Road Trip

Shannon turned 17 on Saturday (in Connecticut). Her birthday present was sitting in my garage in Florida. The need to get the car from south to north happened to coincide with a couple of business meetings en route. So Tuesday afternoon I turned right onto I-95, set the cruise control, and the odyssey began.

I overnighted south of Richmond, got up early Wednesday morning, and headed to Charlottesville (where we operate six fabulous radio stations). I had a productive day at the office. Late afternoon, it was onto I-64 headed west and enjoying a great sunset from the Blue Ridge Mountains. I stopped at a roadside park for an hour to complete a conference call. The goal was to get to Morgantown, WV where I had lunch plans the next day. Not sure about the weather, I decided (in consultation with Loree) to take the interstates and not cut through the shortcut over the mountains.

In spite of the good decision to stay on the major highways, the final leg of that night's journey turned into an E-ticket ride.

Heading west, about Cumberland, MD, as the hills became even taller, the first snowflakes appeared. West of Cumberland, the snow picked up and it was very dark and desolate.

By the WV/MD line, I was big time in the mountains and in the middle of blowing, freezing fog. Now freezing fog is a real treat, and a totally new experience for this Floridian. No matter how hard your defroster blows, the fog hits your front windshield and turns to ice. Suddenly. Worse, I had Florida windshield washer fluid which apparently has no anti-freeze characteristics.

So as my windshield froze up to where I could no longer see to drive, I pulled off into a rest area. So here's the picture. It is now midnight. I'm on top of a mountain. 19 degrees. Blowing, freezing fog. Roads becoming treacherous. And I'm only thirty miles or so from the safety and warmth of my motel room.

Prepared to spend the night (and maybe the week) in the rest area shelter, I got some local knowledge of the roads and weather from the attendant. Neither sounded promising.

After an hour and a half of pondering my plight, it appeared that the freezing fog had let up (though the road had gotten worse). I crept down the hill at 20 miles per hour and eventually got to my motel.

I enjoyed seeing Morgantown (my first visit). It is home to the University of West Virginia and there is a lot going on there.

Thursday night, I arrived Greenwich, CT uneventfully. Hopped Metro North into the City Friday morning, had a nice lunch at Michael's on West 55th, caught the train back to Greenwich for a late afternoon meeting, then headed to Ridgefield to celebrate Shannon's birthday.

I think she was truly excited to get her first car. We had a great visit, including catching up with her cousins, Tom and James, and her friend Sarah. Finding the hotel after the party proved to be a challenge, but Loree vectored me in via phone.

6:30am flight out of Westchester headed south. I am writing this on the first leg (HPN-CLT). It is amazing how much snow is on the ground. It is pure white outside.

Road trip over. Mission accomplished. Over 1,500 miles up (and over a thousand air miles back). Could use a little R & R.

George