Christmas Trip - Day 12

Even though I had planned to drive home today, I still did some teleworking in Chantilly as soon as I woke up (before 0500).  Like yesterday, the morning was quite slow (all meetings had been canceled and most people were on leave).  I took a break to get some breakfast (comped again) in the hotel restaurant and then resumed teleworking.  At about 0745, I packed up my car, checked out of the Holiday Inn and departed for New Hampshire.  My first stop (after using VA-28, I-66 and I-495) was in Beltsville, where I spent over an hour (0830 to 1000) with Brother Jim in his retirement home.  I helped him with some computer problems and we had a nice conversation.  During this time, I also got a bit of teleworking done (mostly just checking email; everything was quiet).  At 1000, I said goodbye and headed north on I-95.  Along the way, I thought about all the hiking trips I'd done on this route...  I changed to I-695 and skirted around the northwest side of Baltimore.  There were a LOT of speed cameras in the construction zones (ugh).  Made it to I-83 without much incident and then settled in for a long drive to Harrisburg.  Fortunately, the weather was great and, initially, I didn't have too much traffic. When I got to the Susquehanna River, however, the traffic jams started and it took me a while to get to I-81.  Even then, I had some stop-and-go all the way to I-78;.  North of that junction, though, the drive was very easy and I thought it would be smooth sailing all the way to Binghamton.  Unfortunately, there were a lot of left lane cruisers, some big trucks, and construction - this slowed me down a little.  I made a couple of stops for short breaks and even kept my computer signed into my work network for several hours as I drove.  Just after getting to the New York State Line, I took some back roads towards I-88.  It was during this time that my sister, Carolyn, started texting about some sort of problem with my dad.  When I called to find out what was wrong, I learned that his dog, Ana, had died.  I thanked Carolyn for letting me know but didn't immediately contact my dad because I needed to stop for gas.  After getting off the Interstate in Oneonta (NY) at 1605, I found that my Mirabito card (still) didn't work.  Instead, I went in search of another station.  Along the way, I redeemed more cans and bottles at Walmart (1815).  Next, I headed over to BJ's, where I filled up the gas tank (1830).  Once I was back on I-88, I made really good time as I drove east.  West of Albany, I got off the Interstate (Duanesburg) and took US-20 all the way to I-87.  Next, I got off the Interstate again and took NY-7 towards the east and across the Hudson River.;  After a brief break at McDonalds in Troy, I resumed driving towards Vermont.  Unfortunately, I got stuck behind some slow traffic and it took forever to reach VT-7.  However, once I got on VT-279, I made good time to US-7 and Manchester.  At this point, I called my dad to express my condolences about the passing of his beloved dog (had to leave a voicemail).  My drive continued (via VT-11) across the Green Mountains and I found a good "rabbit" in front of me who made the trip go quickly.  I followed VT-11 all the way to the western outskirts of Springfield and then used some back roads through town.  After that, I picked up VT-11 again and used it to reach I-91.  During this last leg of the trip, I made good time to I-89 and arrived home at 2030.  It was only then that I realized I hadn't eaten anything since the middle of the day!  Still, I didn't feel hungry...  As I usually do, I sent a Smurfey picture to the girls, unpacked and then went to bed early.  This Christmas trip to Virginia worked out much better for me than the last one I did - it was great to see friends and family and meet some new people.  What a great ending to 2024!