A week ago we drove to York, Pa to see our granddaughter perform in a high school play. We encountered some aggravating traffic jams on I-95 in Washington, DC as well as the Washington Baltimore Parkway and some of I-83 while northbound to York. We had already planned our return trip to Florida to travel on I-81 to I-77 and I-26 which routed us back onto I-95 in South Carolina. It was a good plan for avoiding traffic and affording better roads and scenery. But the drawback was the weather...I-81 runs through the Shenandoah Valley between the Shenandoah Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains. We knew there might be weather issues due to the geography but figured,
"Hey, it's spring! It's late March! What could go wrong?!? If a picture tells a thousand words..........
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| Scenery heading west on US-30 |
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| This photo taken to show snow in distance (ski trails). Had not seen any the whole time in York. |
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| Gettysburg provides great photo ops |
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| I love the Victorian style architecture |
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| Gettysburg College |
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| US 30 goes right through Gettysburg battle grounds |
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| Love those old fences...if you look real hard you can almost see Pickett and his brigade charging over the horizon! |
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| They might be weak on signage but I bet the food is good. |
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| Oh, Oh! Snow flakes are beginning to fall in Virginia! |
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| This, as I recall, is what's known as a winter wonderland! |
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| Hands locked on the wheel in "ten-to-two" position on slushy I-81 |
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| Sure, sure...Sandi's not driving...she can smile for the camera! But I noticed her stepping on her passenger seat brake pedal! |
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| Meanwhile, I've got a death grip on the steering wheel. Starting to get nasty in the late afternoon. |
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| Finally made it to our motel in Roanoke, VA |
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| Next morning a blanket of snow covers the Terrain |
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| Outside the motel room as we get ready to roll |
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| Roads the next day in pretty good shape...I lost sleep worrying about it for no reason! |
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| Nice scenery, little traffic, I-81 was a good choice |
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| It would really suck to be the truck driver who needs to use this. |
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| Flo and Cathie brighten up the back seat with their smiles |
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| Sign language: Left - What the ___? Right - Loser! |
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| Sign language: Left - Happy trails, fellow motorist! Right - still a loser! |
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| Dogwood trees blooming in North Carolina promise the snow is behind us |
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| Jacksonville skyline |
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| This photo taken while stuck in traffic jam. Where else but I-95! |
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| Flo's getting impatient! |
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| Our most excellent neighbors dressed up our front door for my birthday. |
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The day we returned, I turned 68 years old. Driving in the snow again made me feel like 78! Don't miss the white stuff!
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All in all, the snow wasn't too bad except for about a 100 mile stretch in Virginia on Sunday afternoon. The worst part about driving on slushy roads is like any other driving...what's the other guy going to do? I really hate the slow drivers that put on their flashers. In my mind the flashers are for emergencies when your vehicle is stopped, not while in motion and because you are scared to drive at traffic flow speed. Nine times out of ten, it's somebody old. (Not a young 68 like me)! And truth be told, the sign language photos above were staged...I learned a long time ago to keep motorist signals of that nature below the dashboard. I'm not as dumb as I look.
