Three Rivers Region

[calibanX]

Congratulations Joan. That's a wonderful tribute to your hard work and your generosity.

On another note, Once in a great while I notice something for the first time that's been sitting in plain view all along. Three Rivers has been my neighbor for quite a few years now. I've only just taken notice. Thanks for the lovely park David. Three Rivers has some of the best outdoor entertainment mother nature offers.

These pictures were taken of the signage only yards from my home.





Take care.

Geoff

[j-dub]

I got to say the one thing that bothers me when converting rails to trails is when they get rid of the crossing gate, it would of made it safer, and not as long to cross the main thoroughfare had they not taken these down, but only typical people do not have those ethics to make such corrections before the cost of one's life. By law your suppose to stop when someone sets out into the crosswalk, so that means even on a 55mph road STOP for the bicycles to cross! However, 9/10 out of the times, no one does. One of the arguments is when they put stop signs facing the trail/sidewalk, or when a ped is crossing the red hand does not change for them while the lights green, but turning traffic will continue while someone is out in the crosswalk.

However, I was on my bike at a rail road crossing, the trail had gates, I stopped, but this woman went around the gate in her SUV, and got stuck. I never saw this outside on my own feet before. The engineer was laying on the steam horn, if you can hear a train horn in your house 10 miles away, I was 15 feet or so from the tracks, and all I can tell you, after the train passed, the SUV did not cross, and I don't even know where the driver was afterward.

It would be nice if someone could use such safety devices for the regional trails, but considering the red light / stop sign runners already, and broken crossing gates, I would say there is nothing that will prevent typical drivers from giving way. In fact I almost got hit by a typical driver at 55mph when I was turning, the light already was yellow after I got through, but they sped up in a 45 like they were purposely trying to hit me, and they blew the red light long after 5 seconds, when I already got to the parking lot. The worst part is, this was by a school x-ing that is heavily used.

So I hope other states have the brains not to get rid of the crossing signals where the tracks used to be when replacing rails for trails, don't do the same as the state of Ill. The very least, put a cement median you can safely walk across the road/blvd if you do not want to put up a traffic control device.

[girlfromverona]

Wow - lots to catch up on! I started a new job a couple of weeks back and haven't had a chance to pop in here since then. Love how the RealRoads are coming along, David! I don't think I'm gonna be able to beta test them for you though, sorry, as I don't have a lot of free time right now (apart from the new job, we're also moving house next week). But I am looking forward to getting them in my game... when I get some time to actually play! 

[GMT]

Heh!  This is fun!

Ryan's (Ryan B.) last guess about the list [linkie] is the closest so far.  Think back to what we've done in the past here around this time of year- someone will get it right shortly, I'm sure.  Another little hint: Maarten (mrtnrln) is right, but only in a general sense.  Jordan's (canyonjumper) observation also provides a clue (don't worry, Jordan, there's an assured place on a list in your future, too).

* * *

Torben! (GMT)  My great lurker friend!  It is so good to see your nic here at 3RR again [linkie].

Happy birthday to 3RR Regular^* ebina, Transit God par excellence.  May the coming year be a great one!

* * *

Much more later today- long weekend, too.


David

^* If you've posted at least once here, over at 3RR-ST or on the 3RR Blog, you are a 3RR Regular.

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gooooood god. guess it took me another year to post once more... damn David, I should really go get a grip sometime soon 

[mightygoose]

gooooood god. guess it took me another year to post once more... damn David, I should really go get a grip sometime soon 

while your here, what is it that has been coming soon for so long....

[Korot]

while your here, what is it that has been coming soon for so long....

The 3RR collaboration project?

Regards,
Korot

[GMT]

while your here, what is it that has been coming soon for so long....

I think you're talking about my signature...
a cj im still working on every now and then, whenever RL allows it, which is more or less never thanks to my academic studies 

[JBSimio]

I have a little confession to make, David.  In my early days of lurking here at 3RR, I often found myself frustrated with the lack of ingame pictures.  It's not that I disliked any of the things you were doing or showing, but I wanted to see you play, darn it!

Obviously, I figured out the real point a while ago (probably about the time I became a 3RR Regular*) but the last couple updates in particular have really demonstrated something special.  The rail trail pictures are great.  I really love the two bridges, especially the stone arch picture.  Where do you find all these images anyway?  You seem to have a little something for any and all occasions.  I could probably babble a little longer... but I think I'll just go back and stare at the pictures again instead.

Great stuff as always, my friend!
JB

*A 3RR Regular, like myself and countless others, is anyone who has ever posted here, over at 3RR-ST, or on the 3RR blog... for those who haven't gotten that part down just yet 

[GMT]

[...]
Where do you find all these images anyway?  You seem to have a little something for any and all occasions. 
[...]

Thats exactly what I'm thinking every time I see these  (sometimes more, sometimes less) awesome scenic pictures that kind of always fit into the context they're presented in. 

[WC_EEND]

Thats exactly what I'm thinking every time I see these  (sometimes more, sometimes less) awesome scenic pictures that kind of always fit into the context they're presented in. 

Well, while we're on the subject: I think exactly the same every time I see those images in 3RR.

[just_a_guy]

^^^Same here. But no matter where they're from, they always make a pleasant read.

[threestooges]

Where do you find all these images anyway?  You seem to have a little something for any and all occasions.

I know his source for some of them, like the roadhouse, so I can only imagine he has a collection of his own to draw from, but I'll second this question. Inquiriing minds and all.
-Matt

EDIT:  I'll post tomorrow morning about this during a four hour layover in Seattle and reveal one of 3RR's deepest secrets- heh...  Maybe, anyway. -DE

[dedgren]

3RR's on the road tonight from Ted Stevens International Airport, the only airport in the world as far as I know named in honor of an ex-convicted felon ex-United States senator [linkie].



The airport underwent a complete remodel that was finished up a couple of years ago.  It is probably one of the nicest looking airports in the country, and it has free no-nag wi-fi to boot.

We'll be in Austin, Texas for the next ten days visiting with Tristen and Josh.  I think I'll wait until I'm back home to go pick up those hard to find tax forms [linkie].

* * *

Got a few minutes left today to say happy birthday to 3RR Regular^* jpj_starfleet.  Hope your day was a great one, my friend.


David

^* jpj_starfleet is a 3RR Regular, and so are you if you've posted here, or over at 3RR-ST or the 3RR Blog, at least once. 

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[ecoba]

That does look like a lovely airport, David. I hope you have a good time in Austin.

Ethan

[Ryan B.]

Safe travels - and I hope Tristen & Josh are doing all right as well!   

[JBSimio]

Have a safe and successful trip, David!  If you're taking your usual route, be sure to wave when you pass over Sonoma County 

JB

[dedgren]

If it's Friday, this must be Sea-Tac.







A little less than three and a half hours from Anchorage, flying from there to Seattle, like Treebeard [linkie] said (in the movie, anyway), has always felt like going downhill.

Free wi-fi here now!  One nag screen, but no mandatory watching a commercial or anything.  I'm impressed, because my wireless modem was always dodgy here.

About two hours before boarding for Austin- it's lightened up considerably outside since I started this post.  The weather in was very clear, and we watched to see if we were flying over Vancouver and the Winter Olympics, but I'm pretty sure we flew over Victoria, B.C. to the west instead.

* * *

Now, the dirty secret part.  Several folks have noted the pics I use to document and show off the various 3RR places we visit.  Our great friend Matt (threestooges) correctly alludes in his post to the source of many of the images- I am an unrecovered photoholic.  I carry a camera and I'm not afraid to use it.  It drives Heather bats sometimes- she's trying to get us somewhere and I'm off somewhere behind fiddling with a lens setting or a filter.  The advent of digital cameras was the only thing, I'm sure, that saved me from winding up in the poorhouse- I hate to think of how much money I have tied up in the boxes... big boxes... of slides I shot between about 1975 and the late 1990s, when I bought that first digital picture taker.

If I don't have a pic I want at the time I conceive of a post, I go looking on the web.  The Internet has millions, I'm sure, of copyright free pics that have been posted in the past 15 years or so.  I've found governmental websites a great source- those are your tax dollars at work that generally provide the pics, although sometimes government sites will post copyrighted images.  My motto is "no notice, fair game."  I have a list of literally hundreds of these sites I've developed in 3RR's coming up on four years of operation.  I want campsites with a lake in the background?  Generally I can navigate to right what I'm looking for in just a few minutes.

Then there are the sites put up by private businesses, organizations and just plain folks that do not contain a copyright notice.  If I find a pic that clearly should be attributed, I generally note that information, but most non-copyrighted sites in my experience do not contain that information.  If I think the site itself should be credited, I do that.  If I ever am faced with a "should I use that?" issue based on feeling like I might be unfairly incorporating someone else's work, I try to err on the side of looking for the kind of image I want somewhere else.  I'm rarely stymied.  When I see something I absolutely feel like is the only thing that will work, I will communicate by email with the person or folks who created the website to ask permission.  I tell people that 3RR is, in effect, a fictional place that they somehow obtained a picture of and posted on their site, and could I please use it?  I have never been turned down, and have received a number of nice notes from folks over the years afterwards indicating that they enjoyed reading the post the pic was used in.  If you see a note under the pic saying something like "all rights reserved in..." it is likely because of a situation where I have contacted someone and obtained permission.

There's a degree of secondary posting of pics that are copyrighted on websites I am unaware of when I first find the image.  I have found pics that appear without attribution and with no accompanying notice on a site later on sites where there are attribution and/or copyright warnings.  When this happens, I contact the person or organization involved, note the situation, explain what I am doing, and wait.  I've been told everything from "no problem- good luck" to "take that pic off 3RR yesterday."  Some of you may have noticed that, from time to time, pics in past posts change without warning or explanation.  Now you know why.  If I have a question in my mind about using a copyrighted pic, or for that matter, other info that is similarly restricted, I just don't use it.

I used to keep a log of the websites where I obtained pics from, but lost it to file corruption at some point.  I probably should start doing this again, even though it would be incomplete.  I note that even though it adds to the time it takes to put any particular 3RR post together, I have no desire to benefit from someone else's work, just as I would be unhappy if I found someone taking things from 3RR and passing them off as their own.  I'll also note that ImageShack and other image hosting sites forbid the uploading of copyrighted material.  With over 8,000 images hosted there, I don't want to get on anyone's bad side.

One final note- I am asked from time to time about the use generally of pics of cartoon characters, movie stars and public figures that appear with some frequency on 3RR and elsewhere on the web.  These are clearly copyrighted images.



I take the position that any such use, at least here, falls under the fair use exception [linkie] to the copyright law and rules.  This is not meant to be a seminar on intellectual property law, and I'm probably wrong anyway, but I don't think this sort of use interferes in any way with the rights and benefits in the original creation of, as is the case here, Warner Bros. [linkie].

And I bet you thought I was going to tell you 3RR is real.

...well, it's as real as any other place you've never been...

Later, from Austin.


David

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[WC_EEND]

Well that's a dissapointment, I was really hoping 3RR was real.
Now, thanks for the elaboration about those pictures, as those RL pictures really help shaping the whole atmosphere of 3RR.

on a side note: I've found myself posting here more and more often whereas used to lurk most of the time.

Xander

[mightygoose]

well as to the debated existence of 3RR i will reraise my point that many people don't believe Idaho [linkie] exists, nor Wyoming [linkie].

and in fact my own MD will eventually head down this road, so i think David has a point, it is as real as place you haven't been to.

[dedgren]

Traveling does have its rewards.

...no, that one's not in 3RR...



I will never climb 14,411 foot/4,392 meter tall Mount Rainier [linkie].  That's just the way my life has worked out.  I don't cry over the stuff I'm going to miss, I just cherish the things I didn't.

Friday morning, though, I came about as close to standing on top of Rainier as you can get with your shoes off.



They must have just washed the plane.  It is hard to believe that there's a half-inch/1.3 centimeters of aircraft-grade acrylic just past the end of my lens.



The view was just jaw-dropping for over five minutes.



Finally the mountain began to recede behind the plane.  It's pretty apparent why Mount Rainier is justly viewed as one of the most beautiful peaks in the world.




David

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