Infamous: Road Trip

June 21st, 2007

My twenty year old niece, Ashley, was living in Virginia Beach with her fiance. But they were going through some trouble and she wanted to move closer to her family in NY. He was going to drive her up to NY, but she thought that would be weird. So, jokingly, I told her I would pick her up from Michigan and drive her to NY. We laughed.

Two days later she asked me to pick her up.

The next day I left Lansing, MI and started my journey to Virginia Beach. I took advice and avoided DC by going South through Ohio into West Virginia, then East all the way across Virginia.

West Virginia
To my surprise, West Virginia was absolutely stunning! The mountains were beautiful and the curves and geography and everything was beautiful I really enjoyed driving through it. The only stereotypical thing I ran into, was when I stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom.

Three farmer-type guys in their 50s were loitering around the counter and glared at me when I walked in. I asked if there were bathrooms and was handed a huge key and told “round back”. I found my way to one door with one rarely-used yet somehow filthy toilet and a little sink. I did my business, brought the key back, and made my way back to the highway. Harmless of course, just not quite a quick check!

Virginia
By the time I made it to Virginia, I had been driving for about 13 hours straight, alone. It was also 9pm and storming so hard I couldn’t see the road in front of me. The roads were still curvy and mountainous and of course I had no cell phone reception. I started to panic because the road was getting emptier and just as hard to see. And seeing lightning and fog over a mountain is not fun when you’re tired and by yourself.

So, I manage to get off at an exit and stop in at the first hotel, which is of course full. The woman gives me directions to other ones, but pointed to all these back roads. At this point it was still raining so hard I couldn’t read road signs.

I did what any other girl would do, I sat in my car and cried. I called my niece and asked her to come pick me up. Granted, I was 3 hours away from her. After an hour, the rain had finally died down and I managed to take these back roads to another hotel that did have vacancy. I rested. The next day was clear. And I finished my trip.

Now, it’s just a coincidence that my sister lives in Virginia Beach as well. A sister who I hadn’t seen since I was 9 years old. When I was in Ohio, I left her a message, “Hi! I’ll be in Virginia Beach tomorrow. We should try to get together.” She had no idea about the trip at all and was ecstatic for us to get together! It was great to see her too!

The next day my niece and I head out to finish the journey to NY. Once we crossed the chesapeake bay bridge/tunnel, she took over driving.

NY
Somehow we mistakenly believed that the NJ turnpike would take you right to 87N. Well, it does, but you have to cross the George Washington Bridge first.

At this point in time I am driving. And ended up in the express lane. I peer over 12 lanes of traffic and see the sign “I-87 Keep Right”. In bumper-to-bumper traffic, before I was used to driving in that, I go into panic mode and keep my blinker on as I cross two lanes in the express lane, illegally cross over into the local lane, then cross 5 lanes there. I didn’t breathe at all until we were over the Tapanzee.

From 87 on it was a breeze.

And to sum up the rest of the time: five days later I drove down to NJ to visit some friends, then took one friend and we drove back to MI, stayed there a night, then drove back to NJ where I had planned to move to. Two weeks later, another friend and I flew out to MI, packed up a moving truck and drove back to NJ.

And I haven’t driven more than 3 hours for a road trip since.

All the pics: http://lintacious.com/gallery/v/places/roadtrip

Entry Filed under: life, travel