For those of you who have not followed me in previous travels with the Van of Discovery, we seem to have a bit of a problem getting anywhere. I could tell you that it is because of all the rest stops I make or that it is because of all the U-Turns I make or that it is because of the 45 minute stops in Wal*Mart or Target or a grocery store, but that would make far too much sense. First, I need to backtrack to bring you up to the real reason why it takes me three times longer than the average traveler to get anywhere.
I have an AKAI flat-screen TV at home. I got a good deal on it because it was the floor model at RadioShack. I have had it for three years, so it may be four years old or older. Still, that really doesn’t seem to be so old as compared to TV’s that used to last 15-20 years. The video card seems to be going on it as recently I’ve had strips of hieroglyphic messages pop up across the screen. They started in black and white and then in color. With time, they actually started to form real words, but not complete sentences yet. With time, I realized that the messages were coming across the screen via one TV station – ThiS network. Oh, BTW, I don’t have cable or satellite; I have the dreaded over-the-air, new-and-improved digital signal captured with bunny ears. After watching these messages for weeks and watching improvement in the messages for weeks and realizing that they were being transmitted and that the problem was not my video card, I came to the only likely conclusion that I was being contacted by aliens.
Now, back to the Van of Discovery and my three-times longer traveling problem: Yesterday, I drove from Midlothian, VA to Gloucester, VA – a 90 mile drive over thruways that should have taken me no more than two hours. The only stop I made was for gas and I managed to miss rush-hour traffic through Richmond. I swear I left Midlothian at 3:30. I wanted to make sure I got to Gloucester while it was still light because parking the van in Karen’s driveway can be rather tedious in the dark. I don’t know how it happened, but I arrived at Karen’s three hours later, pulling into her driveway at 6:30. I came to the realization last night that, the aliens trying to communicate to me through my TV were not telling me that they were coming for a visit; they were telling me that they had plans to come pick me up. Last night, I lost time because I was abducted by the aliens and it happens every time I get into that van. It is the only explanation as to why it takes me three times longer than it should to get to any destination.
So, getting back to where I left off with Day 1, I left Stevensville, MD at around 9:30. I had 160 miles to go and figured it would take me about 3 hours. I pulled into Midlothian at 2:30 in the afternoon. Another alien abduction must have happened, because my 3 hour drive turned into 5 hours. Midlothian is the location for the company I’ve been working for the past three months. I stopped in to see Dave and called Bobby who was working at home that day. Other than that, I didn’t get any work done. I was too wiped from lack of sleep the night before and a grueling five-hour drive. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention, the wind was brutal. Roadtreks on Dodge chassis’ have a history of road sway, especially in high winds. I just spent big bucks having new shocks put on the van which helped immensely, but did nothing to help with the high-wind conditions. I had all I could do to keep the van on the road that day. I had five hours of white-knuckle driving.
My plans were to stay at the Kings Dominion campground just north of Richmond that night. It was about a 45 minute drive away. I suppose it is just as well I didn’t go there as I know it would have taken me 2 hours. Anyway, Bobby said it was too far away and that I should go to Pocahontas State Park which was only 18 miles away. So, I drove the 18 miles, which took about 45 minutes, only to find that the park was open but the campgrounds were closed. Now, I had nowhere to stay. What to do???? I drove back to Midlothian and set up camp in the parking lot at work. I was going to be there the next day anyway.
I took Hope for a walk, managed to wash my hair with about two cups of water, made dinner, and settled in to watch a movie before going to sleep for the night. When I went to bed, it was 60 degrees out with a slight, balmy breeze. When I woke up the next morning, it was below 30. The heat came on so often that I got worried about draining my battery too far, so I got up at 5:30 and started the generator. This makes sleepless night #2 – too much noise between the furnace, traffic, a freight train somewhere, and in the wee hours of the morning, the sound of the generator popping and gurgling underneath my head.
Although I was at work a full day, I didn’t get more than four hours work done. I had a meeting with Dave and Bob, had another meeting with Dave regarding a lost paycheck, caught up with four days worth of e-mail, wrote one or two e-mails out, and filled out my timesheet – which I forgot to hand in at the end of the day. The rest of the day was spent virus scanning Frann and Lane’s PC to make sure I didn’t infect it with my timesheet and looking for software so I could watch TV.
I will continue with Day 4 – The storm and the most boring day on earth. Oops, I forgot. I have one picture. Just above Williamsburg on I-64 was a car fire.
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