-For the third consecutive Saturday, I embarked on a road trip. This time I would not be returning the same day.
-Before leaving town, JTH and I met PAT and CM at Buddy’s Bar-B-Q to celebrate PAT’s birthday. No, we were not being cheap. PAT selected the restaurant as he was to eat with his family at Outback Steakhouse later in the night and did not wish to spoil his appetite.-Both PAT and CM are well. CM has straightened her hair and it looks great (not that it didn’t before). PAT shared a recent addition to his philosophy of life: When life treats you like a urinal, remember urinals still get cake. PAT is not only growing older, but clearly wiser as well.
-After getting my oil changed at Valvoline and purchasing warmer clothes at Wal-Mart, JTH and I hit the interstate to begin our trip to Washington, DC. This sentence was to show my responsibility. Are you impressed?
-While most smart southerners travel south during the winter, JTH and I ventured north to Washington, DC. Then again, we have never been accused of being smart. JTH had not been to the nation’s capitol since 1994 while I last visited DC in 2006. Having been rushed on recent trips, we decided to take our time and enjoy the journey. This entailed the poor planning you would expect from such a statement.
-En route we listened to the comedy stylings of Dane Cook. We began with his CD “Vicious Cycle”. We have discovered that the secret to long road trip is listening to comedians en route. We found it ironic that we were listening to DC on the way to DC. Well, I did anyway.-JTH was hungry when we hit the road, just before 5 pm. We decided to wait to eat on the road. This wait proved longer than we expected. We tried stopping in Wytheville, Virginia for food but every place the Garmin directed us to was nonexistent. Evidently, if you want to open a restaurant Wytheville, Virginia is not the place to do so.
-The detour through Wytheville was not for naught. JTH spotted a Goodwill. He learned first hand that I brake for Goodwills. I was very proud of the driving maneuver that landed us (literally) in the parking lot and took years off of JTH’s life. While there, we asked for suggestions of local eateries. The employees recommended Shoney’s and Applebees. Really? In fact, all three times we asked locals to eat on this trip, they suggested Applebees! Rejecting food we could eat in Knoxville, we decided to continue on our journey.-The stop also inspired us. We (read: I) decided to stop at every Goodwill and Wal-Mart on the way. Some observations: Every Goodwill we frequented in Virginia (and there were many): paperback books sold for 75¢, hardbacks for $1, and t-shirts were $3.50. In regards to Wal-Mart, Barack Obama merchandise and thermal clothing increased exponentially the further north we got.
-At a Wal-Mart, I bought gloves. I always feel like Darth Vader when I wear gloves. Signs I am a nerd...
-We stopped in Blacksburg looking for food but only found a Country Cookin. We walked in, noticed that it was essentially a Shoney’s and then proceeded to walk directly out the door! We did not want to eat at a chain. I had planned to stop in Roanoke but missed my exit(s) on the interstate. We later learned it was far off I-81.-By 10 pm, we had gotten far less particular regarding food. Remember, JTH was already hungry when we left. We gladly ate at a Ruby Tuesday in Lexington, Virginia. We enjoyed our meal and our waitress, Samantha.
-We then continued the short distance to Lexington, where Robert E. Lee died and Stonewall Jackson lived. I found the weekend hotel rates too high so we drove a little further down I-81. We wound up spending the night in room 220 of the Days Inn in Raphine, Virginia (located at 584 Oakland Circle). Fortunately Days Inn still uses the same codes from when I worked there over a decade ago and we secured a room for $49.95.
-We got what we paid for. The heat did not seem to work and JTH contemplated switching rooms. When we woke up, neither of us had any covers on. It turns out the heating unit was just extremely slow. We did get this lovely note from Housekeeping.-We watched Juno on television and went to bed as we were both tired. According to MapQuest, we traveled 325.1 miles on this day.
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