Let’s try this:
Drive Report: 257 Miles, 4:50 Drive Time
We mostly followed highway 15 from Yorktown to Gettysburg today, with a couple of notable exceptions. For a time it joined I-64 and later, US-29. It was a more circuitous route than going past the edge of DC on I-495, but having driven in the DC area 30ish years ago, I can’t imagine that the traffic has gotten better in the intervening years. Susan was in the same boat - anything to avoid DC is good. That said, the traffic on 15 was very heavy when we passed directly West of DC - and we were probably 30 miles distant. Yuk. I don’t see why anyone would want to live here. Have to live here is a different story, but want to? Never in a million years. So - we added about an hour to the trip, but are much happier as a result. This too, is good.
Having mentioned Gettysburg, this isn’t a sight seeing destination for us. We did all the Gettysburg battlefield stuff last time we were out here. As far as I know, the Union still won the war, so we’re just overnighting at Wal-Mart to pick up some things and then we’ll hit the road again in the morning.
And speaking of the road...
There we were, driving down the road, minding our own business when what do we see but the pilot car for the wide load in this pic. I pick it up first, in my rear view mirror. It passes us - the pilot car. A couple of minutes later I see the wide load in this pic - in my rear view mirror. I realize what this means. Sure enough, the wide load closes rapidly and passes The Rig going about 70 mph in a 65 zone. Now take a close look at that load. See how it hangs about 4-5 feet to the right of the trailer. The idiot driving that truck passed The Rig with that load hanging out toward The Rig. This is quite possibly the most irresponsible act of driving I've witnessed yet on this trip. While it is true that I've been riding my bike cross country while Susan drove the route, let us not forget that Susan and I first drove to Oregon. Susan was, naturally, aghast. She was on the phone with the Teamster's complaint line in seconds making a formal complaint. According to her, the driver of the offending rig could be forced to turn in his Brodie knob. (For you newbs, that's the knob that attaches to the steering wheel to help turn the wheel. They were in widespread use in the days before power steering. Only the Teamsters still use 'em - and only on ceremonial occasions. Teamsters handbook; chapter 4, page 43, para. 3c.) (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
In order to get her calmed back down, I had her take this picture of me with flowers. Don't ya just love nature? I do - as long as it stays outside. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
We had a lot of this look even today driving US highways. I expected it on the bike since I was on narrow county roads, or worse. This is a stretch of highway 15 where it was just a two lane.
But as you can see by this pic, it wasn't always a two lane. As I said in the intro. - the closer we were to DC, the worse was the traffic. But again - nothing compared to I-95 and its affiliates. When I was out here for the National Academy, I referred to anything ending in "95" as a giant four lane parking lot. I wasn't far off.
This, readers, is the bridge over the Potomac River. In design and construction it markedly resembles the bridge over the Mississippi from one of my earlier posts. The reader may recall that the bridge over the Mississippi was basically falling apart. This one was at least in good repair, if old. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
This is the Potomac. Not quite as wide as where it connects with the Chesapeake Bay, but then again, we're trying to stay away from DC. I can live with that. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
And right across the river was the sign designating our entry into Maryland. I know Maryland is a small state, but I even at that I think we went across the skinny arm that sticks out to the West. It certainly didn't take us long to cross it. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
Susan wanted me to include this pic. The reader may note that we could have chosen to take I-70. It wouldn't have taken us to Gettysburg, but we coulda done it. It's been a long time since we saw an I-70 sign. You can see all the cars ahead of us. Almost all of them who exited took I-70 East, toward DC. When the I-70 West exit came up, not a single car went toward Kansas. The folks around here may not know it, but most Kansans are just fine with that arrangement. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
When we got this close to these hills, I could smell Appalachia. I started sweating and breathing hard - that's all I know how to do in Appalachia. Note the old building to the right - it looks cool against that backdrop. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
And then there was this - Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania knows how to do up a "Welcome" sign. At this point we only had 15ish miles to go. Tomorrow we continue our trek up to Rhode Island, and I believe we pass thru New York on the way. You'll know tomorrow. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
When you pass through Jersey look north and wave to my son. He is in Hawthorne. Tom
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