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Other Locations
Japan: Bay of Toyoma
The bay is popular for its Firefly squid that glows in the Spring. It is here, at the fisherman's port, that Zoe meets with King Takahiro. The way the squid glow at night is the same way the tails of the merfolk also glow: Bioluminescence.
https://www.ana.co.jp/en/us/japan-travel-planner/toyama/0000015.html
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/firefly-squid-toyama-bay
El Paso, Tx: Lil's Mansion
The inspiration for Lil's Mansion in the middle of the Las Vegas Desert is this house on the right. My great-grandfather owned a Spanish-style Mansion next door to this one on one of the most prominent and famed streets in El Paso. In the 80s, the brick was covered in Ivy. It was very ominous to a little kid with an over-active imagination that always thought places were haunted--not much has changed as my adult self. But nevertheless, it left an impression on me.
The mansion has an interesting history, as well. Built in 1952 for Dr. Frank Schuster and his family.
It was designed by El Paso's first female architect, Mabel Welch.
https://www.digie.org/en/media/49021?fbclid=IwAR2uJDjFRFqiGePbnMTvC1iLzhef2vT4HCIK6piqRxWQqWClx_4C-4s59e8
California Freeways
If you have not lived, or ever visited, California, let me explain something to you. California is HUGE. Even my own husband has a hard time comprehending this.
The Greater Los Angeles area encompasses a wide area. San Diego is it's own entity. The Valley, the Inland Empire, the High Desert--all areas in southern California. Cities are so close together that we use these umbrella terms to identify a region.
To drive from The Greater Los Angeles area to Las Vegas, Nevada, takes about 4 hours, depending on traffic. (Everything depends on traffic)
To drive from The Greater Los Angeles area to San Francisco, it takes about 9 hours, again, depending on traffic.
And this is not even spanning the entire state from one end to another. (North to South)
Zoe and Baxter may not live very far apart from one another, based off mileage. However, southern Californians do not use mileage--we base everything off time and how long it will take to get somewhere. Fun fact: I commuted from home in Riverside to college in Long Beach, 55 miles one way, which should be about an hour to drive, however, on my first day of college, it took me 3 hours to get home. Because of traffic. So, never use mileage to estimate how long travel time will be in California.
Northern California and Southern California behave like two very different animals. Southern California residents refer to their freeways as if they have personalities (because they do) and use old nicknames that were in place before the modern infrastructure of the interstate system. Because of that most southern Californians place THE in front of the number of the freeway. THE 405. THE 91. THE 5. THE 101. etc... Zoe and Baxter are southern Californias and do this. True Northern Californians do not usually speak in this manner. Northern California has a better public transit system than southern.
Also fun fact: in one of the most earthquake prone areas, Hollywood has as subway (an underground public train)
Zoe and Baxter carpool with Officer Dominguez and his wolf pack and enter the Tejon Pass and the Grapevine. It's a very dangerous section of freeway for travelers going from up north to down south and vice versa. Today, it's not as bad as it was when it was built, but it does snow there and it has a 6% grade, which, can be daunting at times. I added it to the story because I've traveled on it and liked the history of the road.
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