The MOVE - finale

Act 3: Virginia is Pretty but the drivers suck

After making it so far the first day, I only had about 4- 4 1/2 hours (or so I thought) left to go. I was really struck by how beautiful the mountains of western Virginia were in the morning – even more stunning with the light rain and mist hanging in the valleys. The drive from Lewisburg to Richmond was very enjoyable and I only wished that I had time to stop and hike around and see some of the sights. At Richmond, it all fell apart. After filling up with gas, I was excited by the prospect of only another 90 miles to my destination!! I took the bypass around Richmond then hit I-64 again headed for Hampton Roads. Immediately it was bumper to bumper and crawling around 20-30 mph. I ignorantly assumed there must be some accident up ahead to explain it given that the west bound traffic seemed OK, but after the miles passed on – I realized there was no accident. I have no idea how long it took me to travel those 90 miles (I quit watching the clock because I was trying to stay calm and collected) but I did have to stop and pee not once but twice! I was recalling how Buddhists perceive these types of lines and waits as “found time” so I just enjoyed my audiobook. So this slow 30 mph crawl pretty much went the entire 90 miles, but apparently Virginia drivers defy traffic!! Folks were weaving in and out (not using their blinkers of course) trying to buy that elusive 5 seconds in their overall journey. Tailgating and aggressive weaving were actually more irritating to me than the traffic, I kept waiting for a 10 car fender bender (actually was kindof hoping for it with a few particularly dangerous drivers) but it never happened. After getting to my apartment, I learned that it’s just a busy route on the weekends for all the folks heading to the Hampton Roads area. Something I would assume the Virginia drivers would know and be prepared for!!

The best part of my drive was coming out of the town of Hampton and hitting the I-64 bridge/tunnel and seeing the Chesapeake Bay for the first time. To the left it seemed to go on forever, and on the right there were sailboats cruising around and huge Navy ships docked in the naval station at Norfolk. I’ve never lived near the water before so this is going to be exciting!! Tomorrow, exploration is planned!!

Post script – while spellchecking this post, I found it humorous that some of my typos for “Virginia” come up with the recommendation “virginal” It takes so little to amuse me…..