Mile 1500 (approx.): There and... Do We Really Have to go Back Again?

On the beach. In December. We heart Florida.
After splitting Christmas in Northern Virginia, it was time to begin the adventurous part of our trip: the drive to South Florida. 1000 miles, one day. We learned three things from this trip:

1. 1000 miles is about as much as anyone can sensibly drive in a day. We definitely could have kept driving, but at some point we probably would have looked like those light up guys from Tron.

2. The BMW 3-series is (or, perhaps, was) one of the most well-built cars in the world. We are continually amazed how a 1997 328i with 138,000 miles on it can drive 1000 miles in a day, averaging 75 mph (roughly) and the squidgy bits on the inside are what fail first. That car could have easily turned right around and headed straight on back. If we weren't sold on getting one ourselves when we moved back to the US, we are sold now.

3. The states of South Carolina and Georgia are under construction. Google maps estimated 15 hours to make the trip. When we hit South Carolina we were averaging about 80 mph and were likely going to make West Palm by about 6pm, as opposed to the 7-8pm arrival we originally expected. Unfortunately, these two great states had other plans for us. We were held to 25-35 mph for a solid hour and a half in both states which effectively erased any time savings we hoped to make. Once we cleared Orlando, though, we were able to travel at ludicrous speed once again and still got in around 7:15, as originally planned. 

The weather in Florida has been nothing short of spectacular our entire time down here. 75-80 degrees, partly cloudy (mostly sunny) every day. Sun's up at 7:30am, sun sets just before 6pm. Florida is the anti-England, and we're happy to be here. So far we've only made it to the beach once, but our other activities have been exciting. We've had some excellent fish and deli food and yesterday we went out to the Seminole indian reservation and went on an airboat ride through the Everglades. Nothing greater than that. We're nearly halfway through our time in the tropics, at this point, so there's still more relaxation to come.

Delicious Caribbean-style fish at Little Moir's Food Shack

Playing around at the Sea Turtle Marinelife Center

Airboat ride through the Everglades. Warning- dere be gatahs in dat watah.

Read More...

Summary only...

South Florida: Senses

Read More...

Summary only...

Charlottesville: Senses

Read More...

Summary only...

Mile 353: Of Mice and Men...

Virginia. Home.
Miles 0-200+:
-----------
The first few days of our US homecoming have seen little of blog worthiness. We have had to go to the dentist and eye doctor and take care of those sorts of things. We've visited Tysons Corner and Fair Oaks already to take advantage of what (little) advantage we have in the GBP to USD conversion as far as clothing is concerned. Most of our time has been spent in the pursuit of such errands, all of which have taken more time than expected. We had an excellent lunch at Whole Foods in Fairfax a few days ago. Will was excited to have his first (REAL!) BBQ since arriving back. We've also been spending time around Will's mom's house chasing after the dogs and taking pictures of things. It's strange to have useful sized appliances again, the fridge especially. The weather does not look promising for our trip to Massachusetts, as snow appears to be likely.

Mmm barbeque

Demon dog

Christmas elfing

Will in the backyard
Charlottesville:
-----------
Unfortunately, we've had to cancel our trip to Massachusetts in light of the weather. Luckily, our Plan B was a good one. Saturday, the day we were meant to be driving up, we chose instead to run some more errands and to meet up with Jackie's brother for dinner. Sunday, though, was especially nice given that we were able to make a trip down to Charlottesville earlier than expected. With "Redcar" primed and pumped for a return to past stomping grounds, we turned Southward, and headed for the alma mater. We met up with our friend Molly who is in the Army and will be deployed on Boxing Day on her first assignment. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to see her, so it really was a blessing to be able to meet up with her this past weekend. We did the Charlottesville usual: breakfast at The Tavern, a walk around the Lawn and the Corner. Everything was abandoned so it made for a quiet, if surreal, walk around Grounds. As we drove around the countryside around Charlottesville, all three of us were commenting about how spoiled we've been to be able to spend so much time in a place of such rare natural beauty. While the pictures are good, they really can't capture how spectacular the views of the mountains were today when the clouds finally lifted. Cambridge may have the history, but Charlottesville is still number one in our hearts.
Oh yeah, and if you are a gun store with a bear on your roof, 'tis the season to dress it up like Santa Claus.

The Lawn at The University of Virginia

E-school

Molly!!!

Will + Jackie along The Lawn

Greatest threat to national security? BEARS.
MPG: 25.9
Miles/day: 88.25 (142 km/day)

Read More...

Summary only...

Mile 0: We're Back... Like the Dinosaurs

Some 3700 air miles and nine (!) hours later, after a 5am (GMT) start in Cambridge and a 4:00pm (EST) landing at Dulles, and more queuing than even an English person could reasonably stand, we've arrived back in the US for the first time in 15 months. Even the US Immigration officer was surprised by that one. Not enough to deny us entry, but at least enough for a friendly chuckle.

First impressions:
1) There's still lots of traffic in Northern Virginia, but not anymore than before, nor nearly as bad as the M25,

2) Driving on the RIGHT side of the road feels natural. Period. I don't know if I could ever get used to driving on the left. Just riding back from the airport it felt good to be on the right side of the road again.

3) Virgin airlines is a good choice, even for Economy. Although experiences will certain vary, we thought that it was not much of a step below what we enjoyed with MAXJet.

Amazingly, we're not really feeling jet lag. For whatever reason we've been able to cycle around nicely to Eastern time; maybe it's just what our bodies know is right.

One thing is certain: it is good to be back.

Read More...

Summary only...