MUST HAVE MINIMUM CHAINS IN THEIR POSSESSION IN ORDER TO PROCEED - PERMIT LOADS
ARE PROHIBITED
Unfortunately, after you search for a particular highway, the website displays the results without changing the URL. So, how can you bookmark a particular highway?
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roadscell.cgi?roadnumber=80,280,680,101,580,680
This covers all the major routes from the San Francisco Bay Area to Lake Tahoe. You can manually enter any highway numbers into the URL string and bookmark that page. Better than typing in a bunch of highway numbers into the search field every time.
Located in Anaheim, CA, Disneyland offers Southern California residents and visitors an incomparable experience. If you live in Orange County, you may not realize what a gem you have in your backyard. However, if you ever venture to Northern California or out-of-state, you will quickly discover that no place quite delivers like Disneyland. The park is absolutely immaculate, which is no small task considering the thousands of people who pass through the turnstile throughout the day. Additionally, Disneyland constantly refreshes the attractions so they do not feel tired and dated—like I have seen at other theme parks. The breadth of attractions is equally impressive. For young kids, no one caters to them like Disneyland does.
I went during the Friday before Labor Day and really lucked out. Except for the 90 degree heat, Disneyland was absolutely fantastic. For the most part, I encountered 5 minute wait times for most attractions.
If you are visiting Disneyland in the near future, I would recommend avoiding the Harbor Boulevard entrance. The Harbor Boulevard entrance is closed. Instead, signs will direct you to off-site parking at Anaheim Gardenwalk. Ugh. Not an ideal arrangement if the weather is hot and you have kids in tow.
I also attended dinner at Ariel’s Disney Princess Celebration. Located in Disney’s California Adventure, Ariel’s Grotto offers families with young girls an opportunity to dine with their favorite Disney princesses. As you enter the Grotto, you are presented with the opportunity to take a photograph with Ariel—the princess, not the mermaid. You are only permitted one photo per group, so if you are dining with friends, you cannot have your own photo with Ariel, at least initially. However, Ariel does come around to the dining tables later on with her friends, Princess Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty), Snow White, Cinderella and Belle, for photos. Where’s Mulan for the Asian children? I found the food to be surprisingly good. I had the tri-tip, which I enjoyed. Another dining companion had the redfish, which was also well-received. In addition to the main entree, your table also receives appetizer platters and an after dinner dessert plate. All very delicious, for a price.
With the general election just 3 weeks away, now is as good a time as any to start focusing on all the ballot box issues. In California, Proposition 8, which eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry, is a bit curious. Its supporters claim that “Proposition 8 is about traditional marriage.” Indeed, I saw an advertisement in a regional Chinese newspaper for a rally in support of traditional marriage. However, cultural differences being what they are, the advertisement explicitly stated that the traditional marriage they were referring to involved one male and one female, as opposed to the traditional marriage found in Raise the Red Lantern. God forbid that some royalists show up at the rally urging Californians to follow the ways of late Ching Emperor.
In all seriousness, I just don’t understand how Proposition 8 protects marriage. It may protect the definition of marriage. However, for people that are contemplating marriage or who are married, it offers no assistance or support whatsoever. Proposition 8 supporters offer that “the best situation for a child is to be raised by a married mother and father.” Great! But, how is banning gays and lesbians from getting married going to help working parents raise their kids. Uh. If Proposition 8 was really about protecting marriage and raising kids, it would offer tax relief to married couples with children.
