by JudyJB » Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:15 pm
Arrived at campground in Williamsburg about 5 pm today. I looked at everyone's suggestions and decided that since I was close to Gettysburg, that I would take the western route, sort of. So at 10:15 am, I headed down to Leesburg on the road from Gettysburg. Only problem is something I experienced a few times and need to remember when planning travel drives, especially long ones--the weather was sunny and gorgeous and the temps were moderate, so everyone seemed to be out for a weekend drive!! Roads that are no doubt fairly un-busy on a weekday, were packed and it took a long time to get through some towns with stoplights!!
It took me two hours to drive the first 64 miles, so after listening to the radio and realizing that the protest group in DC was a lot smaller than they had feared, I cut over to to the beltway after all. Not busy at all, but had problems with one tollbooth that wanted either an express pass or $3.25 in coins only, believe it or not!!! People with the express passes were zooming past, while those of us who were out-of-towners were stuck in a line trying to figure out how to pay, and not being able to back up!! No credit cards accepted, except after reading several of the signs, i realized you could just drive through and they would bill you. One young man in front of me could not speak English and was completely lost because the sign was only in English!! He was walking around to other cars making gestures and holding up a bunch of dollar bills, trying to get help on what to do. I tried to tell him it was OK to drive through, but he did not understand, and finally an attendant came from the nearby building and gestured to him and told him to drive through. I luckily had the change and dropped it in the bucket, but DC has a ton of people from other countries and even more coming in from out of town, so this kind of exact change requirement and signs only in English do not make sense. The signs should at least be in at least 4 or 5 other languages!
The short piece of the beltway was OK, except about 5 miles south when I got onto I-95, there was an accident which messed up everything for a while. And just past Richmond, VA, on I-64 there was a several mile long backup, but luckily on the other side!!!! My side did just fine. Whew!
So, relaxing and had some dinner, so I feel a lot better. Need to remember to take Advil earlier in the day on such long drives so my back does not hurt so much.
Anyway, my back and shoulders are still sore from lifting and managing my old and new mattresses. The old one is still in my "hallway," but the campground owner is going to try to find either someone who will come and get it or a place I can take it.