A record storm and perilous pile-ups is messing with our plans to traverse the east coast in three days.
We left Rhode Island’s chilly climate yesterday morning, aiming to catch up with the sun in Florida. We were oblivious to the weather conditions ahead. Our car chewed up the miles as we listened to an outstanding audiobook,
The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson. As we passed through New Haven, Stamford, New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore, the travel time flew because our attention was riveted to the story of Jennifer Doudna and the history of gene editing. I just love a great science story.
But then, my phone dinged with a text from a friend, “OMG, Look south into Virginia. Could be ugly.” I paused the audiobook and googled. Yep, snow was predicted for where we were headed. I switched to resume playing. We traversed the Washington, DC beltway and exited into northern Virginia. Flurries smeared the windshield, spurring my husband to spritz and wipe the windshield continuously. The sun lowered in the sky, radiating a blinding glare across the icy roadway, causing fellow travelers to slow down and a few to skid off the road. We agreed that our intended overnight stop destination of Richmond remained a good plan. At 90 miles away, it still made sense to press forward. Until it didn’t.
Traffic slowed to a stop. We were sandwiched in between tractor trailers. In 30 minutes, we moved forward by 3 miles. Even with the distraction of a great book to listen to, the message was not lost on us that this was not a good situation. Each time google maps refreshed, our goal got further away. The Google Maps lady told us that there were delays of more than 5 hours. We inched forward and decided to exit from I-95 as soon as we could. We did; at Woodbridge, Virginia. Thanks to the Google Maps lady’s directions, we found a Quality Inn not far from the exit ramp. As we got off I-95, we noticed that the entrance to I-95 heading north was closed. True, we weren’t going north, but it could just as easily have been our side of the road that was closed. In fact, not long after we got off, the southbound lanes of I-95 were closed, stranding the cars that were still on the road.
My husband and I were not the only people who bailed out. We got our key to a room and then went right out to search for something to eat for dinner. The shopping center a half-mile away had a few restaurants. Except: the Greek pizza place was closed, the Mi Casa/Su Casa Mexican restaurant was closed and the Chinese restaurant had a 2-hour wait for takeout (where people sat waiting for their orders). The last resort was the Food Lion grocery store with a paper notice taped to the door saying that they were closing soon. We grabbed the last two salads from the deli case and a bottle of Merlot and slid across the black-iced parking lot back to our car. We had a quality picnic dinner in our Quality room.
This morning, we lined up to take advantage of the free breakfast choice of either (and only either) Hostess Danish or Jimmy Dean Sausage Sandwich. Proof that we have arrived into the south. We’re waiting for the sun to melt the ice, for the state highway people to reopen I-95, and to resume listening to
The Code Breaker’s gripping story about gene editing.
