“I ain’t got nothin ‘gainst the east coast.  You want some people, well they got the most.”

Katmandu – Bob Seger

Most of the things that I write about are experiences that I want to remember.  An incredible scenic road, an inspiring new experience, or a meaningful lesson learned.  But, with all the good memories that RVing has brought me, sometimes there’s ones I just want to forget.  Such was my recent drive down the east coast to my winter roost in Florida, where I found myself entrapped – held hostage on the highways from hell.

After working my butt off for 6 weeks, the departure day for my journey south finally arrived.  I planned our departure for just after Thanksgiving.  I planned to drive much of the route over the holiday weekend so I could avoid the heavy commuter traffic around the big cities (e.g. Hartford, New York, Baltimore, Washington DC).  What I forgot to consider (but found out once I got on the road) was that I would be driving on some of the busiest travel days of the year.

My route to Florida takes me out of central Massachusetts, down around Hartford and across western Connecticut, then around New York, Baltimore, and Washington DC.  With spider web like collections of interstates around these cities and lots of people on the move, driving through this northeast corridor sometimes feels like a chariot race in the Circus Maximus.  There’s little regard for rules or speed limits, lots of dare devil driving, and death defying lane changes.  But once I clear all these big east coast megatropolises, its usually clear sailing down I-95 through Virginia, North Carolina South Carolina, and Georgia

My traffic woes started early in Waterbury, CT where I ran into my first backup for construction.  Once it cleared, I immediately hit a repeat back up in Danbury, CT.  After these backups, I had a pretty clear run down to the Tappan Zee bridge but then hit a multi mile back up trying to get on the I-287 beltway.  It was four lanes of slow stop and go brake lights.  I finally made it to the NJ Turnpike, which moved pretty good for awhile.  But, then I saw the traffic sign that put a knot in my stomach – MAJOR DELAYS AT DELAWARE MEMORIAL BRIDGE.

I try to avoid driving at night.  My night vision isn’t that good and I just soon be off the road at the end of the day.  But this day would take me well past dusk.  The traffic started to progressively slow as I got closer to the bridge.  By the time I got over the bridge, I was trapped in a throng of cars moving at a slow crawl.

And it stayed that way for over 40 miles – all the way to my planned stopover at Edgewood, MD.

It was at this point I started to question – Where the hell is all this traffic coming from?  Once I got past Danbury, there was no construction and no accidents.  So why the back ups and why so many cars? Then I started reading the license plates and they were from all over the country.  That’s when I figured it out – everyone was going home from Thanksgiving.  Millions of them.  AAA Travel forecasted that over 46 million people would be driving over the weekend.  And I was seeing many of them on I-95.  Millions of drivers clogging the highway trying to get somewhere.

By the time I got off the road, it was well past 8:00 pm.  My planned 7 hour drive had taken 11 hours and my nerves were shot.  A heavy dose of alcohol would normally be taken to relax from such a drive but I had to do it all over again tomorrow and needed a clear head.

Oh well.  The first day is usually the worse.  The next day was Sunday and all I had to do was get around Washington and the road should be clear.  Easy peasy or so I thought.

Sunday started out with light traffic and lots of hope.  Last night’s I-95 parking lot full of red brake lights was now clear.  Traffic on the craziest 5 lanes of death (aka Washington Beltway) was light and moving at the speed limit.  I thought this might work out to be a good drive day.  But alas, once I got off the Beltway in Virginia 4 lanes of traffic started to back up.  Here’s a dashcam video that shows what I was dealing with most of the day.

It’s not uncommon for this section of road to backup for few miles with commuters bailing out of DC.  But this backup never seemed to clear. I checked WAZE and there was nothing but a solid red line on the highway.  It was 45 miles of 15 mph stop and go all the way to Fredericksburg.  This was going to be another long day of being held hostage on the highway.  A normal 45 minute drive took over 3 hours.  Traffic finally lightened near Richmond.  We rolled into Lumberton, NC at 7:00 pm.  Another 11 hour day.

The weather in Lumberton was unseasonable warm so we decide to boondock in the RV at Camp Walmart.  This Walmart has a nice level well lit lot and welcomes RV’s.  Unfortunately, it’s also a hang out for local motorheads who like to rev their engines and show off their lack of mufflers.  The motorheads finally cleared out around midnight and I got a good nights sleep.

On day 3, the weekend was over, all the big cities were behind me, and the road was clear.  I was able to set the cruise control and cover 413 miles to St. Augustine in just under 7 hours.   There were no back ups or slow downs.  It felt so nice to see that Welcome to Florida sign as we crossed the St. Mary’s River.

The long days of being stuck in traffic were sure frustrating.  It was a drive I just soon forget. But it did make me appreciate Bob Seger’s lyrics:   “If I ever get out of here, I’m going to Katmandu”.  My Katmandu is spending the winter in Florida.  It took longer than normal, but I’m sure glad we made it safe and sound.