More of the weekend, still no photos

[fbhjr]

So, the party went well Saturday. My goddaughter seemed to have a good
time, and that was the big thing. As expected, our special effects were
enough for 8 year olds. They seemed to really like the pop gun/light saber
deflection game. They liked shooting me, me shooting them, them shooting
each other… I’m glad I got one that was hard to fire. If I had brought one
of the auto fire ones, I’d have never found the ammo. (I have to say Nerf
weaponry has improved a lot since I was a kid.)

Saturday night we checked into the motel. For some reason, no mater who
makes the reservations, we always end up at the same Days Inn if we’re in
MD. I’ve made them, Al’s made them, travel agents have made them, always
the same place. I know there are other places; you can see them from that
one. But, we always end up there. (I know, I know, they are the least
expensive and I’m cheap…)
We did find a nice Japanese restaurant only a short drive from there. It
was a very tiny place in a strip mall. But, the food was very good. They
were doing a large take out business, so I guess lots of other people know
they are good. They just don’t want the ambiance of few seats, mosquitoes
and bright lights while eating. I didn’t care, the food was good.
None of us seemed to have any trouble getting to sleep.

Sunday we all got up fairly early. MD isn’t that far south, but it was far
enough to have a Waffle House, so that’s where we ate breakfast. The crew
there was much younger than most places down south. But, in MD it seems to
be more like a high school job, where farther south it seems more like a
career for some folks.
Either way, it was a lot of good food.

We drove to the National Zoo.
I’ve been going there for decades. It’s a nice zoo. They have a lot of
rare and endangered animals. We were there for a bit more than two hours
before Al and family got there. But, we did all meet up and see a lot of
the zoo. I could have spent another day there, but we needed to get going
to make the long drive home.

We pulled out of the parking lot about 2:30. Al’s house had taken just
under 6 hours. We were an hour south of there. So, I was thinking about
9:30 to get home.
We got home just after midnight.
The stretch of road between Baltimore and central NJ is abysmal. This
isn’t the only time we’ve been stuck there. Through MD and DE, we only
averaged 18 miles an hour. The speed limit is 65. There were no
accidents. There were no breakdowns. The road is just that slow.
The problem is, there aren’t other highways that go through there. To take
any other road means going a long way out of the way. And, you have to do
it at Baltimore, or it is too late. So, you have to decide before the bad
traffic, if you need to go around.
I’ve got to work on a better way.

But, we did get back. It was a nice time. Gabriele liked her party. We
had a good time at the zoo. I just wish the roads were better.

Comments

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Too bad about the roads... :( That's why I stick with 84-83-81 through southwestern CT and PA for my trips to MD. But I think that is way out of the way for Al and where you were going?

18 mph sucks. that's like painful torture suckage.

But glad you all had fun and got home OK.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the way I'm thinking of in the future.
Of course, Al lives right near 95. So, the other way would be 50 extra miles. Last night, that would have been worth it. The problem is you have to pick before you know what the traffic is like.

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

The problem is you have to pick before you know what the traffic is like.

Yup. Until we have "Air Traffic Control" for cars, if not a networking computer linked system (where cars automatically line up with each other going on similar routes, and keep space and pace with each other) ~ we'll have to continue going forth into the great unkown traffic ahead. :P

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Google Earth has added a traffic feature to it's program.
But, I can't access it in the car...
There are traffic reports, but always local. They don't say "the state north of here is having a major backup".
We need major road reports. 95, 90, 80, etc.
Don't know how to get that.