Ready for DC...

We're just about ready to head into Washington. We spent about an hour this morning trying to find a parking garage or something of that nature where we could park for the day without having to either break our budget or get some kind of account which we'd only ever wind up using once. So we checked websites and called around and finally picked out a garage that's supposed to only be a couple of blocks from the White House. Hopefully they'll still have some openings when we get there...

We enjoyed the continental breakfast here at the motel, and hopefully the fact that it was all starch and sugar will give us enough energy to keep going through the first part of the day. It's funny that the breakfast offerings were pretty much all baked goods or cereal, with the exception of a bowl of apples. I guess they just want to get you hopped up on sugar and out the door fast...

Speaking of which, we're just about out the door...

Another day's travelling done, near D.C...

We're safely ensconced here at the Day's Inn in Arlington, VA. We got in at about 7:40 local time, although it seemed like it was later than that. I guess that would have a lot to do with all the driving we've been doing that past couple of days. Seems like it's a lot of driving till we're completely tired out, and then just sleep when we get here. But we've certainly seen a whole lot of stuff.

After our little lunch break in Salem, we got back on the road with me driving. The girlfriend took a bunch of pictures out of the car when she wasn't taking a nap for an hour or so. There is a whole lot of nice scenery to be seen out in the Virginia countryside, and the weather has been gloriously clear. Traffic was a little bit of an issue for an hour or so, but it cleared out pretty well. I think we might have been passing fairly near one of the moderate sized cities when the traffic picked up, but it wasn't really much of an issue.

Here are the pictures the girlfriend took out the window:




You can tell how light the traffic has been in this picture...









I thought the fence design looked pretty cool on these:



We stopped at the little town of Marshall, VA, at about 6:30 local time to get gas and to switch drivers, since it was getting fairly close to the DC area. It's just a little town off the freeway, but they have a lot of nice old architecture there. I snapped this picture of an old church, but it didn't come out all that well because the light was already failing:


After we were gassed up, we continued on toward our motel here in Arlington. I had mentioned that I wouldn't mind stopping at the Manassas Battleground park, which we did, but it wound up being closed and dark. Not too unexpected, since it was about 7:00 local time when we got there. There wasn't a whole lot of photo opportunity in the parking lot, but I snapped this picture of one of the old fences as we drove down the little access road:


I would have snapped a few more pictures of things, but we had a car behind us on the two-lane road, and we had to get back on the road anyway. At that point, we were still thinking that we might ride the subway or bus into Washington this evening, although we didn't wind up doing so.

The remainder of the drive here was pretty uneventful. I tried to take pictures of a few things along the way, but most didn't come out well because of the light dying. I did snap one of this crystal sculpture looking thing that was right off the freeway exit when we pulled into Arlington itself:


The service here at the Day's Inn has been great. We got a few recommendations from the desk clerk for restaurants to eat at. We decided to just eat at the Thai restaurant they have attached to the motel, and the food there was pretty good. It wasn't really something to write home about, but it was definitely the best thing we've had on the trip so far. Service at the restaurant was good, too. The room itself is clean, appears to have a working shower, and has high speed internet available. In general, I'll give this one a thumbs-up. Hopefully the bed will be comfortable, because it's just about time to try it out...

Stopping for lunch in Salem, VA...

We're stopped for lunch in the parking lot of the public library in Salem, VA, just a little to the southwest of Roanoke. The girlfriend's legs were starting to get pretty sore, so we decided it was about time to switch drivers again. Unfortunately, it seems that the back seat of her new SUV isn't quite the size of the old one, so we're having some troubles getting everything moved around well enough for her to be able to lie down and put her feet up.

Plus we also had a few issues with the ice chest. We took a little styrofoam ice chest in which to put our sodas and a few semi-perishable items, like cheese and some fruits and vegetables. Well, all of that's fine except for the fact that evidently the water from the ice melting seeps through the foam, so there was pretty much a watery mess in the back seat where we had it.

So she was upset about all that, but we've got everything pretty much put together now, with the front seat laid down and my laptop put on top of that like a desk, and her able to use the back seat and the rear half of the prone front seat to put her feet on. We're having some cheese and crackers for lunch, which is fine. Not quite as filling as some of my usual lunches, but certainly better than Taco Bell or something like that.

The drive up here has been pretty nice. Here are a few snaps taken along the highway...




And, as we drove into town, looking for a park or something to park at, we noticed that there was this very pretty row of white blossoming trees they had planted on the main road into town:



Anyway, I'm planted in the driver's seat again, and it's about time to head back out on the road. I don't know how much further to Washington, but we're probably not going to get there at least till the middle of the evening, local time. I'm staying with Central Time on my blog, but everything's an hour later now, and it's getting up to the middle afternoon now. At least it's not hot, even though everything is pretty clear and pretty.

Time to head on the road...

Welcome to Virginia...

We're currently stopped for gas in Wytheville, VA. I think we've seen more police within the first hour in Virginia than we've seen during the entire rest of our trip. The girlfriend's ankles are not feeling all that great, but she said she's going to keep driving for a little while yet, and then I can take over for a few hours while she tries to get the swelling down.

Here's the "Welcome to Virginia" sign:



And a couple of shots of Wytheville's very colorful water tower:




Back to the highway...