Travel log by Pooch and Star of our drive from Lawrence, Kansas to Washington DC
July to August 2002
- 10:22am Lawrence, Kansas
- We start our journey with Pooch on crutches from an injured ankle/calf. This caused all the getting ready tasks to be done slower so we decided to leave Tuesday instead of Monday afternoon. Star was a hero and got the laundry and trash and packing done since stairs were a challenge on crutches. Our first stop was Burger King to get Pooch some food, but they were at the breakfast/lunch changeover so this took much longer then we expected.
- 12:16am Concordia, MO
- Get gas and juice, nothing much, sunny day, hot but not muggy, glad we have a good AC in the car.
- 2:16pm Warrenton Rest Area, MO
- We called AT but got the machine, then called JO and she offered to make us lunch if we came over to her place. AT called back but wasn't able to meet up with us, maybe on the way back.
- 3:10pm Fenton MO
- Nice visit with JO and she made us yummy chicken stir-fry. Pooch enjoyed the recliner and being able to keep his foot elevated. Got to catch up. She has applied for a job in Kalamazoo Michigan that sounds like a perfect situation for her, hopefully she will have good news soon.
- 4:56pm Fenton MO
- Leaving JO's and getting back on the road, she is on the south side of St.Louis so we were able to avoid all the traffic.
- 6:56pm Natural Trails Rest Stop IL
- Pooch decides to take over driving for a while, he's been sitting in the back seat for a while keeping the foot elevated so he should be able to take a turn driving without to much problem.
- 8:30pm Brazil, IN
- Pooch drove until just past Terra Haute then Star took over. Was to late to stop at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center which we have been to on a prior trip.
- 9:00pm Indianapolis, IN
We went to The Abbey and had dinner with Star's step-brother Scott and AA then over to A&K's for the evening. We met A&K in England at the wedding and think that they are really kewl folks, I could see spending much time with them if we lived closer. They have lots of geek toys! This was the first time on the journey that we got to sign up on someones wireless network with the Mac G4 and Airport card and surf from anywhere in the house. They also showed off the TiVo, which is a gotta have someday!
- 10:30 Indianapolis, IN
- Got on the road after a good nights sleep. We decided that donuts were the breakfast of choice so got off on some exit in Indy to try to find some. Ended up getting them at Kroger grocery store but they had a good selection of Krispy Kreme including a triple chocolate - very yummy. Then onto Ohio.
- 12:30 pm Somewhere in OH
- Ohio is very, very boring. There was a SUV that had flipped over so it took us about 30 minutes to go ten miles. Not much to say for the state, at least from the perspective of I-70. We decided to cut off onto Hwy 40 for a more scenic trip. We saw some peddlers with their mule pulled wagon, which was very surreal. We then stopped at Henry's Diner - great pie - Star had banana and Pooch had Strawberry Rubarb.
- 6:00 pm Cambridge, OH
- Did I mention Ohio is broring. Stopped for gas and Pooch took over the driving for a while, thru the rest of Ohio and all the way across West Virginia (about six whole miles at that point in the panhandle) into Pennsylvania.
- 7:30 pm Rest stop about 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh, PA
- Then Star took over and got us to Aunt J's place. We caught J and her daughter A in the middle of dinner and shared in a yummy repast. J filled us in on her trip to Alaska with Pooch's mom. Later that evening cousin A and his partner E arrived and announced their engagement so we were able to participate in a significant family moment. Pooch stayed up late chatting with A.
- 11:20 am Pittsburgh, PA
- We got a late start out of J's but made good time through Pennsylvania and into Maryland. Called SK but she was otherwise occupied and so we made plans to catch her during one of the days we would be in DC. SK lives in PA and commutes daily to DC. We got a first hand look at that commute which raised some questions regarding SK's sanity. Outside of Frederick, MD the traffic came to a standstill and we were later informed that a multi-vehicle accident that necessitated multiple med-flight choppers was responsible. Pooch successfully navigated between the Baltimore and DC metro areas on our way to Annapolis, MD. This was particularly useful as the delay outside Frederick meant that we were hitting these areas during the height of rush hour.
- 5:48 pm Chesapeake Bay Bridge, MD
- Just East of Annapolis, MD is Kent Island, which is the gateway to the Delmarva penninsula (DElaware, MAryland, VirginiA). Unfortunately separating Annapolis and Kent Island is the Chesapeake Bay. The bridge spanning the bay is a monster that consists of three separate sections (including a suspension portion in the center) and curves significantly to the North as it meanders across the bay. Star is afraid of bridges. Had we noticed the signs indicating that escort drivers were available we would have taken them up on the offer. Star was able to make it across the bridge without incident despite the tailgating of a very large Mack truck. Fifteen minutes later we were still hunting for a relaxing place to eat when the stress finally broke through. The upshot is that we ended up at Subway and Pooch still owes Star a fine seafood meal to commemorate her brave conquering of the f*ing bridge.
- Bridge Details
- William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge, also known as the Chesapeak Bay Bridge, is one of the longest over-water steel structures in the world. It spans 4.35 miles of the Chesapeake Bay between Sandy Point on the Western Shore to a point near Stevensville on the Eastern Shore. Traffic lanes between the suspension towers are 2,922 and 1/2 feet in length and 198 and 1/2 feet above the Bay. The Bridge rises to a total height of 354 feet. This span, a two-lane bridge, was opened to traffic on July 30, 1952. At the request of the General Assembly, the State Roads Commission renamed the Chesapeake Bay Toll Bridge as the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge in 1967 (Joint Resolution no. 21, Acts of 1967). William Preston Lane, Jr. (1892-1967), served as governor from 1947 to 1951. In 1968, Bridge and Tunnel Revenue Bonds were issued to construct a parallel bridge across the Chesapeake Bay, a crossing of the Patapsco River (Baltimore Outer Harbor) from Hawkins Point to Sparrows Point, and a connection on the Harbor Tunnel Thruway between U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 95 near Elkridge. On June 28, 1973, the parallel Bay Bridge, with three lanes, opened to traffic. Also named the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge, this parallel bridge now is referred to as the westbound span, while the original bridge is the eastbound span. (Pictures )
- 9:30 pm Bethany Beach, DE
- After navigating across the sometimes confusing peninsula we arrived at the beach house where T&K were staying. Thank you T for the excellent directions. Pooch greeted T at door with a "Pssst, do you know someone knocked up your wife?" comment. K is extremely pregnant at six months. After much gabbing and catching up we all crashed sometime in the early hours of the morning.
- Sometime before noon Bethany Beach, DE
- We got a late start but after some breakfast we were able to tackle the trials of the
Atlantic Ocean. T drove us all down to the Bethany
Beach boardwalk where Pooch experienced
the joy that is using crutches on sand. We all hobbled out to the water (sans crutches) and
bounced around in the waves for a while. There was only one mishap as Star, T, and Pooch
were all caught by two successive waves right at their cresting points. K, being slightly
further out was able to watch on with some bemusement. T attempted to help Pooch withstand
the first wave and then thought better of it. Caught off balance, T went for a swim. Pooch
elected to be swept under instead of re-injuring his leg and bounced along the sandy bottom
as the second wave hit him. Star was knocked over, banging her head on the not so soft sand.
The second wave drug her across said sand and adequately demonstrated why sand is used to
make sandpaper. Despite temporarily fleeing the waves Star eventually returned and was
heard to remark that the ocean was kinda fun afterall.
- After emerging from the ocean we ambled along the boardwalk, chewed up some pizza and then returned to the beach house for a much needed shower. Fine sand can get into some mighty strange places. As we sat around attempting to decide on an appropriate dining location for the evening it was revealed that Star had managed to acquire a mild sunburn despite SPF 30 sunblock.
- 7:00 pm Bethany Beach, DE
- Dinner was had at a "New Orleans" style restaurant The Big Easy that featured food more reminiscent of an Iron Chef episode. Most of the dinner was unremarkable with the exception of T's grilled Tuna and Star's strawberry coladas. Note: this commenced Star's "lush" portion of the trip. We adjourned back to the beach house via the liquor store and supermarket where we acquired fixins for more strawberry coladas. Drinks flowed from that point forward as we watched Erin Brokovitch. The incongruence of providing a "virgin" colada to a clearly pregnant K was not lost on all present.
- 3:00 pm Rehoboth Beach
- After an even later starting day. T&K took us up the coast to see Dewey and Rehoboth beaches. We wandered around the boardwalks ducking from air conditioned store to air conditioned store. Star and Pooch discovered the Del Sol shop from which they occasionally order nail polish that changes color in sunlight. Of course we bought more. We ventured into several t-shirt shops and eventually spent some money on birthday gifts for Pooch. Notable t-shirt sayings included: "People like you are the reason people like me need drugs." and a solid black t-shirt with fine black lettering reading: "I'm just a f&*%$ ray of sunshine aren't I?"
- 6:00 pm Bethany Beach, DE
- Pooch put together a repast while the others concentrated on cleaning up the beach house and packing in preparation for leaving. T's leftover tuna put in an appearance as seared tuna with cucumber sticks in a strawberry yogurt sauce. Some salad and chicken breasts rounded out the meal. All seemed favorably impressed with the gimp's ability to navigate a kitchen.
- 10:00 pm leaving Bethany Beach, DE
- After much cleaning and sorting out of details we began the journey toward T&K's place outside DC. We stopped prior to the f*ing bridge and switched out drivers so that Star would not have to drive it at night. On the other side of the bridge T took us on a bit of a journey that wound us up in the parking lot of an assisted care facility. Pooch did express some concern that this was merely a plan to abandon him at said facility but all turned out well. We traded personnel around again, this time placing Pooch with T and Star with K. All arrived safely and after unpacking and receiving a tour of their place (great house) we all proceeded to bed.
- Sometime before noon Silver Spring, MD
- making plans for evening gathering enjoyed our second place of lodging that has a wireless network (got to get us one of those) evening gathering including: B&S, P&E, MD, MG. Pizza from Armand's, glass raised to Amy who we lost to MS earlier this year. Much fun, lots of talking, no sleep till after 3am
- 10am
- Head out to take the Metro to the new International Spy Museum. Was a great time, but navigating a museum on crutches was exhausting (We checked about a wheel chair but they were out).
- 7pm Ashburn, VA
- Drove thru DC traffic (slow but not awful) on the way to dinner with some UU friends from Urbana J&T. Met some of their family, and their new daughter. J and Pooch talked political science stuff and then we all stayed up late catching up.
- 11pm
- Drove back in high humidity which behaves a lot like fog. Must get fog lights
- 1pm
- Lunch with SK was picked up from Popeye's. SK is Star's roommate from college dorms can you believe they still keep in touch?
- 3pm
- Visit to Pooch old gaming shop Dream Wizards to buy Magic cards. They have a new location and have much more room. Then we drove around his old haunts around Rockville and Silver Spring, like his old studio in Summit Hills
- 7pm
- Caught up with C and went out to Bangkok Garden in Bethesda and got Drunken Noodle
- 10pm
- T & Pooch played magic till about 2am
- 11am Silver Spring, MD
- Said our goodbyes and got on the road
- noon WV
- Went South through West Virgina - damn lightly populated state
- 1:25pm Sideling Hill Syncline Roadcut
- A 340 foot deep (from hill to road)Amazing Road Cut with a good display of the geology involved, and a good exhibit center
- 2:30pm Cumberland
- Ate at a blues bar in this not quite quaint "downtown"
- 4:10pm WV
- Pooch drive for a bit
- 6:15pm WV
- Back to Star. This is much more senic then the PA & Ohio I-70 stretch and worth the extra hour or two.
- 9:42pm Charleston, WV
- Stopped at a TGIFridays in Charleston for dinner then onto a Motel 6 outside Charleston for the night
- 9:17am Nitro, WV
- Got an early start after stopping at Biscuit World, passed more cooling towers then I had ever seen before - at first was worried about all the nuclear plants but eventually realized it was coal plants. The Ohio River Senic Byway is a wonderful drive.
- 2:32pm Cincinatti, Ohio
- "How much do I love my Poochie, let me count the f*ing bridges" Drove by the Cinergy field where the Reds play, then to the dugout offical store to get Reds stuff. This was Pooch's first time of being in the town of a team he followed. Lunch at a sports bar then back on the road
- 4:32pm Indy
- Pooch drive for a bit, but because approaching rush hour and going by the airport turned over to Star for driving thru Indy but then he took back over right after we got onto I-70.
- 6:47pm IL
- Star finished up the drive to Urbana. We stop first at D&M's for gaming then onto H&P's and the home of the amazing god-daughter
- 10am
- Star and H take off to visit DG and then lunch with JC at the Sandwich Boy, then visit with C and her baby M. Pooch spent the day with P and had lunch at the best burger place - Murphy's Pub with some old NovaNET folks.
- 7pm
- What do geeks do in Urbana on Friday nights? Lurkers drinks then dinner. We got to choose where to eat so it was Miko's for sushi.
- 11:15am Urbana, IL
- Say our goodbys and hit the road
- 5:19pm St Louis, MO
- Hook up with AT&M for dinner in St Charles
- 10:00pm HOME
- Great to be home
