OK, this entry isn't about potholes or road  work, but just like some of those easy listening radio stations, The Tri-City Drive blog is expanding its regular format for Christmas.

As many of you know,  The Argus prints directions to some of the best-decorated homes in the Tri-City area, and this year I was picked to drive from Union City to Warm Springs making sure our old standards were still decking their lawns with Santas, snowmen, plywood penguins or anything else that might give people a warm and fuzzy holiday feeling. 

Here's some of the best stuff I saw:

This toy soldier is just one of more than a dozen mechanical
plywood decorations at La Purissima Place in Fremont.
The best thing about the soldier are his eyes. They move.
Compare the above picture with the one below.

Over on Glencoe Drive, one family celebrates
the season with dioramas.

It's all about the details. Check out another
picture of the same diorama. If you look closely,
you'll notice that the raccoon playing on the teeter-totter
with the skunk has a clothes pin on its nose. Too cute!
 

Same house, here's a polar bear-fronted band
that plays Christmas carols, followed by a Ferris
wheel with SpongeBob SquarePants along for the ride

On my way to Glencoe, I passed by this inflatable
Nativity scene, which I thought was pretty neat.
 
I know it's a little dark, but Joseph is totally huge.
I thought he looked like Paul Bunyan.
A friend said he looked more like a Tzar.

 From Glencoe, I headed to "Crippsmas Place."
Cripps Place traditionally had some of the best
decorations in Fremont.  I'm told some of the
neighboring streets now carry on the tradition.
So while Cripps might not have as many decorations
as it once did, there's some neat stuff there and one block
over on Wellington Place.

Those lips are so red!!

A lot of the decorations on Wellington were
based on Disney films and this one
was based on a corporate mascot:
 

I didn't see too many things on Cripps, but
I arrived right around 10 p.m. when they close down.
If you don't think they're serious about closing time,
check out these shots:

9:59 p.m.

10 p.m.

For Penguin displays, go to Reeder Court in Fremont

The neighbors have penguins too.

Here's a picture of the famed American flag
roof on Clover Street in Union City:

And here's one in Newark on Blackwood Drive:

I like how the Nativity scene is inside the "O".

There is another great house in Union City on Colgate,
but the lights there were all out when I showed up close to
11 p.m. I also didn't go to the Southlake Mobile Home Park or
Espada Court in Fremont, because other people confirmed
they were still there. If you have pictures of those or other
great homes, feel free to e-mail them to me at
martz@bayareanewsgroup.com.
We'll print a full list with addresses and directions in The Arugus.

Route 84 will be closed to motorists and bicyclists from Mission Boulevard to Niles Canyon Road at Main Street in Sunol from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29.

Caltrans crews will be cleaning drains, clearing rock slide areas, trimming trees, removing graffiti and clearing vegetation from signs and guardrails.

According to Fremont officials, these roads listed below will receive cape seal repairs next week. Once work begins, stay tuned for any postponements or scheduling changes.

Wednesday, September 12

• Mohawk River Street from Blackstone Way to Snake River Place.
• Ozark River Way from Decoto Road to Mohawk River Street.
• Tamayo Street from Fremont Boulevard to West End.
• Isherwood Way from Paseo Padre Parkway to Nicolet Avenue.
• Blacow Road from Central Avenue to Railroad Tracks.

    Thursday, September 13

• Central Avenue from Blacow Road to Logan Drive.
• Blackstone Way from Darwin Drive to Mohawk River Street.

    Friday, September 14

• Fremont Boulevard (Southbound lanes only) from Ferry Lane to Decoto Road.
• Nicolet Avenue from Isherwood Way to Fremont Boulevard.

Okay, so Fremont's "Cape Seal Project" isn't big enough to halt traffic for an 80-hour period like the bridge project. But that's a GOOD thing, right? Fremont officials say they like cape seal repair because it's a less expensive and fairly quick way to mend a street.

Starting this Thursday (Aug. 30), and continuing through Saturday, street maintenance crews will be doing cape seal repair work on several roads. These are the following Fremont streets that motorists should avoid:

Thursday, August 30

• Blacow Road from Central Avenue to Railroad tracks.
• Central Avenue from Blacow Road to Logan Drive.

Friday, August 31

• Blackstone Way from Darwin Drive to Mohawk River Street.
• Mohawk River Street from Blackstone Way to Snake River Place.
• Ozark River Way from Decoto Road to Mohawk River Street.
• Fremont Boulevard (Southbound lanes only) from Ferry Lane to Decoto Road.
• Tamayo Street from Fremont Boulevard to West End.
• Nicolet Avenue from Isherwood Way to Fremont Boulevard.
• Isherwood Way from Paseo Padre Parkway to Nicolet Avenue.

Saturday, September 1

• North Port Loop East & Court from Cushing Parkway to North Port Court.
• Christy Street from Stewart Avenue to Auto Mall Parkway.
• Stewart Avenue from Boyce Road to Albrae Street.
• Ardenwood Boulevard (Northbound lanes only) from the Highway 84 off-ramp to Kaiser Drive.

Construction work hours will be from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lane closures will be between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

For more information on Fremont's Cape Seal Project, go online at:

http://www.fremont.gov/Construction/RoadworkInformation/CapeSeal.htm

More next week on Fremont's slurry seal and asphalt overlay projects, which are scheduled to begin in September.

If you can't wait until then, go to http://www.Fremont.gov for more information.

That is the goal for the Tri-City Drive — the Argus blog that will stay on top of all the road construction in Fremont and its neighboring cities, Newark and Union City.

If you're a Tri-City area motorist who has gone a week without turning onto one of the region's major arteries without getting stuck in traffic, you either don't leave the house or you take BART. But for those who can't — or won't — take public transit, the Tri-City Drive will help them keep moving by avoiding the bottlenecks caused by road repair.

First up will be Fremont's set of street maintenance projects. A list of work planned for cape seal, slurry seal and the more costly and complicated asphalt overlay repairs will be provided soon. Stay tuned.