London - Washington DC - Newark, DE
Virgin Atlantic 11:15 flight to DC... pretty uneventful (which is always a good thing) - in economy, but paid the extra £30 for an 'extra legroom' seat, which is very worth it and I had noone sat next to me so plenty of room to stretch out. Read the paper, read some magazines, did some work til the laptop battery ran out, eat the slightly dodgy food, watched the first 2 episodes of 'The Trip' again, dozed off for a bit, watched 'Cedar Rapids'
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cedar_rapids_2010/ (perfect inflight film) and read a few chapters of 'Moonraker' and there we were, making a bumpy landing at Washington Dulles right on time at 14:30. They have these funny buses to take you from the plane to the terminal that they call 'mobile lounges'.... yeh, right.... but what a different experience to last time when I waited in line for 90 minutes at immigration. This time straight through - apart from a particularly sullen 'Homeland Security' grilling - and I was driving out of the car rental by 15:30 in one of these...
Unfortunately it was then slow slow progress round the 'Beltway' - like the M25 on a bad day - and then more of the same once through the Baltimore tunnel... but it doesn't seem so bad when you're in an american car and taking in the sights - the cars, the scenery, the evocative road signs: Rockville, Frederick, Baltimore... song titles everywhere... but I had Chapter 3 of Hal Masa's Summer Mix
and then halfway up the I95 I realised I was driving on Joppa Road which completely made my day.
Oh, and it was hellish hot
So anyway, three and a half hours later, after getting a bit lost and stopping for a Beef Brisket dinner at Boston Farmer's Market (?) I finally made it to Newark Days Inn which seems OK for a £40 a night stay. The air was soooo hot. It hits you when you get out of the air-conditioned car... a heat you don't feel in the UK. Checked in, then a quick drive round the corner to pick up some water and a small bottle of wine and the sky suddenly got dark and the air got very close and I just got back in my room before it absolutely pissed down. Glad I wasn't driving in that, and pleased the temperature's dropped immediately and I can turn the noisy AC off...... very tired now, that's it for tonight...
