2009.01.20
What gridlock?
After several days of preparing for the massive traffic jam that was supposed to accompany the Presidential inauguaration, I took the recommendation of somebody who suggested that it would be a good idea to double the normal travel time to the University of Maryland
So, it was that I left Roanoke at 10 a.m. for a drive to College Park, Md., a trip that normally takes four hours and 15 minutes.
And arrived in College Park at 2:30.
That's four hours and 30 minutes and included a stop in Charlottesville to pick up Richmond reporter Jeff White, who had a parking pass, as well as a stop at an ATM, a Sheetz and a Wawa.
Normally, the best route from Roanoke would have been north on I-81 to Strasburg, then east on I-66, followed by a quarter-loop around I-495.
The stop in Charlottesville involved much more stop-and-go traffic on U.S. 29, but you know all those blinking Interstate signs warning of traffic congestion on I-95 and I-66 ? There wasn't any.
Maybe it was the fear factor, but I've never seen the roads so deserted. Bridges from Virginia into Washington were supposed to be closed, but the VFW Bridge across the Potomac River on I-495 had no such restrictions.
With nearly five hours remaining before tonight's Maryland-Virginia basketball game, there's all the time in the world to blog.
Let's just hope we're so lucky on the road home.
Maybe you can use your unexpected free time to assist DL in preparing tonights starting line up and rotation. He needs the help!
Comment by Joe — January 20, 2009 @ 4:35 pm
The UVa team arrived at Comcast Center shortly after 5 p.m.
Comment by Doug Doughty — January 20, 2009 @ 6:12 pm
A problem with UVa's starting line-up is this: UVa is like the Clemson teams under Bill Foster. Other than Sylven Landesberg, no one really stands out. It's because they're all mediocre ACC players. That's why a player has one good game and then 4 ordinary ones. I think any college coach would be stumped trying to decide who to start on UVa's team other than Landesberg. I mean nothing personally against the other players.
Comment by Nelson — January 27, 2009 @ 12:26 am