You had me at Toad Tunnel

As of right now, I am planning on living in Davis, Cali., which is about a 10 minute drive from West Sacramento (home to the Sacramento River Cats, a 'AAA' club I hope to spend a majority of my time covering).

While it is still not official -I'm waiting to hear from a potential roommate-- I have taken it upon myself to check out what Davis has to offer (other than UC Davis). I jumped on Wikipedia to research the city and found this nugget of joy:

Toad Tunnel
"Davis' Toad Tunnel is a wildlife crossing that was constructed in 1995 and has drawn much attention over the years, including a mention on The Daily Show. Because of the building of an overpass, animal lovers worried about toads being killed by cars commuting from South Davis to North Davis, since the toads hopped from one side of a dirt lot (which the overpass replaced) to the reservoir at the other end.

After much controversy, a decision was made to build a toad tunnel, which runs beneath the Pole Line Road overpass which crosses Interstate 80. The project cost $14,000. The tunnel is 21 inches wide and 18 inches high.

The tunnel has created problems of its own. The toads originally refused to use the tunnel and so the tunnel was lighted to encourage its use. The toads then died from the heat of the lamps inside the tunnel. Once through the tunnel, the toads also had to contend with birds who grew wise to the toad producing hole in the ground."

(The picture is of part of "Toad Town," which was created by the local Post-Master at one of the exits to the tunnel. Fantastic.)

This peculiar landmark made me laugh, but it also got me thinking a bit about the community I will (hopefully) be moving into. From what I read online, Davis sounds like one of those "green" cities of California we Mid-Westerners hear so much about. And honestly, I'm overjoyed it is.

Davis is hailed as the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States (so says Wikipedia, which only means so much, but it does sound like the city has gone out of its way to create a ridiculous amount of interconnecting bike paths).

The city also boasts some public transportation options in the form of Amtrak and Yolobus (a county-wide bus service...and yes, the county I will possibly be living in is called Yolo. I don't think I will ever get sick of saying the word Yolo in this lifetime.)

Two good things about the above details: A) I should be able to leave my car at home every now and then, which is perfectly fine with me... and B) I will have a ton of (hopefully) paved bike paths to rollerblade on, and God knows I need the exercise.

I will let you know if I end up in Davis. After what I read today, I hope I do.