I am planning for a road trip from Phoenix to Yosemite National Park this summer. What are the best scenic driving routes, and things to do there?
go up 395. Ridgecrest (seen any of a billion car commercials.. look at the mountains in the background) - Lone Pine (Have you seen Tremors? High Sierra? Lone Ranger TV series?) A great steak restaurant - Independence, Big Pine, Bishop - more towns along the way. Mammoth isn’t far off 395 if you’re looking for a place to stay and/or eat. Turn left at Lee Vining, after checking out the Tufa Towers at Mono Lake (Pink Floyd “wish you were here” cover art?). Head up the Tioga Rd through Tioga Pass (just opened a couple of weeks ago, lots of snow this year). Tuolumne Meadows is unique (largest alpine meadows in the world, fabulous granite domes for climbing). Eventually, you wind up down in the Yosemite Valley - I’m not a huge fan of the valley in summer, it’s hot, it’s crowded. This year, there will be plenty of water in the various falls.If you can get reservations at Tuolumne Meadows High Sierra Camp (tent cabins) that’s a lot of fun. If you have some time, you can hike a day up to other High Sierra Camps (Vogelsang and Glen Aulin are both a nice day’s hike from Tuolumne)If you’re camping, get in line at Tuolumne Meadows campground at about 4–5 AM and you’ll likely get a spot, mid week might be even easier.Lots of ranger naturalist led activities all over the park (the schedule is online somewhere.. try Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service))Tenaya Lake is wonderful - nice picnic area, a bit cold for swimming (esp this year.)Down in the valley - hike up the Mist Trail to the bottom (or top) of Vernal falls. Less ambitious is hiking to the base of Yosemite falls or Bridalveil. More ambitious would be taking the 4-mile trail from the valley up to Glacier Point (Teddy Roosevelt did it with John Muir, you can too). If you can get a reservation, and you’re real ambitious, you can climb Half Dome.The Ahwahnee hotel is classic.
Can you drive a ride-on lawnmower on a public street? Why or why not?
Generally no. If you are mowing your yard and you need to pull out onto the roadway to turn around then you almost certainly will not be cited by a police officer. But if you get hit by a vehicle while you are on the roadway then it will probably be your fault. Also for what it’s worth moving the grass next to the roadway is considered being on the right of way. Now if you want to ride the mower to the store and get a gallon of milk then the answer is no. As a side note I will throw in that if you are drunk and driving a lawnmower, in your yard or going down the street then you are considered DUI and can be arrested. I’ve never heard of anyone being arrested for being drunk and mowing their yard, but sooner or later strange things do happen. PS this is for Illinois USA.
What is American dream?
Immigrants to America, especially during the industrial era, came from countries where regardless of their work and effort, they were still starving and poor. The idea of the American Dream is that you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. That in America, anyone can own property, start a business, educate their children, etc. If you work hard and want it bad enough, you can rise higher and higher. Whether that means having all the things you mentioned, or just having a decent home and taking a vacation once in a while without having to file bankruptcy in the process.
What is the average cost to have Cruise Control installed on a newer model car?
Aftermarket cruise control units used to be fairly easy to find at any good autoparts store, but that option is rapidly closing, as most every new car built in the last 20 years is almost always already equipped with cruise control. In all seriousness if your current vehicle does not have cruise control live with it, until you can afford to replace that vehicle with one so equipped. I currently have three cars all with cruise control but the traffic is so constant where I live, I rarely have occasion to use it.