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Originally uploaded by chuck_kramer
This sign will really confuse you. Found in Columbia, MD.
This sign will really confuse you. Found in Columbia, MD.
I'm am going to make an earnest effort to rely on micro-blogging and Twitter for several months and see how it works out. Watch my Tumblr posts. You can also follow me on Twitter.
After midnight I pulled into the Virginia Welcome Center for a short break. While I had made pretty good time up until then, experience has shown that Virginia is a bit more aggressive in adding to their staet and local coffers. As a result, I knew I was close to home but that these next few hours would really drag.
As I drove through the state, I watched the "estimated time of arrival" on my navigation screen slowly increase the minutes later and later. I eventually turned it off because it was so depressing.
At this time of night, I headed straight up I-95, choosing to forgo the I-295 bypass. Traffic was light and, although the speed was slower, I made decent time. When the roads merged back together above Richmond, I noticed a few familiar vehicles that I had been "packed" with before stopping at the Welcome Center. Assuming they all didn't stop together, I estimated that meant I picked up about 10 minutes by not using the bypass.
This was the first time in about 6 years I had driven through Richmond. The new flyovers, overpasses, and underpasses they have constructed are just CRAZY! Some are hundreds of feet in the air! I wish it had been daytime so I could grab some photos. Its also the first time in years I passed through the Springfield Mixing Bowl, where I-495, I-395, and I-95 meet along with some local byways. It too looks just like spaghetti but not as outrageous as the Richmond construction.
At 3:05 am, I was crossing the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge with a view o the lighted National Harborplace on the water; it looks like it will really be nice when they complete it. About 40 minutes later I was pulling into the garage and not the least bit tired.
Good road trip. I need more of those and with more time.
After enjoying nearly six hours with the top down on the BMW, these ominous clouds in north Georgia forced me to pull off the road and raise it. Good thing too as it really let loose with a torrent of rain for over an hour. At several points it was so bad that most of the traffic pulled off the road to wait it out. That just cleared the way for me.