Nomad Life - Day 193

After a few nice days with Mollie, Alex and Maple, it was time for me to head to the next destination of my Nomad Life: Virginia Beach!  For some reason, I was awake at 0500 and didn't try to go back to sleep.  Instead, I began teleworking immediately.  At 0700, I went out into the living room and met up with Mollie, who had been getting ready for work.  Fortunately, I got to spend time visiting with her and Maple.  Along the way, she made breakfast (eggs) for us - it was nice to enjoy another home-cooked meal made by my daughter!  The sad part, though, was that I had to say goodbye to Alex and Mollie (0745).  As usual, Maple went in her crate so I could keep working without distraction.  As had happened each day of my visit, I felt bad...  Still, I had some projects and meetings to complete; I worked from the apartment all the way to 1245.  Wrapping up my day (for the time being), I was able to take Maple for a well-deserved walk.  Temps were in the 60s and it was bright and sunny outside.  The dog enjoyed our time together and probably have been happy with a much longer walk.  Sadly, I had to get on the road so I could make it to Erin's house at the time I'd promised.  So, after returning from the outdoor exercise and putting Maple back in her crate, I packed up my car and departed Fredericksburg.  With about 100 miles left on my tank of gas and fuel prices ridiculously high (even worse than Pennsylvania) in the immediate area, I drove to Ashland (using I-95), where I got lunch at Chick-fil-A (1410) and got gas at a more reasonably priced station next door.   By 1425, I was ready to depart the area and texted Erin that it would take me about two hours to reach Virginia Beach.  After that, I made my way south on I-95.  The traffic was mostly good but there was plenty of construction and speed cameras.  This was true on I-295 but, especially, on I-64.  To pass the time, listened to audiobooks.  As I approached the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, Google Maps tacked on over 30 minutes to my drive time.  As I'd seen during previous visits, it also suggested the Monitor-Merrimack Bridge as an alternative to I-64.  Hoping to avoid a long detour and a lot of extra mileage, I stuck with the original route and managed to get all the way to Hampton before the traffic slowed down.  After that, I got off on Mercury Boulevard (US-258).  While there were lights, I immediately lost a lot of the delay.  I also got to pass by (didn't stop) the interesting static display near Langley Air Force Base.  At one point, though, I reached a traffic light that never seemed to change.  Annoyed at this delay, I took some back roads nearby and luckily reached an intersection (Segar and Mallory) where I was able to get through the intersection.  After a prohibited left turn (construction zone), I was able (along with several other cars) to merge on to I-64 again just before the bridge/tunnel.  I will admit that I was wondering by then whether I'd been tagged by any speed, red-light or other cameras... From that point, the drive across James River went slowly (as usual) - once I was on the Norfolk side, though, I made very good time to Virginia Beach (via I-64 and I-264).  In the end, I exited the Interstate nearly exactly two hours after I'd texted Erin!  After I arrived at her house (1635), we took a walk with Kiki in Erin's neighborhood.  It was nice to talk to her and meet some of her neighbors again.  We finished our brief outdoor interlude at 1700 and I then went into the guest room to do some more teleworking (to finish my work day).  With that phase of my day complete, I rejoined Erin in the living room and we talked for a while.  Austin got home just after 1800 and I got to visit with him too.  Meanwhile, Erin kept saying she was going to make dinner.  This didn't happen, though, for more than another hour.  By then, the lasagna she planned to make still required a significant amount of time to prepare.  With this knowledge, I decided to take another walk in Erin's neighborhood.  It was dark by then but I had no trouble getting steps (although I never reached my step goal).  By the time I returned to Erin's, I still had time unload my car.  With all the chores and time-killing task complete, I arrived in the kitchen just in time for some delicious dinner!  During the next hour, I also go to try one of Austin's "craft cider" drinks.  With our meal complete, Erin and I sat in the living room and talked some more, getting in one of our classic political discussions.  Fortunately, things were very civil and we easily transitioned to playing "fetch" with Kiki and watching a Seinfeld episode after that.  By 2145, though, I was feeling tired and went into the guest room to get ready for bed.  For some reason, though, I ended up getting distracted with some online news until much later than I planned - it was 2330 before I turned out the lights.  What a great day full of daughters and dogs!