Odd Signs & Symbols

We were on I-10 West coming home from Arizona this weekend and saw a large type of sign I don't recall ever seeing before.  It raised more questions than it answered.   We saw one at about mile 17 on the AZ side, then another about 50 miles into California.  They were meant to show the number of open parking spaces in upcoming rest areas.  But what good does it do to know there are 9 open spaces at a rest area 100 miles up the road?  By the time we get there an hour and a half later, the number must be different, dozens of vehicles must have come and gone since then. The sign in Arizona did have numbers, with the middle slot blacked out.  I just didn't get my camera out in time to capture it.   The missing number suggested that particular rest area was closed.  Sure enough, the Cactus City Rest Area just West of Chiriaco Summit was not only closed, it had been completely dismantled and dug up on both sides of the road.  The sign in Calif...

We were out along the Borrego-Salton Highway today and saw a kind of road sign I had never seen before.  They are easy to miss: just tiny white signs with some dashes and lines: These are actually indicating when the passing areas were beginning and ending.  So, when the solid yellow line down the middle of the road was about to switch to dashes to allow passing, one of these signs will say so.  And when it switches back, there's another tiny white sign with dashes and lines. I wonder how many drivers even notice these. I also wonder if they make any difference.  We're used to just looking at that yellow line -- when it breaks into dashes, expect that people will be passing us. The signs have different symbols depending on what the lanes are doing at that location.  I suppose they can be a little bit helpful to someone, once in a while.  I only saw them because I was looking for the mile markers.