#The Southbound Freeway

[tfc2211]

The Southbound Freeway - Psychedelic Used Car Lot Blues (1967)

[reasonsforhope]

"Construction of the “largest wildlife crossing in the world” passed a significant milestone in April placing the first girders over an 8-lane freeway near Los Angeles to preserve the local mountain lion population.

After years of tireless work, erecting the first horizontal section of the 210-foot-long crossing was an historic moment for the National Wildlife Federation, the Caltrans highway department, and many private and public partners.

“We all cheered when the crane lowered the first concrete beam across the freeway, as we truly saw the bridge starting to take shape,” said an excited Beth Pratt, the California Executive Director of National Wildlife Federation.

“This structure is a testament to us all wanting a future for wildlife and mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains.”

Moving forward, up to 82 additional concrete girders will be placed, with each beam weighing between 126 and 140 tons. As these critical horizontal supports are placed, the structure will ultimately reconnect two long fractured global biodiversity hotspots in the Southern California region—providing safe passage for not only the cougars, but bobcats, deer, lizards, and coyotes, as they move between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills of the Santa Susana mountain range.

[Note: The setting looks pretty rural in that rendering, but the wildlife crossing is actually only five minutes from the Los Angeles city border and the densely populated San Fernando Valley.]

For drivers on the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, the construction is interrupting traffic from 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM on one side of the highway each week (Northbound or Southbound). The FAQs can be found here.

CBS news estimates about 1,500 of these wildlife passages have been built both over and under major highways and rural roads across America.

Watch CBS’s recent feature that highlights crossings over America’s longest highway, US 90, which runs across the northern states, and how a new US grant program is paving the way for more crossings…"

-via Good News Network, May 9, 2024

-video via CBS Sunday Morning, April 21, 2024

[deadlifts-and-deadlines]

So I live in Illinois, about 1-3 hours north of the path of totality. I had initially planned just to watch the eclipse from home, because a partial eclipse is still pretty cool. But this morning at the gym I listened to an NPR podcast where the guy strongly urged everyone close to the path to drive a bit further to see totality, and so I was like okay, fine, we have the time tomorrow, so I’ll pick Ender up from school and we’ll get in the car and head south for a bit, maybe drive until we hit Mount Vernon or something. Then I left the gym and got on the freeway to head home (north) and the southbound lanes are already nearly bumper to bumper ☠️ And I talked to my aunt and she said their small town is absolute chaos right now. Big nope! Again, it would be cool… but I’ll stay home 🤣

[welldigger62]

I have a Pure Michigan photo for you. On this Memorial Day (and weekend) tons of people drive to northern Michigan. Then at the end of the holiday everyone is in a rush to drive back home. This is looking north on I-75 freeway. The traffic on the left is southbound and they are moving very well. At it’s worst, it would be a line of cars, all stopped.

[valeriasfragments]

Fragments About a Princess

[1]

I let my guard down for a second, I lose sight of you for just a minute, a desperate quiet moment to myself. I was in the bathroom for a minute, just long enough to feel the weight of it all. It's so heavy and I can feel myself going under the water when i hear you screaming, hair raising, fear of god, pure white hot terror floods my muscles and I've already flung the door open so hard the handle smashes the wall, a perfect circle like a bruise on porcelain skin.

I let myself feel weak for just a second and now you are on our kitchen floor covered in red, I'm white as a ghost, and you're turning blue. The knife clatters loudly and your arm is torn to shreds and it's all my fault.

I'm trying so hard to hold on to living and you're trying so hard to get on dying and I can't keep us both above water and my calamitous heart would rather sink with you then continue on alone. And our kitchen floor was never white again, they replaced the laminate flooring when we left because "it looked like somebody died in here", if they only knew the truth.

This isn't the last time I hold you in my arms expecting you to die, expecting me to perish there too. All you can say, all you can ever repeat over and over again as you try repeatedly to leave is "I'm sorry, Chance." And I repeat every time "It's okay, Princess."

And this goes on for a while. I start locking the knife block and any other sharp things I can find I lock away in a trunk I've had since childhood, the one I would hide in when my dad was on a rampage, the one that protected me, I put them there in hopes they protect you.

I hold you, lips blue, breathing so ragged and shallow. I cling to you, my deflated life preserver, we're sinking fast, me and you. I am covered in blood, your beautiful life all over the floor, I look like a horror movie. You leave a perfect hand print on the counter and it's the last thing I clean after I get home from the hospital. Your beautiful dainty hands, and I stare at the print for a long time.

I bring you home from the hospital again, at least a dozen times this year alone, I fear what our future holds, worrying about a future that will never come. You walked out a month after I brought you home, tried to fly and left this world.

And all I wish I could do is sit with you in those last hours and say "it's okay, Princess" until you finally close your eyes. I wish I could comfort you as I always.

[2]

I’m on California Route 23 which stretches from Fillmore to the sea. There’s a bridge right before Simi Valley where the 23 and the 118 Freeway meet. It doesn’t have a name but it rises over the Happy Camp Canyon, the Arroyo Simi River, and Princeton Avenue and curves from Moorpark to Simi Valley. The bridge is split in two with each half taking a direction, each half has 2 lanes and ample shoulder room. It reaches its maximum height on the southbound side right after the concrete fence factories.

This area is one of the best places to stargaze but on this particular night the sky is obscured by a clinging cold mist. Before I see her I know exactly what night this is. I walk up to the railing, just past the mile marker I found in the police report. My hands hesitate to rest on the damp railing sitting atop the concrete barrier. Every so often a car cruises by going a little slower than usual because of the visibility. 

I stand there leaning on the railing trying to work up the nerve to lean over and look at the ground, my heart is pounding so hard I think it might stop. I don’t know if I am more afraid of seeing her or flinging myself over to join her. Before I can consider I lean over and look but I don’t see her down there in the area she supposedly died. And as I right myself I can see her out of the corner of my eye walking down the shoulder towards me. 

She’s shivering and mumbling to herself, her arms pulled close to her body and she’s sobbing. She is pale as a ghost, her lips the color of Arkansas Blue Star. She’s wearing a black t-shirt and torn denim jeans with a black hoodie tied around her waist but she’s not wearing any shoes, she left them in my shoe rack by my front door. Walked nearly 5 miles from the Moorpark Park & Ride on Collins in Simi where she left her car and a note, she walked the whole way barefoot without a care.

I take a few steps toward her and she walks by me, her eyes never looking up from the ground. She leans on the cold railing with her stomach, looks at the stars and sighs. I step towards her and she looks right at me, right through my soul. “I’m sorry” she says and then she’s gone, over the edge.

I blink and I am 45 feet below the 23 in a field pocked with tall grass, trees and bushes. And there in the darkness a pale blue angel splayed out like a broken doll, limbs all the wrong direction. She looks up at me from where she is laying in the grass.

"Is that you, Chance?" She sounds raspy and confused.

"I'm sorry, Princess. This is just a dream."

"Oh. Then I guess I'm dead."

"Yeah. Yeah. For a long time now. And this never happened." I admit reluctantly.

She begins to sob softly and sit down beside her head and cradle her in my lap. I brush some foxtails out of her hair and wipe at her tears.

"Oh, Princess. I wish we had more time. I wish I could tell you all the times my mind drifted to you. I wish I could read you all the poems and stories I wrote. But there's never enough time here."

"I hope you loved again." She says softly as her eyes drift to the horizon.

"Oh, yes, Princess. I love very easy. Too easily. I love loudly and often because life is too short. You taught me that." 

"I'm sorry"

"Shh. Shh. It's all okay, Princess. I promise." 

"I love you, Chance" She says as the dawn's light peeks over the horizon.

And I'm awake gasping and shaking again.

[mightyflamethrower]

Some decisions are so negligent and with consequences so predictably disastrous that only a Big Stupid Government could ever make them. Over the weekend, a massive fire under I-10 at E. 14th Ave. in Los Angeles was severe enough to cause structural damage bad enough to close that section of the freeway "indefinitely."

The miracle — thanks to Big Stupid Government — is that it didn't happen sooner.

With more than 300,000 vehicles being rerouted each and every day until further notice, frustrated Los Angelenos demanded answers — and, on Tuesday, they got one.

"Bad actors" caused the fire, according to State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant.

Some unknown arsonist is believed to have started Saturday's blaze, but that's not the "bad actor" to whom Berlant was referring. You see, the city government leases underpass space to people and companies for storage. In this case, "bad actors" filled the underpass with wooden pallets and containers of alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

In my report on Monday (and at the top of this story), you can see the pallets stacked so high under the freeway that they're almost touching the underside of the elevated road. The photos were courtesy of Google Street View, so it isn't like the towers of literal kindling were some dark secret.

The city is currently in a legal battle with a company called Airspace that leased the underpass storage area.

Let us pause here to consider the ill-considered wonder of stuffing underpasses full of kindling and flammable goo. Let us pause again to consider the bone-crushing stupidity of allowing unpoliced homeless encampments filled with vagrants, addicts, and the mentally ill to cohabitate with pallets and accelerants. 

"Giving money and power to government," P.J. O'Rourke quipped, "is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." But sometimes the situation is reversed. In this case, government gave dry wood and alcohol to vagrants.

Was the I-10 fire started by a malicious arsonist or just a bored fentanyl addict? We may never know with 100% certainty, but we do know these fires are common wherever the homeless are living free range. PJ Media's own Victoria Taft reported back in March, "Fire, fire everywhere" rages all up and down the West Coast, where the homeless are treated like an endangered species.

That story was just one entry in Victoria's ongoing "West Coast, Messed Coast" series, of which, if you aren't a regular reader, you should be.

Meanwhile — you're going to love this one — KTLA reported Tuesday morning: "Just days after a massive blaze destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles, another fire broke out under a different freeway." This time, the fire appears to have started at an underpass homeless encampment near eastbound 105 and southbound 110 and then spread to nearby vegetation. 

Fortunately, this fire didn't have nearly as much fuel to burn and only resulted in some traffic slowdowns.

But two of these fires in four days are a sure sign that LA's Big Stupid Government doesn't know how to protect the city's critical transportation infrastructure. Or maybe they just don't care. Maybe the neglect is on purpose — a stealthy way to promote the city's "road diet" to force drivers out of their cars and onto public transportation.

Whether by accident or design, however, it takes a Big Stupid Government to allow anyone to store kindling and accelerant under freeway overpasses occupied by those who are negligent, drug-addicted, mentally unstable, criminal, or all four. 

[eonars]

Last night the thought "wow the southbound 163 is truly a gorgeous bit of freeway" arrived into my head fully formed just natty as I was driving and I was like OKAYYY now THAT. RIGHT THERE is my fucking cue to leave california my time here is UP there is nothing more to be gained my brain is getting soft from living here I need to gooooooooo

[rainbowbarnacle]

We took a trip to the North Shore!

On Monday Luka and I went to Duluth to go look for agates and visit the rock shop and eat mindblowingly good pie. The drive up was really nice--very long, but we listened to Stephen King's Fairy Tale on the way and it is very good so far--a kid named Charlie is isekai'd to another world where he plans to take this absolute SWEETHEART of an elderly dog to this magic sundial so she can be young and not arthritic anymore. That's all I know so far but it's been really good so far.

The only hitch in the whole trip was when we were looking for a place to look for rocks, and this crazy dog with no leash and no collar goes zooming into the road, and Luka slammed on the brakes, and the person behind us just barely slammed their breaks, and we ended up accidentally clipping the poor dog--there was a big wet splat of water and a bit of hair on the front, but no damage, and the dog just kept running without a thought in its dear little head and disappeared into some forestry that happened before the beach

So we went looking for the poor dog so we could tell its owners that we bumped it, and we never found the dog or its owner, but we thiiiink the dog is probably hopefully okay x_x

And while we were looking for dogs and people, we found out the area we were in was a perfect swimming spot, so we went down to the beach and luka got out his snorkeler and a really nice drunk lady gave us a heart shaped rock Luka found a bunch of really cool stuff! Sea glass and some kind of really lovely piece of terra cotta with a honeycomb pattern on it, and a big laker agate and a bunch of really interesting hunks of things with fascinating crystals and pretty streaks of things running through it--he can tell you much more. I found one that looks like a kitty!

And the lake was just lovely. There was a cute family of loons and people kayaking (including one woman who had her golden retriever sitting on the boat while she rowed) and one guy flew by on a motorized parachute and threw us the horns. 8)

Then we went home and wolfed down food and fell the heck over at the Motel 6, where in the morning we discovered Ellie had tried to make a nest on the floor:

We went to the culinary miracle that is Betty's Pies, where I had pancakes and luka had biscuits and gravy and we had phenomenal pie.

Then we got to go to the ROCK SHOP. :D

The folks running the store were INCREDIBLY nice and helped identify some of what Luka found in the lake the day before. I was fortunate enough to be able to nab some pretties at very reasonable prices (seriously these were like a few bucks each)

If I am remembering the labels correctly, I nabbed: a tiny slab of coral, then a lake superior agate, carnelian, citrine, green jasper, malachite, labradorite, dumortierite, sodalite, petrified wood, crazy lace agate, and amethyst. The neat little platform it's on came from a nearby goodwill and has a bunch of fossilized snails in it? IT WAS A BUCK FIFTY, HOW

But yes it feels nice to have pretties finally. <3 I also nabbed a fossilized clam and an opalized ammonite.

Aaand after that we were gonna visit the Temperance River, but then the sky opened up and munched on roadtrip snacks and listened to more audiobook while the rain pounded down, and when it cleared up we took pictures of the forest.

And Ellie had an awesome time:

The highlight of our trip back was finding this billboard. Luka got off the southbound freeway, back on the northbound freeway, and back onto the southbound freeway, over a span of several miles, just to get this picture:

WORTH IT. 8D

and now I'm hoooome and I've cuddled my kitty and I'm going to be a zombie for a little while

What an awesome time, though. I hadn't been on a roadtrip since we went with @kurloz38 and @misa-chu in June of 2018. @_@ (we gotta get you guys back up here!!) It was indescribably nice to get to swim and splurge on pretty things and enjoy a really good book.

[rabbitcruiser]

Benicia Bridge Vista Point, CA (No. 1)

The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay in California; the spans link Benicia on the north side with Martinez on the south.

The original 1.2-mile (1.9 km) deck truss bridge opened in 1962 to replace the last automotive ferry service in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 1962 bridge has seven 528-foot (161 m) spans and 138 feet (42 m) of vertical clearance, now carrying four lanes of southbound traffic, as well as a path for pedestrians and bicyclists. It was named the George Miller Jr., Memorial Bridge in 1975 after California state legislator George Miller Jr. A 1.7-mile (2.7 km) bridge was built alongside and opened on August 25, 2007 with five lanes of northbound traffic. In 2007, it was named the Congressman George Miller Benicia–Martinez Bridge after U.S. Congressman George Miller, Miller Jr.'s son. The cost of the 1962 span was US$25 million and US$1.3 billion for the 2007 span. (Adjusted for inflation, equivalent to $252 million and $1.91 billion respectively.) The bridge is part of Interstate 680, a major transportation link connecting other heavily traveled freeways.

Between the two vehicle bridges is a Union Pacific Railroad bridge, the first bridge at this location, built between April 1929 and October 1930 by Southern Pacific. It is used by Union Pacific and BNSF (trackage rights) freight trains and 36 scheduled Amtrak passenger trains each weekday. Passenger trains include the long-distance trains California Zephyr and Coast Starlight and commuter-oriented Capitol Corridor services.

Source: Wikipedia

[ritualoftheancients]

Ritual of the Ancients Chapter 5: The Paranormal Creature Alliance

by Roan Rosser

This is a chapter of a complete vampire novel with a trans-masc main character and a gay romance subplot. New Chapters are posted every Sunday. If you like the novel and want to support the author, ebook and paperback copies can be purchased here.

~~~~~

The slowing of the car as it got off the freeway bumped me awake. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, inadvertently dropping the T-shirt from my face onto my lap. We were on Highway 30, heading north. The trees of Forest Park on the left were nothing but dark blots, broken occasionally by the glow of street lamps.

I glanced in the back seat. Emily sat with her knees pulled up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them, staring silently out the driver’s side window. That damned meditation piano music was still playing. The clock said 4:45 AM. I glanced at the sky, but it was still pitch black outside.

The St. John’s Bridge became visible in the distance, the lights on it combined with the dark void that was the river far below made it look like it was a bridge through space, leading to the stars. However, instead of continuing on, Jack took a left at the light before the bridge turnout, into the parking lot of a car tow business just south of the bridge. It was a long, narrow lot that ran north to south, bordered by Forest Park on the west and Highway 30 on the east.

I’d seen it from the bus before, but hadn’t really noticed it before except to wonder why it had its own stoplight.

“I think they’re closed,” I said after Jack stopped at the closed chainlink fence that blocked off the parking lot from the traffic on the highway. There was just enough space between the fence and the road for his car to not be hit by the sparse southbound early morning traffic on the highway.

Jack shot me a half-smile and reached up to press the button on a garage door opener attached to the visor. “Are they?” The gate began rattling slowly open, rolling to the side parallel to the rest of the fence. Jack drove in once there was enough space for the car. After we were inside, he pressed the button again and the gate closed behind us.

He drove past a dark building that had the logo of a tow company on the glass door, and turned down a gravel path that ran between the two lines of wrecked cars that ran the length of the lot, bordered by the highway on one side and the trees of Forest Park on the other. A chainlink fence topped with barbed wire encircled the lot.

Jack said, “The tow business is a cover for our offices. Handily explains all the traffic in and out, and provides some income to keep us going. Not like we can exactly get government funding for supernatural social services, and the fines from tickets only cover so much.”

“I hadn’t considered that,” I said.

When we reached the middle of the line of cars, Jack made a hard right turn, squeezing through a space between two of the cars. Jack slowed down, but kept driving.

“Stop!” I yelled, pointing at the fence.

In the back, Emily shrieked, and I was tempted to join her, but instead reached out and grabbed the door, bracing myself for impact as the car’s bumper reached the trees. The cheap plastic cracked under my grip.

However, rather than crashing, the car kept going. The image of the fence and trees in front of us wavered like a heat mirage before vanishing. The crunch of gravel under the tires was replaced with the smooth feel of asphalt. I blinked, and Emily’s scream trailed off.

Jack laughed uproariously at our reaction. If I could have pried my hands from the door handle, I would have been tempted to punch his arm. “Best part of bringing newbies here.” Jack chuckled.

I twisted around to look behind us. The illusion of the trees was back in place, making it look like the road appeared from nowhere. Even the light filtering through from the tow lot’s floodlamps showed shadows from the illusionary trees. Despite the fact that I was now a vampire and had met both a real life werefox and werejackal, I hadn’t ever considered that might mean magic was real too.

It was pitch black. Trees lined both sides of the single-lane road which, combined with the car’s headlamps, turned the road into a tunnel through the dark. We drove for another few minutes up the hill. The road took a sharp turn around a switchback and then a red brick building came into view, lights blazing from the windows around the closed blinds.

Jack pulled up and parked along a line of cars at the side of the building, then turned off the car. “Last stop, everyone out.”

“Where’s this?” Emily asked sharply from the back seat.

“A safe space, like I said.” Jack got out of the car. “Come with me. Both of you.”

I got out, walked around the car, and stood near the trunk. Jack got out and opened the driver’s-side rear door to help Emily out. She shook, leaning heavily on his arm.

“The first transformation is always the hardest,” Jack said, shutting her door behind her. He nodded his head to me and said, “After you.”

I shrugged and walked around the building to the front door. Jack and Emily stumbled along more slowly behind me. The unmarked doors were made of thick steel. I tugged on them, but they didn’t budge.

A speaker next to the door buzzed and a crackly voice asked, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Jack brought me,” I said, glancing around until I spotted a camera above the speaker.

“He’s with me,” Jack said as he and Emily came up the steps behind me.

The door pinged and the lock clicked open. I pulled the handle and held it open, waiting while Jack half-carried Emily through, then followed them inside.

A young man looked up from the receptionist desk. A screen to the side of him showed a view of the front porch. “Jack, took you long enough. You call in late, then one fox call that should have been an hour job at most takes you all night, and then you come back with two people? Boss is pissed. She wants to see you, now. Hope you have a good explanation for it all.”

Jack sighed and nodded to the man. “All right, let me just get these two settled first, Dave.”

Dave shrugged and spun to the side, bending over and going back to watch his monitors.

“This way.” Jack pushed through a swinging door on the wall to the left of the reception desk, carrying Emily with him. I followed him.

This room was set up like a living room, with a couch against the far wall that was flanked by two plush reclining chairs, and a small coffee table in front of them. The wall opposite the setup had a counter with dorm-sized fridge and a coffee station. Another door exited the other side.

Jack set Emily down on the couch, and I sat on one of the chairs. Jack went over to the fridge and pulled out two Gatorade bottles. “Drink those.”

He tossed one each to Emily and me. Like earlier, time seemed to slow as the bottle flew towards me. I caught it easily, twisted the cap off, and took a big swig. This one was also like drinking rotten fruit. I gagged and almost spit it out.

“Nasty. This is the same, awful flavor you gave me in the car.” I made a face and looked at the label. “What the? This is my favorite flavor, or at least it was.” I made a face and put the cap back on.

“I know it tastes bad now in your new state, but drink it. The nutrients will help hold off your thirst.”

Jack turned to leave back the way we’d come, but then glanced at the clock on the wall above the couch and cursed. “No, wait, we don’t have time. Emily, you wait here. Everett, you come with me.”

Sighing, I stood up. Emily still looked scared, her eyes still red-rimmed yet dry, but she nodded. Jack turned around and went over to the other door out of the room, pulled out a key, and unlocked it.

“This way.”

“Why’s it locked?” The room on the other side was tiny, more of a hallway than a room. Two doors were on the far wall opposite the one we’d come through, and a third door was to the right.

“More to protect the people in the waiting room from wandering in here than anything. In here.” Jack unlocked the leftmost door and opened it, gesturing inside.

The room, more like a closet, had two camping bunks with trunks pushed underneath, a rickety old wooden nightstand between them, and nothing else. Not even any windows.

I sighed and glumly contemplated the cots. “Really? Camping bunks? I thought vampires slept in coffins.”

“Nothing is stopping you if you want to get one, but other vampires will make fun of you.” Jack put a comforting hand on my shoulder. My heart jumped into my throat at his touch, warm and comforting. “I know it’s not much. If I’d had more time I could have gotten you put up in one of our safe houses, but it’ll have to do for tonight.”

“It’s—it’s fine,” I stuttered over my words as his hand slid off my shoulder. I sidled further into the room and turned to face Jack. The events of the night were starting to catch up to me and hugged myself tightly, closing my eyes to stop the tears that I could feel threatening me.

Jack stepped closer, bending over and wrapping his arms around me in a loose hug. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.”

“Thank you. But what now?” I stifled a sob and hugged him back, overwhelmed by the events of the night. He was warm, and I could hear his heartbeat pounding loudly near my face. My senses seemed sharper, my hearing better—or I was imagining also being able to feel each beat of his pulse against my face and arms.

“You are going to stay in here and get some rest. I’m going to go talk to my boss.” Jack’s arms squeezed me briefly, and then he let go. He put a hand on my cheek, giving me a sad smile that I couldn’t read before stepping back. I missed his comforting warmth already, and had to stop myself from trailing after him.

“And in the morning?” I asked, grabbing my arms with my hands to keep from reaching for him again.

A corner of Jack’s mouth twitched. I realized what I’d said and blushed.

“Vampires don’t really do mornings. I’ll be back for you this evening, and we’ll talk about next steps then.” Jack started to close the door. “Oh, there are sheets and pillows in the trunks under the beds. Don’t leave this room until I come to get you. The sun comes up soon, and this room is light-proofed.”

Jack closed the door, and the lock clicked.

I made the bed, got undressed, and lay down. I twisted and turned on the uncomfortable camp cot, trying to get to sleep. I was so thirsty it hurt. Choking down the rest of that Gatorade hadn’t helped much, or at least not as much as the first one had.

For a while I lay there, eyes closed, concentrating on feeling the sunrise, but I didn’t feel anything except my dry throat and rumbling stomach.

With the lights shut off and no windows, it was pitch black in here— not even stray light from under the door—but then Jack had said this room had been light-proofed. Sighing and unable to sleep, I pulled the amulet out of my pocket and began idly turning it around in my hands. I drifted off as I rubbed the face of the amulet.

[pickleslice]

oh my god i was so pissed bc the entire freeway was closed it was just like a billion cop cars and a bunch of fire trucks i thought there must have been a huge accident but they actually closed the entire southbound side at 8 in the morning because some random cop died and we're all supposed to care about that

[sfmuniphotos]

A southbound Caltrain train crosses 16th Street under the elevated freeway.

[truecrimepromiseversion2]

Disappearance of Robin Graham

Robin Graham circa 1970 (The Doe Network)

Age progression of Robin Graham by Wesley Neville to an unknown age (The Doe Network)

A image of a Light Blue Corvette hardtop (Charley Project)

Robin Graham

Physical Description

Full Name: Robin Ann Graham

Date of Birth: June 22, 1952

Race/Ethnicity: White/Caucasian

Sex: Female

Height: 5′6″ (66 inches) (167.64 cm)

Weight: 125 lbs (56.69 kg)

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Nicknames/Aliases: Unknown

Distinguishing Characteristics

No official description known

Family

Mother

Father

Misc. Info

Robin was a student at Pierce College

Employed part-time at Pier One Imports

Case Information

Age at Disappearance: 18 (70 if still alive as of May 4, 2023)

Missing Since: November 14, 1970 (Missing for 52 years as of May 4, 2023)

Location Last Seen: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA

Location Last Seen at on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/34%C2%B005'17.0%22N+118%C2%B017'47.4%22W/@34.0880507,-118.2965121,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d34.0880507!4d-118.2965121

Cass Classification: Endangered Missing

Dentals: Available

Fingerprints: Unknown

DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Effects

Red blouse

Blue jeans

Red clog shoes

Dark blue corduroy jacket

Circumstances of Disappearance

Robin had dropped off her car at Pier One and left the store in her boyfriend’s car for the evening. The vehicle would eventually stalled on the southbound on the Hollywood Freeway near Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles around 2:00 am. Robin called her parents and asked them pick her up. A California Highway patrol officer would later see standing next to her disabled car and went over to ask if she needed assistance but she told him that her parents are coming to help her. When the officer came by later, he said he said an unidentified man was talking to Robin and helped Graham start her car and they rode off together in his car which was parked behind her car with with officer claiming that there were no signs of distress from Robin. When Robin’s parents showed up, they found only her car locked and abandoned. She was never seen or heard again

Suspects/Person of Interests

Unknown Man

Age Approximation: Mid Twenties

Race/Ethnicity: White/Caucasian

Sex: Male

Height Approximation: 5′8″ (68 inches) (172.72 cm)

Clothing & Personal Effects

Bell-bottom trousers

White Turtleneck

Vehicle Description

Corvette Hartdtop

Year: 1957 - 1960

Color: Primed Light Blue

Bruce Davis

Misc. Info

When Los Angeles Times did a story on Robin’s disappearance, a woman contact Robin’s letters through a letter saying that when car stalled on the road a man driving a Corvette came over and claimed to be a off-duty police detective and offered her a ride. She refused his offer. She would later identified him as Bruce Davis.

Bruce was one of many person suspected to be the Zodiac Killer

It is unknown if Bruce was the same person that was last seen with Robin

Zodiac Killer

Robin disappeared during a full moon which is when the Zodiac Killer liked to strike

Unidentified Person Exclusions (NamUs)

https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/32285/investigations (13)

Contact Information/Investigating Agencies/Contact Agencies

Los Angeles Police Department

Agency Case Number: DR70687411

Agency Contact Personal: Adult Missing Persons Unit

Agency Phone Numbers

877-275-5273

213-996-1800

213-485-5381

Agency Email Address: missingpersons@lapd.lacity.org

NamUs

Agency Case Number: #MP32285

Agency Contact Personal: Regional Program Specialist Allison O’Neal

Agency Phone Number: 817-372-4169

Agency Email Address: aoneal@rti.org

National Crime Information Center

M-678004778

Sources/Further Information/Places of Interest

https://charleyproject.org/case/robin-ann-graham

https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/32285/details

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/980dfca.html

https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/robin-ann-graham

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/ca-robin-graham-18-los-angeles-14-nov-1970.17424/

[whatsabriard]

Another flufftober prompt. 5 double drabbles about freeway.

~ animal shelter ~

It all began with a box. 

Damp and dented, left on the shoulder of the southbound 101. They were on their way to a double header at Dodger Stadium and in a brief but grueling bottleneck, Jennifer spotted the abandoned cardboard that kept swaying.

“Hey!” Max’s gravelly shout followed as she bent down and retrieved the contents, returning to the backseat of the silver Bentley with something cradled in her arms. “Jeez, Mrs H!”

Jonathan hadn’t even had much of a chance to move, too startled by her quick flight and equally quick return. He might have been stunned into silence, but the angry drivers in front of them weren’t as they laid on their horns. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Max wagged his cigar out the window, a gesture of appeasement, and rolled the car forward. The jam, it seemed, had cleared.

“Darling?” Jonathan tapped at his wife’s shoulder, which was hunched over the bundle in her arms. She was cooing sweetly to what looked like a damp wad of dirty hair.

When she finally looked up at him, her amber eyes were dazzling. The lump of hair moved and turned wide, dark eyes on Jonathan.

“Oh, darling, it’s a puppy!”

~*~

“Homer.” 

“Like the philosopher?” Jennifer held the puppy up, still damp from the marginally successful bath they’d given him in the sink. “Seems a bit much for such a little guy.”

“No. Like in baseball…a homer. Home run.” 

“Oh, that’s clever.” Jennifer considered. “Dodger?”

“What about Buckner? Oh! Or Asta!”

“Whatever you do, don’t name him Max.” A gravelly voice piped up behind them. 

“Spot?” Jennifer’s wrinkled nose and quick headshake was echoed by Max’s harumph behind them.

Jonathan carefully took the puppy, still watching them with a docile gaze, from Jennifer and curled the little body against his chest. A wet nose pressed into Jonathan’s throat and he felt his eyes sting just a bit. 

“Who would do such a thing?” Jennifer reached out to pat the little head, which was snuggled against Jonathan’s polo. “Just abandon such a small baby on the freeway.”

The tiny little tail, which had been hanging limply, began to sway tentatively.

“Oh! Freeway?” Jonathan hefted the small body up so they could look eye to eye.

“Freeway? Is that your name baby? Freeway?”  The wag grew in intensity and Freeway’s tiny pink tongue appeared to lap enthusiastically at Jonathan’s cheek.

“Welcome home, Freeway.”

~*~

“But Darling, these are my favorite socks.” Jonathan sat on the bed, the aforementioned dress sock held in his hands. A newly developed hole had appeared right over the big toe, something that had not been there when he’d taken it off the night before. 

Jennifer appeared back in the room, wrapping her hair in a towel, the offending criminal hot on her heels. 

“Freeway…” Jonathan warned and Jennifer balked. 

“He’s just a baby, darling. Don’t be angry with him.”

“I loved these socks.” He shook the sock in Freeway’s direction, and the little scamp bounced and caught it in his razor sharp teeth. “Should have named him Jaws.”

“Next time you’ll need to remember that when you leave your clothes on the floor.”

He caught her as she moved past, his nimble fingers snagging at the terry cloth wrapped around her and dropping it.

“And who’s fault is that?” He asked, pulling her laughing, naked form into his lap. He didn’t wait for an answer, instead allowing his lips to chase their favorite trail from her cheek, to her clavicle and beyond. 

Neither noticed Freeway pushing his way through the slightly ajar down, two socks trailing from his mouth. 

~*~

They bartered with the tiny, talented burglar, exchanging toys for shoes, ties and other items that were stolen and held for ransom around the house.

About once a week, Max would find a cache of stolen goods that Freeway had secreted away to what became a series of hideout locations. 

A Gucci loafer. An Italian silk tie. The racing form. And, an embarrassing number of times, a random pair of underwear. Jonathan and Max had snickered like children at the lacy pair under the couch… until Jennifer reminded them both that it hadn’t actually been Freeway (for once), giving her husband an arch look.  

Nonetheless, the thief was unrepentant and would strike again at his earliest convenience. After the sock incident, he never destroyed anything, just hoarded it all like treasures. 

To the one, Jonathan, Jennifer and Max tried to discipline him. But he would look up at them through the furrow of his eyebrows, his meltingly warm eyes, blink lovingly and bring them a ratty old toy as a peace offering. The the one, they all gave in like marshmallows.

It was his gift, the little grifter, and at the end of the day they loved him for it.

~*~

They hadn’t gone looking for a dog, but Freeway found them anyhow. 

It seemed to happen that way for them. 

The way a grumpy, gravelly man found a scruffy, diamond-in-the-rough boy and helped him grow into a man. The way that same successful man stumbled head over heels for a driven, feisty reporter who’d fallen just as hard, just as fast.

Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was kismet.

They sat in the living room, the fire crackling merrily, the little dog tucked between them. Max puttered behind them, fussing and cleaning before agreeing to sit, too, and taking a sip of the toddies he’d made up for all of them.

Jennifer’s head was nestled against Jonathan’s shoulder and their hands brushed occasionally as they patted the puppy between them, content to have the ones they loved nearby.

“We really are lucky,” Jennifer spoke into the quiet of the evening, her voice languid. ‘To have found each other. You know that?”

“Yeah, Mrs H. We really are.”

“Yes, darling.”

And a happy little wuff from the warm bundle between them.

It was unanimous. 

Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was kismet.

But for Freeway, it all began with a box.

~fin~

[sunflowrdyke]

hello!! i found you from the notes of that i5 union freeway exit video post BUT i'd really like to hear you talk about freeway interchanges if you'd like to !! i've been watching far too many city infrastructure videos about roads and things lately and it's becoming a big interest in the back of my brain. i don't have any questions in particular so ?? idk?? free post to ramble at me about freeway interchanges ala your description ｡◕‿◕｡

I FORGOT TO REPLY TO THIS. i would like to talk about the stretch of i-15 that goes through my hometown of bountiful, utah, because it is home to two very unique interchanges

first is the 5th south, which isn't all that special, but it's still nice to have around-- a standard diverging diamond. the thing that makes this one special is the fact that it's actually calibrated properly and it's possible to drive through it without getting stuck in the middle.

the placement on a high-volume-but-not-overwhelmingly-busy collector and a decently-busy-but-not-horrific area of the highway makes it actually easy to navigate, unlike most of the other diverging diamonds i've experienced in my (albeit short) time driving (henderson nevada ddi wants me DEAD and immediately after i posted this my ex roommate informed me that he got in a crash on it).

the second is probably my favorite interchange, like, ever. 5th west, less than a mile north of this. it's a left exit southbound and an extremely smooth northbound entrance, merging i-15 with what used to be utah route 89.

the only downsides with this are the standard "why the hell do you have a left exit on an area of highway with an HOV lane" complaints and the northbound exit/southbound entrance, which are pictured below. they're reminiscent of a standard diamond with nice individual turning lanes on the offramp onto another busy-but-not-horrible arterial. 4th north westbound leads into a bit of a suburb, so most of the traffic on this bridge is for the highway.

getting on northbound is a nearly seamless experience, and getting off southbound is the same-- in most cases you don't even have to stop until you hit the light at 4th north, which leaves a good 1000 feet to slow down from 70 to 40. there is a light on that little road by the country inn, but there's a flasher on the off ramp to warn if it's yellow/red to prevent people blowing through it.

bountiful is home to some unusual traffic decisions, but to be honest, i appreciate most of it. the utah DOT works their ass off every day to keep our roads as safe as possible, and they did a good job here in my opinion.

[gabrieldespinoza]

Motorcyclist Injured in Saturday morning Collision on southbound I-15 near Oak Hill Road

OAK HILLS, Calif. (VVNG.com) — A multi-vehicle traffic accident involving a motorcycle caused major delays on the southbound I-15 freeway Saturday morning. The incident, which occurred in heavy fog, happened on May 18, 2024, at about 7:46 am, south of Oak Hill Road, and resulted in the motorcycle rider sustaining major injuries. Initial reports indicated that several vehicles, including a black…