The Rocks of the 405

Geologist Arthur G. Sylvester isn't sweating the enormous, long, expensive 405 widening project, because it means he gets "a temporary glimpse into the very anatomy of this mountain range that bisects Los Angeles ... the last time some of these rocks touched air, dinosaurs walked the Earth." He gives a complete (and awesome) driving tour of the geological highlights, which include "a big, light yellowish-brown outcrop" behind the Hotel Angeleno that was once "a huge pile of sand at the bottom of a great inland sea that covered much of the western United States." [Zocalo]