When I woke up, Mollie was already awake and was getting her things ready to put in the car. We departed on our trip to Virginia at 0650 and had to deal with intermittent snow flurries as we left Lebanon. Mollie helped to navigate and I convinced her to download the SiriusXM app for her phone (this improved our tunes selection). On the way south (I-89, I-91), Mollie seemed very happy watching all the interesting scenery as we were driving (she SnapChatted a picture of the UMass sign to Johnny and commented on all the cows). We encountered real snow as we passed Springfield but it didn't last long. We switched over to the Merritt Parkway after passing through Hartford and made good time towards the New York border. We stopped for lunch (Mollie's treat) at Subway in Greenwich, CT (1040). After we got back in the car, we listened to some Moth Radio Hour podcasts (Mollie's request). For the first time in decades, I used I-287 to cross the Hudson River on the brand new Mario Cuomo Bridge. I thought we might have a toll issue in New York but everything worked out in the end. In New Jersey, we continued on I-287 until we reached I-78. We made pretty good time until reaching the area near the I-81 merge but then we had to take a back roads detour to avoid a huge traffic jam. It worked but Mollie got a bit car sick. A short time later, we stopped for gas at Sheetz in Grantville, PA (1400) and I learned how to use the new 88 octane fuel pump. Later, we passed successfully through Harrisburg and had a good ride on PA-581 to US-15. Contiuing into Maryland, we talked about lots of fun memories near Thurmont, MD. We used I-270 and I-495 to make it the rest of the way and arrived at Nicky's by 1620. Mollie seemed pretty happy that we'd had such a good drive (9.5 hours and fun conversations). Because the kids had decided that we'd all go to dinner together, I waited outside (and took some work calls) while they got ready. At 1700, the kids and I drove over to Olympian's Family Restaurant for dinner. The eatery is one of our favorites and we had a nice time chatting about fun things we'd been doing. We were done eating at 1830 and I drove them back to Nicky's. From there (1900), I drove to Fort Belvoir (talked to my dad on the way) and checked into the BOQ. I did some telework and later took a walk near my room (2120 to 2200). I didn't get to bed until midnight because I was distracted by the Georgia Senate Runoff election(s). Tired...
