roadtrip2008 post #3: getting to Baltimore
Woke up at 6:15a thursday at Espositos, and we got the car loaded before dawn. The sun was just starting to peak through after I topped off the tank at the Spinx station and hit 85 North.
Made decent time for about an hour and a half, then started falling asleep at the wheel. I hadn't gotten very good rest at Espos even though I tried to force it by way of a benadryl. I had to pull over before I wrecked the car, so I hit the next exit and pulled into this combination BP station / MickyDs. Slept great in the front seat for about a half an hour, then ran inside for a coffee. While I was waiting for the cofee, I started panicking, thinking I'd left the rear car door unlocked. So I kind of just walked away to from the counter to go make sure, and it lookd like no one was messing with it, so I calmed down and waited for my brew. FINALLY, after some comical fast food behind the counter hijinx, my drink was delivered, and I hauled butt back out to the car hoping no one had ripped off my computer and all my clothes. Turns out I had locked it all up just fine.
Once I was back on the road I kept finding these great talk radio shows which had tons to talk about due to the proposed bailout. The drive was silky smooth til I was north of Greensboro, at which point it started pissing down rain. Oh yeah, it was freakin freezing also, and crazy windy. The weather stayed shitty the whole way from there Pushed on>>>
Just over the Virginia line, I am being followed sorta close by a big rig, when a dog decides he wants to cross all three lanes of highway. I saw him start across the road, so I veered right to go onto the shoulder, which must have scared the dog becaue he hauled ass across the rest of the road. The truck behind me had seen the dog also, so he veered as soon as I did. It was pretty exciting compared to most of the boring straight drive.
Even without speeding, and stopping a bunch to stretch and stuff, I was making great time. Then I got to DC. As soon as I got on the DC beltway traffic slowed to a crawl and stayed that way for over an hour! It was backed up on 95 North also. I had ben thinking it would clear up when I changed highways but I had no such luck. Sitting in traffic cost me over an hour and I don't even want to think about how much gas.
Eventually I arrived!
The first thing I saw when I walked in my Moms hut was this HUGE shoe horn:
Holy crap is that thing funny or what? Its an "old people" thing, for folks who need a shoe horn but no longer have bendable bodies.
I was so happy to see my mom. You all can make fun of me for that if you want, but for years we didn't get along, and now I am really jazzed that we are buds. It was scary when she went through the cancer dealie, but she seems to be doing alright now, so long as she doesn't exert herself too much. I thought her outfit was cute
She is so comical. She kind of reminds me of Monk, if you have ever seen that TV show. You cannot make a mess at her hut because she is constantly running behind you cleaning up things before you are even finished with them. She kind of gets freaked out when there is a lack of order. I inherited the wacky traits from her.
We mugged for a photo...
...then she took me to Pizza Johns, which is a place I visit every time I come to Baltimore. It is the first place I ever had pizza from (almost 35yrs ago!), so it is my baseline pie from which to judge all others. Since I had pizza the night before, I actually got something else from the menu. This place...it isn't all fancy schmancy or anything...but it IS the American Dream. The owner has built it up from a little hole-in-the-wall- carry out with no inside seating, to a restaurant that has expanded three times! It is a freakin empire. I have a soft spot in my heart for the place, because during my latchkey days I ended up there about 4 times a week. I dunno. Sometimes a place doesn't have to be all fancy schmancy for you to have love and nostalgia for it so gimmie a break food snobs.
After dinner we hit the grocery and I picked up a thing called a "cactus pear". We haven't eaten it yet...I had to look up info on how to eat the darn thing. We were just chillin when her husband came home from work early, which was cool. I got to catch up with him and we talked computers and cars.
10 hours in the car and a food coma = I was ready for bed by this point, so it was lights out. I'm so happy to see my mom.
Made decent time for about an hour and a half, then started falling asleep at the wheel. I hadn't gotten very good rest at Espos even though I tried to force it by way of a benadryl. I had to pull over before I wrecked the car, so I hit the next exit and pulled into this combination BP station / MickyDs. Slept great in the front seat for about a half an hour, then ran inside for a coffee. While I was waiting for the cofee, I started panicking, thinking I'd left the rear car door unlocked. So I kind of just walked away to from the counter to go make sure, and it lookd like no one was messing with it, so I calmed down and waited for my brew. FINALLY, after some comical fast food behind the counter hijinx, my drink was delivered, and I hauled butt back out to the car hoping no one had ripped off my computer and all my clothes. Turns out I had locked it all up just fine.
Once I was back on the road I kept finding these great talk radio shows which had tons to talk about due to the proposed bailout. The drive was silky smooth til I was north of Greensboro, at which point it started pissing down rain. Oh yeah, it was freakin freezing also, and crazy windy. The weather stayed shitty the whole way from there Pushed on>>>
Just over the Virginia line, I am being followed sorta close by a big rig, when a dog decides he wants to cross all three lanes of highway. I saw him start across the road, so I veered right to go onto the shoulder, which must have scared the dog becaue he hauled ass across the rest of the road. The truck behind me had seen the dog also, so he veered as soon as I did. It was pretty exciting compared to most of the boring straight drive.
Even without speeding, and stopping a bunch to stretch and stuff, I was making great time. Then I got to DC. As soon as I got on the DC beltway traffic slowed to a crawl and stayed that way for over an hour! It was backed up on 95 North also. I had ben thinking it would clear up when I changed highways but I had no such luck. Sitting in traffic cost me over an hour and I don't even want to think about how much gas.
Eventually I arrived!
The first thing I saw when I walked in my Moms hut was this HUGE shoe horn:
Holy crap is that thing funny or what? Its an "old people" thing, for folks who need a shoe horn but no longer have bendable bodies.
I was so happy to see my mom. You all can make fun of me for that if you want, but for years we didn't get along, and now I am really jazzed that we are buds. It was scary when she went through the cancer dealie, but she seems to be doing alright now, so long as she doesn't exert herself too much. I thought her outfit was cute
She is so comical. She kind of reminds me of Monk, if you have ever seen that TV show. You cannot make a mess at her hut because she is constantly running behind you cleaning up things before you are even finished with them. She kind of gets freaked out when there is a lack of order. I inherited the wacky traits from her.
We mugged for a photo...
...then she took me to Pizza Johns, which is a place I visit every time I come to Baltimore. It is the first place I ever had pizza from (almost 35yrs ago!), so it is my baseline pie from which to judge all others. Since I had pizza the night before, I actually got something else from the menu. This place...it isn't all fancy schmancy or anything...but it IS the American Dream. The owner has built it up from a little hole-in-the-wall- carry out with no inside seating, to a restaurant that has expanded three times! It is a freakin empire. I have a soft spot in my heart for the place, because during my latchkey days I ended up there about 4 times a week. I dunno. Sometimes a place doesn't have to be all fancy schmancy for you to have love and nostalgia for it so gimmie a break food snobs.
After dinner we hit the grocery and I picked up a thing called a "cactus pear". We haven't eaten it yet...I had to look up info on how to eat the darn thing. We were just chillin when her husband came home from work early, which was cool. I got to catch up with him and we talked computers and cars.
10 hours in the car and a food coma = I was ready for bed by this point, so it was lights out. I'm so happy to see my mom.