From One Extreme to the Other

It’s been six months since we took a road trip. We have been very cautious since the pandemic due to our age and the general trends. The last time was at Thanksgiving to visit our family in central Virginia. So we were looking forward to spending time with them for the weekend. Our grandson just finished his first year at college and wouldn’t be around this summer so it was good timing. It’s about a three hour drive if all goes well. The time to travel is shorter now since we live in northern Virginia instead of Capitol Hill. Just getting out of the city is at least a half an hour more. What we like to see most is the total difference in surroundings - from construction zones and heavy traffic leaving and upon our return compared to the tranquility of the more rural landscape. And no where is it more obvious the further south we go - from I495 to I66 to 29S through Charlottesville and one hour more after that. The flat land, congestion and freeways turn in to rolling meadows, farmland, mountains, and tranquility. The time went by very quickly and the ride back was just there hours flat on a Monday morning. We missed rush hour and it makes a big difference. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another six months to visit. It’s like night and day in more ways than one.