Memorial Day Weekend is often referred to as the "unofficial start of summer". Works for me! Spring 2008 in NoVa has been a wet one. The good news is the drought is over. In fact, we have had a whopping 22 inches of rain since April 1st. That is just over 7 months worth of rain in 55 days. It certainly isn't time to start building an arch but it has made spring rather cold, damp and miserable.
Summer is my favorite season. You can keep winter for yourself, send me pictures of the spring and write me a postcard about autumn. Summer is where it's at! I will take 12 months of July - no school and my birthday to boot! To me, summer means road trips to the beach, baseball games on sweltering summer nights, campfires and smores with the family and getting off the beaten path for a little while.
With gas at $4.00 per gallon I will probably be a little more conservative with my travel time this year. I am more likely to attend a Potomac Nationals game - a round trip of 28 miles - than to make a trip to Baltimore, Frederick or Pittsburgh to watch a game - all places I have ventured to in the past to see a game.
I will most likely make one trip to New England instead of two but it will be a few days longer than in the past. I will probably squeeze in a trip to the Midwest to visit my bro somewhere too. Places to go and people to see this summer for sure.
My long weekend was nice. Got in my first baseball game of the year. Hot dog, nachos and a soda for $10.50 at Pfitzner Stadium - gotta love the minor leagues. I even had the ambition to make some ice cream on Sunday but I have apparently misplaced my ice cream maker. I have the thing you freeze but not the big arm that churns it. It's kind of like having a car without an engine. I hope psycho doesn't have it. The bitch definitely has my smores maker - grrrrrrrrrrr!
Mood: Adventurous
Song of the Day:
"As we are dancing, Mary's wrapping her arms around me and I can feel the sting of summer on my skin."
-Anything But Mine
Kenny Chesney
It's Ironic: That too much fertilizer will kill your lawn and garden.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Road Trip
Got my first road trip of the year in last week. 1,530 miles in 5 days. Truth be told, it was a little rushed. Another day to relax before the drive back to the VA would have been nice. All in all it was a good trip and I got to see some new territory along the way.
I sucked it up and took I-76 through Pennsylvania as I headed West because with gas at $4.00 per gallon it offers the shortest trip mileage wise to my brother's in Ohio. I-76 is one of my least favorite roads. They literally cut I-76 into the earth when they built it which means you are two to five feet below the surrounding countryside during much of the ride. There is a lot of pretty scenery in Pennsylvania but it is hard to see from I-76. Add in the huge concrete barrier that is always 15 inches to your left and you get a fairly stressful ride. An accident, road construction or rush hour traffic can quickly turn the ride into a nightmare. I hit the construction jackpot on my trip, seemed like the whole thing was torn up but it was really probably only 20 miles or so. 6 hours and 45 minutes to Westlake, not horrible but not great either. The highlight of the day was going through the Allegheny Tunnel on I-76. It is always exciting to drive THROUGH a mountain.
Day two found me West bound and down from there on the Ohio Turnpike. I have only been West of my brother's a couple times and it always amazes me how flat western Ohio is. It isn't Illinois flat, but it is pretty flat. Headed up Route 23 and into Michigan - wahoo new territory! I was surprised by how flat Michigan was too. I bypassed the big cities and headed for Lake Huron. Now I have seen 2 of the Great Lakes, 3 more to go! Lake Huron was cool, the entire shoreline was sand which is a trip for me. There ain't much sand in Maine, just a lotta rocks. I was far enough north that it wasn't million dollar estates on the shores of Lake Huron, it was just everyday homes. I think it would be pretty cool to live on the shore of the world's 5th largest lake.
I always try to eat at new places when I am on the road and I hit the jackpot in Michigan. I hit a Big Boy for dessert one evening and a Tim Horton's for breakfast the next day. I had never been to either before. They just aren't around in my neck of Virginia. I would have liked to try the Big Boy - the hamburger the Big Mac was cloned after - but it was late so I settled for a simple slice of pie. Tim Horton's was good - really I have never met a donut I didn't like.
I had to boogie back to Ohio to make it to my Brother's slightly belated Cinco de Mayo party. What's 5 days when free margarita's are involved? I was really too pooped to party at this point, so I took it pretty easy at the party. I even snuck upstairs for a nap at one point during the evening.
Had Sunday to relax with the fam before heading back to VA on Monday. We went and saw Iron Man on Mother's Day. Not sure if my sis-in-law picked this one or if she was simply out voted. I wanted soooooo much to hate this movie but it was a really good flick. I still think Robert Downey is a cock master but he was a perfect fit for this movie.
The drive back to NoVa started out fine but it came to a screeching halt in Pennsylvania on, you guessed it, I-76. An accident 10 miles up the highway had traffic at a standstill at mile 34. I put the car in park, shut off the ignition and cranked up the iPod. Eventually, I got bored enough to dig my camera out from the trunk to document the standstill. 7 hours and 45 minutes back home - yucko!
Miles: 1,530
States Visited: Ohio, Michigan
States Along the Way: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania
Food Stops: Big Boy, Tim Horton's, Roy Rogers
Highlight: Standing on the beach looking out at Lake Huron
Lowlight: Traffic jam on I-76 in Pennsylvania
I sucked it up and took I-76 through Pennsylvania as I headed West because with gas at $4.00 per gallon it offers the shortest trip mileage wise to my brother's in Ohio. I-76 is one of my least favorite roads. They literally cut I-76 into the earth when they built it which means you are two to five feet below the surrounding countryside during much of the ride. There is a lot of pretty scenery in Pennsylvania but it is hard to see from I-76. Add in the huge concrete barrier that is always 15 inches to your left and you get a fairly stressful ride. An accident, road construction or rush hour traffic can quickly turn the ride into a nightmare. I hit the construction jackpot on my trip, seemed like the whole thing was torn up but it was really probably only 20 miles or so. 6 hours and 45 minutes to Westlake, not horrible but not great either. The highlight of the day was going through the Allegheny Tunnel on I-76. It is always exciting to drive THROUGH a mountain.
Day two found me West bound and down from there on the Ohio Turnpike. I have only been West of my brother's a couple times and it always amazes me how flat western Ohio is. It isn't Illinois flat, but it is pretty flat. Headed up Route 23 and into Michigan - wahoo new territory! I was surprised by how flat Michigan was too. I bypassed the big cities and headed for Lake Huron. Now I have seen 2 of the Great Lakes, 3 more to go! Lake Huron was cool, the entire shoreline was sand which is a trip for me. There ain't much sand in Maine, just a lotta rocks. I was far enough north that it wasn't million dollar estates on the shores of Lake Huron, it was just everyday homes. I think it would be pretty cool to live on the shore of the world's 5th largest lake.
I always try to eat at new places when I am on the road and I hit the jackpot in Michigan. I hit a Big Boy for dessert one evening and a Tim Horton's for breakfast the next day. I had never been to either before. They just aren't around in my neck of Virginia. I would have liked to try the Big Boy - the hamburger the Big Mac was cloned after - but it was late so I settled for a simple slice of pie. Tim Horton's was good - really I have never met a donut I didn't like.
I had to boogie back to Ohio to make it to my Brother's slightly belated Cinco de Mayo party. What's 5 days when free margarita's are involved? I was really too pooped to party at this point, so I took it pretty easy at the party. I even snuck upstairs for a nap at one point during the evening.
Had Sunday to relax with the fam before heading back to VA on Monday. We went and saw Iron Man on Mother's Day. Not sure if my sis-in-law picked this one or if she was simply out voted. I wanted soooooo much to hate this movie but it was a really good flick. I still think Robert Downey is a cock master but he was a perfect fit for this movie.
The drive back to NoVa started out fine but it came to a screeching halt in Pennsylvania on, you guessed it, I-76. An accident 10 miles up the highway had traffic at a standstill at mile 34. I put the car in park, shut off the ignition and cranked up the iPod. Eventually, I got bored enough to dig my camera out from the trunk to document the standstill. 7 hours and 45 minutes back home - yucko!
Miles: 1,530
States Visited: Ohio, Michigan
States Along the Way: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania
Food Stops: Big Boy, Tim Horton's, Roy Rogers
Highlight: Standing on the beach looking out at Lake Huron
Lowlight: Traffic jam on I-76 in Pennsylvania
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
