Farewell to 2020! Hello to 2021!

We want to thank our fans and readers of Gribblenation for your support during the past year. 2020 has been a challenging year for most. While not everything we hoped to see or travel to went as planned, we made the most of it and still have a lot of fun exploring and sharing our stories with you.

Thank you for your continued support of our blog, our Facebook page (now with over 2000 likes!) and our Instagram account. It has been a great 2020, with such things like the recent addition of a new columnist Dan Murphy, who also runs the popular roadwaywiz channel on YouTube, learning about possible alternate routes for I-77 in Closing the Gap - How Interstate 77 in North Carolina and Virginia Came To Be, visited the glorified highway stopover in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, checking out some great drives in the Sierras, such as Horseshoe Meadows Road; former California State Route 190 and the legacy of the Lone Pine-Porterville High Sierra Road and Onion Valley Road; former California State Route 180 to Kearsarge Pass, explored the old Route 75 Tunnel in Ironton, Ohio, and was clinging to the edge of a cliff with a drive down the Storm King Highway.

What's on tap for 2021, you may ask? Given that a lot of what we wanted to do in 2020 never got off the ground, well, because it was 2020, we want to leave what we have planned for the next year as a surprise. We will leave you with a teaser that a podcast series is in development.

Once again, we wish you and yours a Happy New Year and a great year ahead! In the meanwhile, enjoy some great photos from Dan.

Update Log:
December 31, 2020: Added to gribblenation.org.

Comments

Yes, the color of your nearby fire hydrant matters...

...and here's why. You will find White, Red, Yellow and Violet colored fire hydrants pretty much everywhere. But there's a reason for this - and it's because of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). This association has issued guidelines for color coding standards for fire hydrants. These color codes from the body of the hydrant, top of the hydrant, and in some municipalities the outlet caps are designed to allow fire fighters to know what type of system, water flow rate (Gallons Per Minute or GPM), and level of water pressure. This guideline is known as NFPA 291 and is intended to be used universally throughout the United States. The NFPA guidelines are specific to the body and the top cap of the hydrant. If a hydrant is WHITE or YELLOW - it means that it is connected to a public/municipal water system. If a hydrant is RED - the hydrant is connected to a private system, typically a well. These are most common in rural or unincorporated areas

Legend of the Ridge Route; a history of crossing the mountains between the Los Angeles Basin and San Joaquin Valley from wagon trails to Interstates

Over the past two decades I've crossed the Interstate 5 corridor from Los Angeles north over the Sierra Pelona Mountains and Tehachapi Range to San Joaquin Valley what seems to be an immeasurable number of times. While Interstate 5 from Castaic Junction to Grapevine via Tejon Pass today is known to most as "The Grapevine" it occupies a corridor which has been traversed by numerous historic highways. The most notable of these highways is known as the "Ridge Route." This article is dedicated to the Ridge Route and the various highways that preceded it. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page. For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Ridge Route corridor introdution The Ridge Route as originally envisioned was a segment of highway which was completed in 1915 between the northern Los Angeles city limit

Establishing the numbering conventions of California's chargeable Interstates

The Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956 brought the Interstate Highway System into existence which would largely be constructed by Federal Highway Administration fund matching. The Interstate Highway System was deliberately numbered to run opposite the established conventions of the US Route System. While the Interstate Highway numbering conventions are now well established there was a period during the late 1950s where they were still being finalized. This blog examines the history of the establishing of the chargeable Interstate Highway route numbers in California. The above blog cover depicts the Interstate Highway route numbers requested by the Division of Highways in the Los Angeles area during November 1957. The establishment of the numbering conventions of California's chargeable Interstates The Interstate Highway System was not created in a vacuum by way of the passage of the 1956 Federal Highway Aid Act. The beginning of the Interstate Highway System can be found in the

Gribblenation

Search This Blog