One of the 2 winning tickets for the December 17th Megamillions drawing was sold at Jennifer’s Gift Shop in San Jose. The estimated annuity value of that winning ticket is 318 million dollars. Though it is mega random and the odds are truly against winning, eventually someone hits the right numbers. The jackpot that had reached $636 million has now reset to $15 million. The main megamillions site had briefly showed that next Friday’s jackpot had reached $950 million, nearing the billion dollar mark for a single lottery jackpot. But for now your just going to have to start your own company and hope your IPO goes well if you want to have a chance at a billion dollar jackpot. The other 318 million dollar winning ticket was sold in Atlanta, Georgia. That’s going to buy a lot of peaches.
Category Archives: Bay Area Travel
Smell of burning plastic fills Silicon Valley as a fire burns in Redwood City
You may have noticed a burning rubber/plastic smell permeating the air today in Silicon Valley. It’s coming from another fire at the Sims Metal Management recycling facility in Redwood City. The still air we’ve had here in the valley has let haze and pollution from incidents like this linger. A cold coming in tomorrow is expected to clear out the air.
Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 flight 214 from Seoul, Korea crash lands at SFO
A Boeing 777 undershot the runway landing at SFO from South Korea.
Passenger David Eun, a Samsung executive, tweeted this photo after exiting the downed aircraft. https://path.com/p/1lwrZb
This is what a Boeing 777 landing at SFO is supposed to look like:
SFO airport tweets that 2 runways are now open:
2 runways have reopened. Please check with your airlines for updated arrival and departure information.
Rare summer rain hits Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are experiencing a rare summer rain event. Though not likely to drop much appreciable rain, any rain is welcome here after an extremely dry winter.
Baja Fresh evicted and Jersey Mike’s Subs opens in Rivermark Santa Clara
Baja Fresh, the fast casual Mexican style eatery, closed down and is emptied of furniture at the Rivermark Santa Clara location. There is an eviction notice on the door dated June 11, 2013.
No word yet on what will replace Baja Fresh at Rivermark in Santa Clara, perhaps a Chipotle?
Update September 2013:
Yes, a Chipotle is moving in to the old Baja Fresh location at Rivermark. According to the banner “burritoification” is in progress. The old Baja Fresh interior has been completely ripped out and the Chipotle interior is being built from the ground up.
Update November 2013:
Burritofication is nearly complete. Chipotle’s Rivermark location is set for Thursday December 5th. See you there!
Across from the empty shell of Baja Fresh is the brand new Jersey Mike’s Subs.
Jersey Mike’s #43 Chipotle Cheese Steak can be had with steak or chicken, but if there’s chicken on your cheese steak sandwich, it’s not a cheese steak! It comes with grilled onions, peppers and chipotle mayo for a little kick.
And one other big change to the Rivermark Village, McDonald’s restaurant #26095 stopped serving soft serve ice cream cones and hot fudge sundaes. Their soft serve machine is gone. Is this a larger trend or just a one off for this particular McDonald’s location?
Rivermark Restaurant Update September 2013:
Chipotle is moving in to the space of the former Baja Fresh location in Rivermark Santa Clara. Interior consruction is ongoing.
And McDonald’s location #26095 is now closed! No reason was given and the only notification was a handwritten sign that just says “CLOSED”.
Quick trip to Portland, Oregon
Portland Oregon is just a short hop of a flight from Silicon Valley’s airport of SJC. Southwest has regular flights from SJC to PDX and Virgin America has direct flights from SFO to PDX.
There is much to see and do while in Portland and the town is so walk-able that no rental car is needed unless you want to venture further from town. Just take the TriMet MAX Red Line light rail train from the airport to your downtown hotel and you’re ready to explore.
Downtown Portland is full of great food, coffee and beer as well at tax free shopping.
Famous for the long standing food truck scene, Portland has many to offer.
Thai Basil is one of the few food trucks that may be open on Sunday.
One of the excellent coffee shops to try in PDX is Stumptown Coffee Roasters.
Of the many breweries in Portland, Deschutes Brewery has some of the best brews as well as excellent food.
When the sun rises on your last day in Portland, you’ll wish you had more time to explore and taste what this Pacific Northwest town has to offer.
While you’re at the PDX airport, you can pick up some Ripstop Rye Pils from Base Camp Brewery at the Made in Oregon store once you’re past security. Ripstop Rye Pils comes in an aluminum bottle reminiscent of an MSR fuel bottle. 
These bottles are ruggedly designed for camping, so they should do fine in your carry on bag.
San Francisco Zoo debuts new sumatran tiger cub!
The San Francisco Zoo has a new super cute resident, a baby sumatran tiger cub!
Proud tiger parents Larry and Leanne have yet to name their new cub.
The San Francisco Zoo has a page dedicated to the new tiger cub at this link.
Sumatran tigers have an estimated population in the wild of less than 400 tigers.
If you want to help the plight of these endangered animals, you can adopt a sumatran tiger.
If you aren’t into cute animals, perhaps you’d be more interested in the particle zoo.
For more cuteness check out this baby ostrich stampede:
Silicon Valley finally gets some rain
Cold arctic air from the Gulf of Alaska has descended on Silicon Valley and the Bay Area bringing rain, wind, and even some hail to the valley.
Virgin America launches new San Jose to Los Angeles route
Virgin America announced today that the innovative airline will begin flying direct flights between San Jose (SJC) and Los Angeles (LAX) airports. The SJC to LAX flights are scheduled to begin May 1st, 2013. This will be Virgin America’s first scheduled flight from the South Bay’s main international airport. Read the full press release from Virgin America here.
First rain of the season falls on Silicon Valley
A true sign winter is coming. The rain was heavy at times. Enough to wash the dust out of the air and make the roads slick.