Day Two--The Journey Continues

Desperate Prayer of the Day by Doug: Please make this Route 395, even if it wasn’t before!

--10:40am. We were traveling through our old haunts in Maryland where we lived with our two little ones from 1971-1974. We kept exclaiming over highway signs that announced Silver Springs, Andrews Air Force Base, Beltsville, New Carrollton and Annapolis. We felt young again. It felt good.

--11:00am We saw the top of the capitol building! It still evokes pride and awe in us.

--Doug had been surprised when the GPS had insisted on going through Washington, DC, but so far (in spite of his declarations of disagreement), it had not steered us wrong. But through Washington, DC?! And, then, right in the middle of a dubious part of town, the TomTom went to sleep! That’s right—it closed its weary eyes, gave a soft snore, and the screen went dark. I repeat--right in the middle of a dubious part of Washington, DC.

Obviously the GPS needed to be recharged. There was a McDonald’s on the corner, so we fought our way through DC traffic and pulled into the parking lot. No one in the entire restaurant spoke English, so no one could tell me if they had Wi-Fi. Since I saw no sign advertising this service, we decided to use the bathroom and leave. That is, until we learned that they charged to use the bathroom; there was no way we were going to pay cash for that privilege!

Grumpy now (for more reason than one), we tightened our seat belts and pulled out into the unknown. I have to say that my husband is amazing. By instinct and vague memories of years past, he was able to navigate through the streets of DC. Eventually he breathed the Please make this Route 395, even if it wasn’t before prayer and we were on the highway. By 11:30 we crossed the border into Virginia, and I must say, a Welcome to Virginia sign has never looked sweeter.