Last weekend I drove my daughter for a college recruiting visit at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.  What a beautiful drive! Spectacular scenery that can only be describedd as trees like a “bowl full of trix”.  At every turn I expected to see a regiment straight out of Glory come charging out of the woods.  The Blue Ridge Mountains and lower Shenandoah valley are some of the most historic and beautiful parts of Virginia to visit during this season. 

However, on the way home……. we diverted from our cultural and historical journey and detoured through Charolottesville to hit the mall.  NO Blue and Grey there. We decided to try this short cut that a friend had told us about and headed diligently up Route 29, to an obscure country road, all the while ignoring our GPS “recalculating”.. or “recalcalatinn” if you’re south of Richmond.  Our trusty GPS girl Gi Gi worked herself up almost into hysteria as we diverged again and again from the path she had laid. In her most frenzied computer generated voice she repeated……”‘Make legal UTurn as soon as possible”… with a Big Red Uturn flashing on the screen.  Alas, we did not head her advice and found ourselves heading further and further west toward West Virginia and places unknown.  Some short cut.  I was just beginning to consider the fact that we had diverted almost 50 miles in the wrong direction when GiGi screeched… “You are not on a road”.  Well, yes we were. There was the road underneath the car.  “You are not on a road”, she repeated.  We were lost but we were definitely on a road. 

All of this to avoid traffic on 95, 64 and 66!  If only we had checked Trafficland.com and realized that it was a clear and undelayed path to home.  After getting old fashion directions from a map, we made our way home.  Trafficland.com is a fantastic web site to see the congestion, accidents and construction in realtime that might impede your trip. The Washington DC system has hundreds of cameras along the most popular routes that you can click on through your computer or phone.  Don’t leave home without it.