Life is a Highway: Lab 1

As this is my first Geography blog, it seems only fitting that I post some maps that represent important parts of my life.  Hope this helps you learn a little bit more about me!

 
Of course, I have to showcase my hometown: Orange County, CA.  I've lived in Orange County my entire life (aside from my time at UCLA) and have not spent all too much time away.  For the last ten years, my family has lived in Tustin, a relatively small city where the 5 and 55 freeways intersect.  As you can see, Tustin is fairly centrally located and within about twenty miles from popular OC attractions such as Disneyland (found just off the 5 freeway in Anaheim) and the beach.  I found this particular map on the online OC Almanac, with the title "Orange County and Communities." The title of the map is interesting, specifically the use of "and."  Rather than describe "Communities of Orange County," the almanac chose to include the "and" which, I think, is indicative of the various communities in the county.  As seen on the map, each is bordered with very defined, often rigid boundaries, and a distinct "feel" of the community is often confined within those boundaries.  For example, despite their contiguity, the impeccably neat and constantly building city of Irvine is drastically different than sections of the older, lower-class city of Santa Ana.  In addition to the transparency of the title, the map also shows several important aspects of the OC.  For example, the map shows the abounding presence of freeways throughout the country.  As you will notice, however, Orange County is dominated by smaller freeways, rather than larger interstates.  This certainly makes driving in Orange County much more pleasant than driving in Los Angeles.  Also, I like how the map shows the borders of the county and how it is surrounded by four, much larger, independent counties.  Finally, I like this map because it shows how many cities there are in the county.  Often times, Orange County can feel very small, but this map nicely shows its extent.  My only critique of the map is the color-coding they chose for the different cities. While this distinguishes one from the next, I wish there was some kind of explained reasoning.
(Found: The Online Orange County Almanac - http://www.ocalmanac.com/Geography/ge30a.htm)

If you really want to learn about me, then you'll have to know that I love all things Disney.  Living in Orange County, I have been fortunate to be a Disneyland Annual Pass holder for most of my life.  Throughout high school, Disneyland was the place my friends and I would go to relieve stress from school and just have a fun time.  In college, I do not get the opportunity to frequent Disneyland as often, but I still try to go, just to get a piece of that Disneyland magic.  I found this map on chipandco.com, a website dedicated to new happenings of Disney and Disneyland. While I like this map for nostalgic reasons, there are other aspects of it which I love.  I think the color choice and animated style of the map is visually appealing, a great way to showcase the vivacity of the park.  I like how the map uses numbers to designate restaurants, shops, and other amenities in the park - this allows tourists to easily find what they are looking for.  I also like how many of the rides, and their designated lands, are depicted in the map.  These pictures give first-time park goers foresight about the nature and location of the rides, allowing them to plan accordingly. (From: Chip &Company - chipandco.com)

 

The last map I'm posting today is one I have created myself using Google Maps.  This journey shows the distance I traveled to attend the first UCLA football game of the 2010 season against Kansas State.  Now that you know I'm from Orange County and that I love Disneyland, you're about to find out how much I love UCLA and its football team.  The incredible school spirit of UCLA attracted me to the campus, and I am proud to say that I am a Bruin who shares this passion for all things blue and gold.  As you can see on the map, we began our adventure from Los Angeles and drove out to Kansas City, MO.  We made several stops along the way and took five days to drive to Manhattan, KS to see the game.  From there, we drove to Kansas City, stopped for the night, and then made our way back home.  This map shows the extent of our journey, and, if the scale were visible, would be able to show how many miles we traveled during the trip (it was about 3500).  My favorite part of this map is that it shows how many states we traveled through.  Over the course of a week, we crossed through ten different states, eight of which I hadn't before seen.  This map also shows the forests and mountains we passed through, showing the various types of scenery we encountered. Finally, the map shows the major cities we stopped in, including Las Vegas, Denver, and Kansas City. 

(From: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=424+Veteran+Avenue,+Los+Angeles,+CA&daddr=Kansas+City,+MO+to:Amarillo,+TX+to:424+Veteran+Avenue,+Los+Angeles,+CA&geocode=FbrbBwIdk4Xw-CnTvjYOkbzCgDHhsIuwCOJcyA%3BFU6dVAIdedhc-imXmemvXvfAhzGiUapq5iWFVQ%3BFe1xGQIdfy3u-SkDz0Wy1EgBhzGv0jZoHNHz0A%3BFbrbBwIdk4Xw-CnTvjYOkbzCgDHhsIuwCOJcyA&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=36.890635,-106.5138&sspn=25.24614,39.506836&ie=UTF8&ll=36.208823,-104.106445&spn=25.459112,39.506836&z=5&layer=c&pw=2)