Road Trip Log: Day 2

(posted Friday morning because the cheap, nasty hotel we stayed in that night didn't have WiFi)

Total miles so far: 667

Tonight we are in Halfway, Maryland. Halfway looked like a good stopping point.

Birdie had a good idea. I need to give C the camera and let him take pictures while I drive. Wish I’d done that today. We drove through the Shenandoah Valley, and OMG is it beautiful!

I designated C to be the navigator for our trip. When I needed his assistance as we were approaching today’s destination, he failed miserably. But that probably has something to do with the fact that I inadvertently forgot to tell him that he was my navigator. He fussed at me, saying that a navigator is the guy who tosses a rope off the back of the boat (no, he didn’t say “stern”) and counts the knots, and uses the astrolabe or some dumb shit to look at the stars. No, no, I said, that’s only on the sea, and clearly we are on land. Remember all the talk about asphalt, trucks, and speed limits enforced with airplanes?*

We’re roughing it with our nightly accommodations, staying in really cheap places. Tonight we’re in a Hotel 6. They spend so much money on the electric bill when they “leave the light on,” they have to scrimp on other amenities. There are complementary “bars” of soap not much bigger than a postage stamp, but no shampoo. Silly C failed to bring shampoo. That’s another story right there. There is no art on the walls in our room, which C finds unnerving. The bedspreads are so loud that I doubt any cheap motel art could compete. Oh, and the mattresses! Holy Cow! The edges are hard but there’s barely any support within. I sat on the bed and fell in. Glad I have my own bed, because if I had to share, both of us would slide to the center. It’s what (I think it’s) Garrison Keillor calls a deep valley bed.

The most significant deprivation, though, is lack of WiFi. WTF?? This is the 21^st Century, people! I am typing this on a Word doc, and will copy/paste it onto the blog when I have access to the internet.

So this hotel is across the street from some major shopping action. There is allegedly a mall over there, and I saw a Penney’s. Next to that, though, is Target and Michaels! (Who said “Tar-zhay” in his head?) We went to Target to pick up a few things, like shampoo for C. More OMG here. He spent the longest time finding just the right shampoo. Please, doll, just grab something shiny and let’s move on. Then he had to find a brush. This about killed me. After five minutes I asked him what he’d do if I gave him a 60 second time limit, then started humming the Jeopardy tune. He insisted that it was very important to get the proper brush, especially since he doesn’t have one at home. Oh, in that case I’ll sing the Jeopardy tune twice. s

*The signage in Virginia informed us that speed limits were enforced with airplanes. We speculated that the highway patrol has small engine planes with mounted guns, maybe bazookas. If they see a speeding car, they shoot it. That would probably deter speeding. C suggested perhaps they use helicopters with strong magnets to literally pick up speeders, removing the offenders from the flow of traffic.

The situation warrants

an update. Yes, I am in Baltimore. Right now I'm sitting in Indigo's living room on his new recliner. It's very comfy, and it reclines so as to comfortably allow me to type away on the computer. What fun! Indigo made waffles this morning! 

I actually left home at my target time! I was so impressed with me. I woke up Friday morning 15 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I had set it to 4:00 a.m., but evidently I'd had enough sleep fifteen minutes before that. I had packed almost everything into the car the day before, so there was not much to do to get ready to go. I pulled out of the driveway at approximately 4:50. I would have been here at the 12 hour mark had I not arrived in the greater Baltimore area right at rush hour. I made very good time until I was within about 20 miles of my destination. That final 20 miles took 45 minutes. Ah, well. I made it, and have been enjoying myself ever since. 

Indigo and I went shoe shopping yesterday. A refresher in Java trivia: Java hates shoe shopping. We went to the DSW store. I found the shoes I needed with the second pair I tried on!!!! Yes, I only tried on two pairs. The lovely young woman assisting us was a pleasure to work with. Indigo and I were having lots of fun being silly, and she joined in the fun. I'll have to take a picture of my new shoes. 

I have some pictures I want to share, but they are still in my camera. I'm too comfy in this comfy chair to get my camera and download the photos. I will get to it later. 

I drove through the Shenandoah Valley. Wow. Gorgeous! I love that area, slightly east of the Appalachian mountains in North Carolina and Virginia. I would move there if the opportunity were right. I stopped at one point somewhere in Virginia to stretch my legs and use the bathroom. It was so pretty, but it smelled of skunk. I assume all of the Shenandoah Valley doesn't always smell of skunk, but the part I smelled was stinky. I will forgive. Heck, I'm over it already. 

There may be a few other things I wanted to tell you, but I can't remember right now. I'll get around to yammering on about other stuff within the next day or so. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend, and for those of us in the U.S., enjoy the holiday weekend.