The Great Abyss

It was time to leave New England, time to seek new adventures. But this meant we had to make a difficult decision. Do we take a few days and make a wide swing around the East Coast Metropolitan areas or do we head straight down I95 directly through the Great Abyss? Who wouldn’t relish the challenge of pulling a 38 foot, 12 thousand pound trailer through 450 miles of multi-lane, bumper to bumper traffics? Me, but the thought of 7 to 8 hours and it would all be behind us was so tempting we had to do it (actually it took just under 12 hours due to some congested, stop and go traffic…like that would never happen).

The Cities Tour – As we have stated before, we do not “love New York” except for upstate and what we were traveling through was anything but that. I had this phobia about driving through New York City but what I did not take into consideration was I would have lots of cities to practice in before we got there. We had over 80 miles of cities to go through before reaching New York. Another aspect of this jaunt was I did not notice that after making it through New York I would still have Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC to tackle and it would be late afternoon for sure! We hit the rush hour traffic in Baltimore and it continued through DC. What an oxymoron, rush hour. You are doing little rushing that’s for sure.

Road Etiquette – Some might expect me to rag on the East Coast drivers as rude, horn blowing bullies but I found this not to be the case. What I did discover was they have no idea how to merge into traffic! As they approach the traffic via the on ramp they invariably slow down rather than speed up to meet the flow as we do out west. This would not be a problem but for the fact that I am usually in the first lane going 5 to 10 miles an hour slower than everyone else. I would see the oncoming vehicle and begin slowing down a bit to give them room. At the same time they began slowing down too. But we usually worked it out with a few waves and they would return the jester, pointing out that they thought I was ok and gave me the “you’re number one” wave. Through the grace of God we made it through all of this without incident. It had to be that because frankly I could not say it was due to my skill alone that’s for sure.

Rest, Relax and a Step Back in Time - After our long day through the great abyss, we settled in for a few days rest and relaxation in a nice RV park outside of Richmond Virginia. We picked this area for a couple of reasons, its right off of I95 and it is not too far to Jamestown. I wanted to visit Jamestown so that we could experience some colonial history. Founded in 1607, Jamestown is celebrating their 400th anniversary. The park includes a very large museum along with the reconstructed village. In the harbor are several period authentic ships which are open for exploring. Throughout the village were individuals in period costumes performing typical tasks of the colonial days. Raising vegetables, combing cotton, repairing sails and fishing nets were a few of the many activities being demonstrated. It was a very educational and entertaining day but we left with the realization that our life today is much better than what they had. We are again excited to continue our tour. Bring it on! I have survived the Great Abyss.

Road Revelation #19 – Try to follow local traffic etiquette rather than attempt to change it to your own style. If people want to slow down as they attempt to merge into the traffic flow, so be it. Trying to get them to do otherwise is fruitless. I found that the best way is to find a semi-truck and just get behind him in the second or third lane and follow what he does. It’s just like in life, accommodation rather than confrontation is always better.