Category Archives: Website News

General Updates – May 2020

The last couple of months have definitely been interesting in many ways. I had planned to hold a Clean Up The Ridge Route event this weekend, but those plans were delayed. I had hoped to travel a bit more, including flying out to Phoenix to be at my husband’s graduation ceremony. Well… as the whole planet is aware, things have gone awry in many ways. Some of them have been a bit more positive on my end at least. Instead of coming home after graduation, my husband came home in early April and completed his schooling online. Now, he has a Master’s in Computer Engineering. I have been working at home as well, which has been somewhat nice. I say somewhat, as it was nice to at least get out more often. I can’t beat the commute though!

The one thing this whole situation has allowed me to do has been to get some much needed work and updates done to this site. I’ve been adding photos, maps, and some pages to my US 6, US 99, and Ridge Route tours. The Grapevine Canyon page on the US 99 tour has had quite a bit added to it. I’ve also added quite a few photos to my Southern California Highways pages. My geology pages have also been getting a bit of attention. This situation has given me a bit more opportunity to go through my archives in a bit more detail and add them to the site when possible. In time, I plan to add a lot more maps to the site overall, as it is one thing it is really lacking.

I did want to say that this situation, while frustrating at times, is temporary. We may not go back to whatever we called normal for some time, but do we really want to? This is an opportunity to make some real and positive changes to how we handle so many things. If nothing else, it has taught us that we really need to upgrade our digital infrastructure. I do look forward to returning to some level of normalcy, such as a monthly trip over the Ridge Route, going to wineries, and visiting the Wisteria Candy Cottage for some of the best chocolates and fudge in San Diego County. All will need our support and more after this is over. If you have a favorite business that is presently closed, be sure to tell them via e-mail or phone how you feel. They need to hear it!

US 99 Tour Extension

It has taken a while, but I have finally extended my Virtual Tour of US 99, again. This extension adds another 40 miles to the tour, bringing the northern terminus to just south of Tulare, California. A friend of mine helped getting some of the photos as well. In time, I will extend the tour yet further to Fresno, but it will take a while as I am missing photos at this time. If anyone is willing to help, let me know and I can tell you what I will need.

So why not take a tour of one of California’s more historic roadways?

New Ridge Route Tour Addition

A well-photographed portion of the Ridge Route, known as the Callahan Line Change, is now a part of the Virtual Tour of the Ridge Route. This is a section that had become somewhat obscure because of later freeway construction. For more detailed information –

New Page – Southern California Passes

As an addition to the “High Points” on the Highways pages, I have added a new page which summarizes all the major passes in Southern California. Postmiles, or mileposts, have also been added as well to the list. If you see any missing or find some errors in the data, let me know.

New Feature – Pass Heights

Top of Sherman Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada. Highest paved non-State highway pass in the range.

With all the snow this winter, not to mention the low elevations it has been falling, I thought it would be a good idea to add a “High Points” section to the Southern California Highways pages. These points, so far just name and elevation, show the highest points along each roadway and are located near the top of each route page. In time, I plan to add postmile or exit number, when applicable. Not all routes will have this, as they don’t all have named summits or passes. So far, all the main routes are covered (I-5, I-10, I-15, I-40, SR-74) as well as a few others.

Have a suggestion to add? Let us know!