Welcome to Virginia!

This is what summer break is about-getting up at 4 AM. Wait, make that taking a road trip at the drop of hat.

So, Wednesday night (like 12ish), I walk into my parents room to tell them goodnight, and my dad says that he's taking a trip to Portsmouth, Virginia to repair a control system on a Coast Guard aid-to-navigation tender. I (jokingly) ask if I could come. To my surprise, he says: "Sure, I could use someone to drive me up there."

So, after just under four hours of sleep, I get up, gather my iPod, cellphone, and camera, and climb behind the wheel of a rented Toyota Camrey with my dad and an engineer to make the roughly six and half hour journey to Virginia.

The trip was fun. I got to listen to some new music on my iPod, and talk with my dad and his engineer co-worker. Coffee was the main course of the trip (3 cups a piece), with wireless internet a sidedish every now and again. (The secret is, you have to find a hotel along the interstate that had a wireless network, but one that isn't secured). "Danny, just keep up with the traffic," was the name of the game. My dad told me, "I know speed limits are important, Danny, but we need to get there as quick as we can." And you can't question your parent's authority.

One note about US58, from Emporia (VA) to Virginia Beach (VA): the world's longest speed trap, all 70-some miles of it. An interstate-capable road, the speed limit is 55, with the kind Virginia State Police sitting on the side to deter any one who thought otherwise. I've never had a problem with speeding, and I didn't then, but obviously several people passing me did. (I got to see them again a little later-blue light specials)

We finally hit the Outer Beltway, then the Inner Beltway, and made our way safely to the Portsmouth Coast Guard base. While my dad and his co-worker installed the engine controls on the ship, I, in my dad's words, was the "gopher-chauffeur extraordinaire." "Danny, climb 3 decks of ladders, turn the control head on, then climb back down here into the engine room." I thought I was in shape until I finished doing that a couple times; I found out I wasn't. In between all that, I found myself getting everyone lunch (Golden Arches Steakhouse-otherwise known as Mickey D's), chatting it up with the security guard at the base entrance ("Oh, so you know CPO Wilson?"), and taking pictures in the engine room.

The installation finished about 4PM. The rain started about then, too.

The drive back was good, too. Six cups of coffee for me, along with a near-hailstorm and rush hour traffic. Fortunately, the storm and traffic hit separately.

A stop at Denny's for an 8:30PM breakfast just across the VA-NC state line did the trick for everyone, and by 9, we were back on the road. We made it back by 11:45, which was pretty good time.

So, the first road trip of the summer is complete, and I'm ready to go for another.