Saturday, March 13, 2010

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

We didn't have the time to think things over,/ We had a lot of fun, we had some tears/ Stepping out of loneliness,/ Now the road don't seem so long,/ After all these years.
-- Ringo

(The editor for this blog is acting weird, so apologies if the font looks strange or anything.)

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is 20 miles long, consisting of three large bridges connected by two mile-long tunnels. Driving through the bridge was a microcosm of the day in general. At one point, I had my windshields going full speed before I entered a tunnel. I turned them off to avoid the squeaking of wipers against dry glass. As I saw natural daylight again, I turned them on. But that proved unnecessary. In the 90 seconds I was in the tunnel, the rain had stopped.

However, the trip was never pleasant. There is a scenic overlook in the middle of the bridge. I drove right past it. After all, looking out into a gray mist isn't particularly scenic.

Most of the trip was merely unpleasant, but not horrible. I'd heard there was horrible weather, and saw parts of Delaware where the water was almost lapping the streets, but not quite flooding it. Still, I didn't encounter any problems in Virginia, Maryland or Delaware. However, about the time I entered New Jersey, it got downright nasty. It was getting dark, and the rain was getting harder. Then, a few miles after I got on the New Jersey Turnpike, traffic ground to a halt. It took over half an hour to travel a mile or two.

Things got even worse after the sun set, as the wind and rain picked up. I'd gotten off the Turnpike, and though you can hardly call the roads I was on "back roads" they were less well lit than the toll highway. And given the intense rain, every car had a different idea of what a safe speed was. Some were driving only 45 in a 65 MPH zone; some felt safe at 70. It made for some intense driving.

Still, that's over now. I got home with no real incidents. It's been a fun 2,600 miles, but I'm too tired to think of anything profound to say about it.

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