Are We There Yet?

No.

Getting out of NJ and into the Florida sun for two weeks did not at all suck.  We unwound, saw some people we love, ate great food and I even worked a few days which didn’t bother me as it’s not as much like work when I’m looking out at boats on the Intracoastal all day.  What does bother me is the fact that I actually enjoyed being in Florida.  I realize I’m aging in dog years, but really?!?  May as well just sit in a Cadillac puffing on a cigar while waiting for my pinochle game to start.

Be that as it may, for this trip - as well as the previous three times - we drove, since we’re still not quite ready to deal with planes and airports.  In a few months, perhaps, but not yet.  That means this may have been the last time we drive for a while, which wouldn’t be the worst thing.  But, I strongly suspect that even if we don’t drive down again until we retire there will still be road construction in northern Virginia.  

The only real way of getting to Florida is by driving along I-95, which is one truly boring-ass road once you get beyond southern Virginia (and it isn’t exactly rip-roaring before that).  You’ve got to work really hard just to stay awake.

So you look for diversions, or anything of interest, because after some time the strip malls, gas stations/fast food places, log cabin houses and anti-abortion signs just don’t cut it.  One of the things I have noticed is a variety of billboards relating to the election held last November - “Lindsey Graham is a Liar,” “God Bless President Donald Trump,” “Elect Ossoff and Warnock” and other such interesting messages.  Clearly, though, there’s not a lot of demand for advertising on billboards in the South as these are mostly still up.

(Note to readers: this blog is going to be maintained as apolitically as possible, as I don’t know about you but I just can’t stand hearing or even thinking about the state of our union any more.  After the past four years we all could use some space that doesn’t raise our collective blood pressure, so this will remain light and airy - like a brioche or meringue - not dense and heavy, like a bran muffin or a stromboli.)

Another thing I’ve noticed on these drives is that the farther south you go, the noisier the cars seem to be.  Souped up or just plain old, the engines can be deafening.  Unless they have out-of-state plates from up north a lot of them look like they should be resting on blocks on somebody’s front lawn.  And there’re way more pickup trucks than necessary. 

All in all, it’s been an adventure making those road trips, dealing with 18-wheelers on two-lane highways, playing “Rest Stop Roulette” in seeing if you can skip this one and make it to the next, and cursing every closed lane in Virginia.  

JetBlue is really starting to look good.