Greetings from Virginia

I wonder how many people left the state of Florida this morning. We left 516 at six o'clock which was the planned departure time and we drove for twelve hours. That took us to a small city south of Richmond VA so we can get through Richmond early in the morning and head towards Penn. We were in what I call heavy city traffic for the first five hours of the drive. Tight and close; oodles and oodles of people heading north. By far the cars from Quebec outnumbered the other provinces and states. Loads of rv's and all of them towing cars or small suv's. I couldn't believe it. Maureen Smith told me that traffic picked up at certain times in March but I couldn't imagine how you would see it on a major interstate highway but you sure could see it today. By the time we were in NC, it was looser and steadier moving but we did 1100 km in the eleven hours for the day.

I left Davenport with a heavy heart this morning. I always hate leaving, missing seeing Chris and Laura and Jocelyn and Bhreagh before I am past their exit. It's hard every year to go home, knowing that it could be six months to a year before seeing them again. The little ones change so much in that period of time but I have to be grateful for the opportunity to see them on Skype. Still I miss them tonight and it will take me awhile before I am over the lonely.

As we drove north today I had not one but two map books that I referred to, the GPS which is pretty invaluable and the Drive I-95 book which contains information on what is to be found at each exit along the 95 between Boston and the Florida border. They take the guess work out of the journey and although it makes for a crowded front seat, it's a better safe than sorry situation. All the bases are covered. I am a map person and still love going through the pages and noting the local names and all. The maps give you the big picture.

America runs on trucks, not Dunkin (Donuts).  Don't ever doubt that.

So the big question every year at the point is, which is better : fly to Florida and rent a car or take your own car and put up with the wear and tear on your body as you pound north. Honestly...I am undecided. Except that I could not bring back very much shopping, I would have to go with the flying option. The Doreys left yesterday morning and I had mail last night to say they were home. We have had a long day on the road and the most difficult day is to come: tomorrow. At least we won't run into snow in the Poconos as we did on the way down. If we just drove eight hours and stopped; if we weren't pushing.... However, we try to get a lot of miles/kms behind us the first day and then try again the second day only to find that we are totally wasted on the third day. I think most people don't push as hard as we do but I could be mistaken. Men just seem to want to get home.


so I hope to get some sleep tonight. Not much last night and I was not awake for the first hour this morning as we got the car packed up. Sleep might come more easily tonight, now that we are on the way. Hope all is well with you. We are still in shorts and sandals; hope to say the same tomorrow night. Till the next time...
S