re: Cusetiger's Cross-Country Road Trip

Day 24- Drive Baton Rouge to Matthews NC

Good lord this was a long day. Left Baton Rouge at 7:15am and got to NC at 10:20pm, that's 14 hrs of driving with restroom, gas, and food stops included. Give me a flight any day of the week over this...

Left South BR and drove down Tiger Bend to Jones Creek to Harrells Ferry to O'Neal. Never knew where Woodlawn was but finally passed it, just never ventured over that way when I lived in BR. Made it to 12 and pursued until I saw there was a +18 on the map for traffic. Got off at the Robert exit and ended up in downtown Madisonville. Again had never been there but hit stopped dead traffic so made my way back to 12 for 1 exit worth of traffic.



In all my travels, this alone was the worst traffic. Not sure why but it barely moved as compared to all my other traffic scenarios (see Atlanta below). How do you LA people in BR or the northshore put up with this on a daily basis?



Once I got past Covington, everything was smooth sailing on 12 to 10. Even caught the Mississippi sign



Google maps had suggested I go 10 to Mobile then 65 to Montgomery and 85 the rest of the way. The other way looked to be going through Meridian, Ttown, and Birmingham but was slightly longer so I aimed for 65. The area by Pascagoula seemed pretty nice



Once I crossed into Bama, the shitshow began. First off, there was a cop waiting right at the border so couldn't get the sign. But also what a dick for sitting at the border. Then there was a broken down truck with a tow truck in the right lane. Followed by another cop hiding out. Lastly there was a car off the side of the road. This was all in the stretch of about a mile

That was just the beginning. On the stretch of I10, 65, and 85, I saw 10 cops in AL either waiting or giving people tickets. Once I saw the first two I set cruise control and didn't touch it for the rest of the state. There was a cool bridge on the way up to Montgomery



The other thing I noticed is a trend that needs to end- the carolina squat. I'm not sure why, but I saw the most of these types of trucks in Bama (note- not my picture)



Stopped at Bates Turkey and got a sandwich. It was good but not very filling. I just needed something quick to keep going so it was perfect for the job.



On the way to Montgomery



Once I got to Montgomery and turned on 85, there was a 3 car crash going south blocking 2 or 3 lanes. Looked like a mess, got lucky it wasn't northbound. Continued on 85 dodging the cops and saw another accident southbound. Looked like a firetruck had to either hose off a chemical spill or a car fire in the median on the southbound side. Traffic was just starting to build from this as it was about 3pm.

Made it to Georgia and took a pit stop



Again, the cops were out in force in Georgia. I saw two cops sitting in the median pull out and catch people, overall saw I think 7 in the state. Stopped for gas and noticed the time on my app was increasing. Once I got back on the road, I had to make a decision- continue on 85 or detour on the loop 285 and take 20 to Columbia then 77 north. I remembered driving through downtown Atlanta and seeing how bad the traffic could be so I opted for 285 despite this showing



Surprisingly 285 was moving even though it showed dark red. That +12 min extra only ended up being maybe 3 minutes, then I got on 20 and again it was moving, maybe 2 minutes extra. I must have gotten super lucky because I thought Covington/Madisonville/BR were much worse with traffic than Atlanta was today.



Continued on 20 and made on from ATL to a quiet 20 that was filled with sneaky cops. They hid under a bridge facing the sun and also on the side of the road, nearly impossible to see.



That was a moderately long drive across GA to Augusta, then hit the SC border



Light drizzle but nothing bad. Continued to Columbia then took 77 north to Rock Hill then crossed into NC. Took the 485 loop and made it to my family's place. I'm exhausted though

Highlights- Made it with no tickets, got to see new parts of the country I hadn't seen before (eastern GA, Columbia SC), and highway 77 in Rock Hill was the smoothest drive so far. Not sure when they repaved that but it was a great way to end the drive compared to LA roads.

Note to others- If you drive on 65 or 85 in AL or GA, don't speed by more than 5 mph. The cops are out unfortunately, probably a lot of unhappy people today.

Day 26- Matthews/Charlotte NC

Gorgeous day yesterday (85F and sunny) so did multiple walks with dogs and went to Stevens nature preserve





Saw a Gartner snake on the path, scared the shite out of me as I hate snakes



Proceeded to catch up with other step siblings at Village Tavern and it was great food. Then watched the basketball games and realized everyone's brackets were fricked but I think I may win my league.

Where’s your final destination?

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Mountain Lakes NJ, driving up there today

Routing- 485 to 85 (Greensboro/ Durham/ Petersburg VA) to 95, stop in DC to see the cherry blossoms around the monuments then continue on BW parkway to Baltimore, north to York PA, then US 30 to 222 (York PA/ Lancaster) to 78 to 287

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Sounds like a long day. Be safe. I have really enjoyed your chronicles.

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CuseTiger

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Great thread and pics.

Safe travels!

Day 28- Drive Matthews NC to Mountain Lakes NJ

Routing- 485 to 85 (Greensboro/ Durham/ Petersburg VA) to 95, stop in DC to see the cherry blossoms around the monuments then continue on 495 to 270, north to Gettysburg PA on 15, then east through Harrisburg on 81 to Allentown PA on 78 to 287


That DC traffic was the worst by far on the trip hands down. I thought Louisiana was bad but DC traffic takes the cake. Left Matthews around 8am and it was smooth sailing around Charlotte through Greensboro and Durham. Hit some light rain but nothing bad. Ended up at the virginia line



Kept going on 85 until I hit 95 then made a quick stop at a Sheetz. Continued onward toward Richmond



Started to hit some light traffic then moderate traffic so had to detour off of 95 to highway 1 then get back on 95. View of an overhead bridge to 95



Ended up seeing a +25 min delay on 95 through Fredericksburg so took the backroads (highways 201 to 301). Crossed the potomac into maryland



Continued making my way towards DC and saw the time increasing on my gps estimator. Made my way on 295 to 695 to 395 and ended up at the capitol. Was thinking hey this isnt bad. Then I started to drive towards the Washington monument/ Jefferson memorial/ cherry blossom area.



Holy shite was that bad. It took I think 30 minutes to go the equivalent of 5 blocks? There were so many people. AT one point 3 cars next to me just stopped, someone got out with a sick infant, and then everyone proceeded to get out and abandon their cars.



Think crowded NYC streets except for 1-2 miles within the area. I have no idea how I even got on that small road between the Jefferson and Washington but it was slowly moving in the direction I was going. Here's a nice view of the cherry blossoms or a car that was never going to get out of a parking spot



Jefferson view



Probably my favorite photo taken from my truck



After I made it through the absolute shitshow, I saw the road was moving to get out of the area. So I made my escape despite wanting to walk around and went over through the Georgetown area (frick georgetown )



Kept going through 495 to 270 and got to rural areas of MD



Beautiful views, but 55mph speed limits? Terribly slow

Stopped at a Wawa, god I missed Wawa hoagies



Made it to PA on route 15



Stopped in Gettysburg PA for some pizza thanks to suggestions from the in laws from that area. I did not stop to read any of the historical signs, but I also am not the history buff so no loss on my end. Continued driving through the rolling hills of PA and saw a gorgeous sunset. It was purple and orange and looked great over the just starting to spring flowers/trees

View of Harrisburg at sunset



Continued driving east on 81 until I hit 78. Ventured through Allentown then crossed into NJ where several cars were doing 120mph. Forgot what driving in Jersey was like . Made it to my dads around 10pm after leaving Charlotte at 8am, roughly a 14 hr day with stops.

Lessons learned on this day- Don't do the cherry blossoms on a saturday/sunday when they're at their peak and the weather is 70*F. Go on a weekday or shittier weather day, likely less people. Also, DC traffic is some of the worst in the country. Sorry Atlanta, your traffic at least moves based on my experience. This shite was stopped dead for nearly every direction

What a time to be alive

Were you able to gather any type of souvenirs along the way from each state?

Aside from the multiple sandwiches, lol... I noticed different pint glasses. Were you able to keep them all? That would have been a solid collection along the way.

Looked like a great trip overall! Definitely would love to pull something like this off in 10-15 years when things settle down..