The Parking Lot Ride to New England

We have not been out of the state since the pandemic hit. A couple of weeks ago we got an invitation to visit New England for my oldest cousin’s memorial service. She passed away last year and now a get together was planned. So we decided it was time to take a ride. We are very familiar with the freeways to the Midwest and the south, but have never driven from DC to New England - the most congested corridor anywhere in the US. If we could get through this we could get through anything. I can honestly say that we would never do it again. It was essentially a parking lot from the time we left home to the time we arrived. From DC to Baltimore and the tunnel, to Philadelphia to New Jersey. Then the ultimate hell hole of New York. Everything looks so old, rusty and cruddy. On top of that it was raining most of the time. The toll roads were ridiculous. I don’t know if my easy pass transponder worked but it was replenished twice along the way - eighty dollars worth. The George Washington Bridge alone was seventeen dollars to cross. Google maps was constantly red and we crawled along. We never planned trips in the summer months because of all of the traffic and especially since the pandemic. Everyone is taking a vacation now. But this was for a different reason. The drive back was just as bad as the drive up. To make matters worse we had an hour delay because of a presidential motorcade on the freeway near our house. It was just too much. But we are still happy we went and glad we were able to survive the gridlock. And the company is always so good.