Greetings from very dark Chantilly, Virginia (and on wireless thanks to the hotel and the new wireless modem)!

Yes, we're on vacation for the next week.

It took us almost an hour to get the last few things settled and the animals in the car, then we were off about eight. James drove as far as the South Carolina Welcome Center, where we were pleased to find that Willow had not barfed in her crate like she usually does. She doesn't get carsick; she'd just nervous from starting on a trip. She's always well for the rest of the ride. Then I took over and drove as far as I-77 just west of Charlotte (we didn't go through route 321 this time, at Gastonia; all the construction in Charlotte was done).

Throughtout Georgia and the Carolinas the fall leaves were quite pretty; we passed through some brilliant spots on and off. This petered out when we got to Virginia except in a pretty valley off on our right which I believe was Fancy Gap. The trees in Virginia were either "blown" or bronzed or uniformly browned over their former brilliant cover.

Unfortunately just as James took over driving after we stopped for lunch at a rest area, we discovered Willow had barfed in the crate and she had pulled the plastic bag off her fleece before she'd done so. So James had to rinse out the fleece and that put us a bit behind. Then while I was driving on I-81 we got stuck behind a 18-wheeler that basically planted itself in the left lane (it's only two lanes going north) five m.p.h. under the speed limit for almost an hour until people just got pissed and started passing him on the right. So we finished about the last three hours of the drive in the dark, arriving at the hotel around 8:30.

We listend to XM all the way up, first 60s, then 40s, then a few hours of radio classics, then some Top Vinyl or whatever (the Doors and Queen and things like that), and finally Fox News.

I'm a bit disappointed. The Townehome Suites we had last time in this area had a miniature kitchen, with a little stove and a full size fridge and pots and pans and dishes. This has a mini-fridge and a bar sink and a microwave and coffee maker. The fridge isn't even big enough to hold James' teamaker pitcher. But the rest of it is roomy, big king-size bed and a little "parlor" area where Pidgie and Wil are living. Pidgie was as good as gold all the way up, even with the bumps in the road. He only got snappish after it got dark and he does that at home as well.

But it's nice here, near two shopping centers with all sorts of restaurants, about four in walking distance. We hit the Safeway for some soup and milk; boy, they're expensive!

We're still deciding what we want to do tomorrow; probably walk the mall since it's going to be cool. It's going to be 66°F one day and 70 another, so we want to save those days for being inside with some air conditioning instead of outside in the miserable heat. Friday night we are scheduled to meet our friend Rodney at his new townhouse.

Man, my eyes are starting to cross; only 4 1/2 hours sleep last night. Going to listen to Pidge burble. Later.

Labels: travel, vacation

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:44:00 PM

Comments: Post a Comment