Nomad Life - Day 29

After another great sleep in the comfortable bed at the home of my friends (Steve and Kelly), I awoke to my final morning in New England - at least for the foreseeable future.  There were already two important goals that I needed to accomplish as soon as my feet hit the floor: (1) obtain my new laptop and make it functional for work and (2) drive from Connecticut to Virginia.  After doing some reading and games (including Duolingo), I got ready and packed up the car (with all but my work computer).  By 0615, I was teleworking.  Steve came by a bit later to say goodbye (he had to go to work in Hartford) and I thanked him for giving me a nice headquarters for a week of my Nomad Life.  By 0800, Kelly had also come by to ask if I wanted her to make me another Taylor Ham, Egg and Cheese sandwich for my breakfast (how could I refuse?).  With my day already going well, I got in my car (0830) and headed towards the FedEx facility in Glastonbury.  The distance was only about 8 miles but there was back-to-school traffic, a major police activity (traffic stop with drugs?) and some lights to navigate.  I eventually managed to get on CT-2 and the rest of the trip went quickly.  As a result, I was one of the first customers of the day at FedEx (on Glastonbury Boulevard) when they opened (0900).  Fortunately, my laptop was quickly retrieved and I backtracked to Kelly and Steve's (arrived by 0915) to get set up for my provisioning meeting with the IT department.  This meeting took a lot longer than I'd hoped but, fortunately, I stayed on track for my planned noon departure.  During this time, Kelly left home (to do some errands) and graciously offered to have me stay with her family again - I hope that can happen again soon!  Wrapping up with my work day at 1215, I double checked that I had everything I'd brought to Connecticut and headed out of the neighborhood towards the west.  It seemed like a good idea for me to get gas before trying to pass through New York City so I located a nearby Irving station and made my way there (arrived at 1235) to fill up my tank.  During this time, it started to sprinkle - the clouds to the west also looked ominous and I wondered if my streak of good weather days was about to end...  When I tried to tell Google Maps my plans, I figured out that I had no cell signal - as a result, I ended up driving along the eastern side of the Connecticut River for a while.  Tryon Street ended up giving me pleasant views but I didn't get a signal again until I reached Old Maids Lane.  During my planning, I'd seen routes that followed I-84 and I-81 that might take about eight hours with light traffic conditions.  However, the fact that it was Labor Day Weekend was not helping with the time estimates.  Added to that, I had hoped to find a way to visit as many of the 50 states during my first Nomad Life year and wanted to make sure not to miss Delaware.  As a result, I chose a more southerly route and started with about an 8+45 duration (if only the traffic and weather would cooperate).  I should note that this itinerary seemed to indicate that I'd be at Brenna's just after 2100. at From this point, Google Maps took me to I-91 via CT-17, CT-17A and CT-66 (through Portland and across the River).  After less than a mile on the Interstate, I was able to access CT-15 (Wilbur Cross Parkway and, later, Merritt Parkway).  By this point, it was already 1330 and I began to worry about how far behind the Google estimate I'd finally get.  The ride on the Parkway itself went pretty easily (just a few short slow downs) but I drove through some nasty rainstorms (couldn't see anything at all at times) before coming out into the clear as I crossed the Housatonic River.  I was also able to use this time to make calls to my daughters, my friend Kim and Brother Jim - plans appear to be final for the coming week!  Traffic conditions and weather mostly cooperated as I shifted towards I-87 (just east of the Hudson) and I started to believe I'd be able to cross the George Washington Bridge without much delay.  Sadly, this didn't turn out to be true and I soon found myself in one of the worst traffic jams I've seen in years.  Between about 1445 and 1530, I probably only moved about a half mile on the entrance ramp for the bridge.  What a difference from my arrival by train a few days earlier!  On the plus side, there was time for audiobooks and watching the people selling fruit between the slowed cars.  Still, my time estimate for arrival continued to move ever later...  When I finally reached the New Jersey side of the Hudson, it was already much later than I'd hoped and I did everything I could to try to make up time.  The idea of going through Delaware started to look worse and worse - every route I tried (New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Turnpike, I-287, etc.) looked horrible.  Google Maps kept trying to take me west via I-80 and I finally gave up trying to fight it.  Unfortunately, this route ended up having annoying six minute slow downs at almost every major exit.  Not wanting to be trapped on the Interstate, I kept exiting the highway and using a combination of surface streets and US-46 to make my way west.  The arrival time for Brenna's house ticked up to about 2200 and I communicated this to my daughter during one of the slow downs.  Through a combination of Google Maps, instinct and continual determination to skirt the worst of the slow downs, I managed to reach the Delaware River at the town of Belvidere - I crossed a bridge on Water Street that I used to use during my AT trip days (no toll) and then took the Martins Creek Belvidere Highway to PA-611 (saw power plant with big cooling towers).  After Google Maps took me on a few more side streets, I intercepted US-22 and headed west towards Harrisburg.  From this point, I only encountered one more slow down for the rest of the day.  When I got on I-78, I calculated that I'd already spent almost six hours driving about 240 miles (40 mph average) - fortunately, I managed to cover almost the same distance during the next three (plus) hours.  Thank goodness for the 65+ speed limits for the last half of the drive!  Although I wasn't really able to enjoy it, the weather was wonderful again (mostly mid-70s and sunny).  Even better: the traffic was thin, especially after I passed the Susquehanna River.  I got an even better boost when I ended up getting passed by a PA State Trooper - once I settled in behind him (at a good distance), it was smooth sailing all the way to the Potomac River.  At times, I felt pretty good about this drive and remembered all the years of passing through the area for hiking trips and transits to see the kids.  Soon, I'll be traveling much different routes to reach the west coast!  I quickly transited Maryland and West Virginia and reached the Virginia border just before the sun completely set in the west.  The speeds beyond this point stayed high but I began to deal with the slow and unpredictable tractor trailer traffic (ugh...).  Still, I was very pleased when I arrived in Harrisonburg before the predicted arrival time - I was Brenna's apartment by 2150.  WHEW!  This was a painful drive (about 480 miles, 9.3 hours and no stops) but, with it in the rear view mirror, I can say I'm happy to be back in the Old Dominion.  Brenna and Jesse had gone on a hike with their Young Adult Group friends and were not at her apartment.  This gave me time to unpack and then, to my absolute surprise, start making significant progress towards my normal 10K step goal.  I was nearly finished with my walk at about 2300 when, suddenly, three big fire trucks arrived to investigate an activated sprinkler system in Brenna's neighborhood.  Fortunately, this wasn't connected with Brenna's building...  My daughter and her boyfriend arrived a short time later and, after realizing this was just an interesting diversion from normal tasks, moved on with their lives.  I briefly joined them in Brenna's apartment (to say hello) but then finished my walk outside (2345).  Settling on to the couch a bit later, I managed to also catch up on some reading and get my computers set up for the morning.  As a result of this kind of "extra admin", I didn't got to sleep until after 0030.  No worries on the lateness, though - my driving is done for a few days.  Glad I'm going to have quality time with my daughter!