Dinner and a Drive

Last Wednesday (10/18/2006), my daughter and I went to the Historic Triangle of Virginia --- Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg --- for a homeschool field trip, planned to coincide with a Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip (EFT) offered to our homeschool support group. The EFT was actually scheduled for Thursday (10/19/2006), but we decided to arrive in Virginia a day early.

The drive there took nine hours, thankfully driven by my husband who took the train to Connecticut from Norfolk, Virginia, just especially to act as the family chauffeur. He is an expert at navigating the heavy traffic encountered on the I-95 corridor between New England and Virginia, having driven it almost weekly for over two years while stationed aboard the USS Emory S. Land at Naval Station Norfolk.

The day began at 6:00 am with a visit to the Amtrak station to collect my husband. He was home just long enough to shower, vacuum the Subaru, and perform the all-important pre-travel checklist known to all husband mechanics. You know the one: oil level, windshield wiper fluid, properly inflated tires, etc. After a quick stop at the gas station for fuel, coffee, and bagels with cream cheese, we hit the road at around 9:30 am.

Much to my astonishment, traffic was fast and relatively clear, causing my husband to choose a route that carried us directly over the George Washington Bridge in New York City and down the New Jersey Turnpike. I never take this route because I hate the combination of high speed (~70 mph) and tight traffic. I opt for the longer route through western Connecticut, over the Newburgh Bridge, and up into Pennsylvania, thereby avoiding any semblance of traffic that could be described as “heavy,” much less barely congested. Having grown up on the flatlands of southern Minnesota, I much prefer the wide-open road where my only companion is the scenery and some road noise.

Our route continued over the Delaware Memorial Bridge and down the Delmarva Peninsula, crossing the eastern shore areas of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. If I wanted to see flatlands, I certainly got my fill on US Route 13. I was amazed to see such level plowed fields, much like those found in southwestern Minnesota or northern Illinois. Even my family commented on the uniformly horizontal topography. Actually, I think the word my daughter used was “boring.”

Her stagnant state of mind was eventually assuaged by our arrival at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. She had been over this bridge years ago, as a very young child, but apparently remembered nothing about it, so it was important to create a new memory that would definitely be retained now that she is fully sixteen years old. We pulled into the first overlook around sunset (hence, the lovely photograph taken by my husband) before heading over the bridge proper. A bit of fog was hanging near the shoreline, making it difficult to see the other side, a detail that only made the view more captivating. It was definitely serene, just what we all needed at the end of a long drive and before arriving in Chesapeake for dinner with our friends.

Dinner, by the way, was BLT sandwiches, Jell-o salad, and macaroni and cheese, with chocolate crème pie for dessert. Added to the fellowship of good friends, it was a great way to end the day.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. --- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NASB