This part by far was the prettiest part of the drive. No offense to any of my Wyoming to Indiana peeps. After I passed through Columbus, Ohio, the hills scenery was amazing. There were lush forests on both sides of the road as far as I could see. I was driving up and down hills and making all sorts of turns through what felt like an old mountain road. I had to keep reminding myself that I was only around 1000 ft in elevation and that I was not at the top of some mountain range. Well perhaps I was. Appalachians? Ah yes I was, thank you Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia. I guess I was in the tops of mountains sort of, albeit very little ones. I take back any teasing I gave to my eastern standard time friends who love their little mountains. They actually are quite a sight. The pictures I took don't quite capture the beauty but I will show you what I got.
There are also some strange traffic patterns there. You just have to know when you should change lanes.
One fun stop was in Beavercreek, Ohio. Growing up in a military family caused lots of moves in my childhood. We spent a few years in the midwest when I was around 5-8 years old. Sixteen years later I came back to see my old home. It's still the same shape but there were some changes. It used to have brown doors and mustard-yellow siding. I think it looks better now. The yard has more grass and less bush/flower beds. One time I got stuck in the tree which is barely showing in the left of the picture. I climbed up but got scared to come down and had to wait till my father came home from work to help me get out. My and my brother's room was the left window on the top floor.
As you can see in the last picture it was a little rainy. The first few states weren't bad; however, once I hit Maryland it was crazy! It was seriously the worst storm I've ever driven in in my life. The strength of the rain reminded me up Texas rain bursts. Luckily I was in a car instead of on a bike though like in my missionary days. This rain was coupled with lots of lightning and thunder which you could actually hear and sometimes feel inside of the car! The cars which used to be spread out through the mountain highway were now closer together, driving 15-20 mph less than the limit with wipers and emergency flashers going. Although at times it was a little scary, I was brave and made it through. I finally got out of the storm as I was approaching the city.
The first Washington sign!
Getting out of the storm and driving the rest of the way to my destination reminded me of finishing the climax of an adventure novel and reading the resolution where the loose ends are tied up. Until this trip I wasn't very familiar with how that worked but I had been listening to the Chronicles or Narnia on CD the entire way and was now on book seven. The Horse and His Boy, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair. I still need to finish The Last Battle. I'm sure that will probably be good but the story is still developing.
So I made it to DC (Arlington technically) and am staying at my uncle's apartment with my brother until I can move into my new place in Alexandria. The odometer changes won't be quite as dramatic now but the posts will still be at least somewhat interesting.
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