I’ve begun preparations for our vacation, which is now in just over two weeks. You know what is turning out to be surprisingly expensive? No, not the airfare (we used miles for that). Just getting to the airport! Here are some comparisons: Supershuttle from our house to the airport is (for 3 people) is $122, plus tip, round trip. Primetime is less, about $104 plus tip. Taking a cab to the Flyaway and taking the Flyaway bus runs around $57. The cheapest is parking at work, but as we return on a Sunday, it’s around $35 just to get to the office to pick up the car! Sigh.
In other news, I’ve gotten yet another nice note regarding my highway site. Quoting from the email:
Just wanted to send you kudos for the GREAT California highways website. I work for Los Angeles Co, dept of Public Works as a GIS tech and was updating my freeway shield symbols, trying to figure out how to designate the 210 freeway extension. Looks like the data you compiled took months to put together so accurately.
It’s nice when you get notes like this. I got the following from a LA Public Librarian:
I am a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library and I often have to answer questions on history and statistics about California highway system. The archivist, Jim Walker, at the MTA Library recommended your site. It answered my immediate need for a patron and I’ve bookmarked for future use.
My favorite kudo, however, was the following:
I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much I marvel at your web site regarding California Highways. I recently read an article which has become the beginning of a new teaching unit for me entitled “Highways and Byways”. I teach photography at Bell High School in Los Angeles. This is my last unit of study that I’m writing as I’m retiring after 38 years of teaching. Your web site and the links have been the basis of the background information for this new unit. This particular unit is my contribution to a National Endowment for the Humanities grant that we recently received at our school in conjunction with the Los Angeles Educational Partnership and LACMA. The unit has to be art centered using a piece of art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art but I had to have oodles of background stuff for my students to even begin what the actual lesson becomes. They are going to select one highway or main road (many run through the City of Bell) and document a distance of 2 to 5 miles. They are to keep a diary of what they see and photograph items of interest (their own or historical). From the photographs and writings they will put together a fold out book of their travel experience – a la Huel Howser. Your web site is one of the first places they are going to go to gather information regarding Calfiornia roadways. Thank you for such a complete documentation for our use.
It’s mail such as the above that makes doing the highway pages worth it.
