Drive to Atlanta

I have driven between Jersey and Atlanta a number of times, taken the outer route (NJ Turnpike to I-95 to I-85 through Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina), the inner route (I-287 to I-78 to I-81 to I-77 to I-85 through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina), and the scenic route (Atlanta to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, then taking the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, going East to Colonial Williamsburg and taking the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to the eastern shores of Virginia and Maryland and then to Delaware and finally Jersey).

We liked the scenic route the best obviously, but it is much longer than the others and hence not practical for our drive to Atlanta this time. Among the other options, I prefer the inner route as it is more scenic and less crowded. My favorite part of the journey is the Shenandoah valley and crossing the Blue ridge. The inner and outer routes are about equal in length, but the inner one usually takes less time.

Except for real scenic driving, I drive from Jersey to Georgia, or vice versa, in a day. It usually takes me 13-14 hours. However, this is our first trip with Michelle. Driving with a 2.5 month old kid should be fun. We’ll definitely be stopping a lot more often, probably every 2 hours or so.

While Michelle does get in the car every so often, the longest trip she has taken so far has been the 45 minutes to New York City. Let’s see how she handles a 2 day trip by car. She is generally good in the car. She enjoys sitting in her car seat and often tries to look out the window. There are exceptions, like when she is hungry or when the car is stopped at a red light or stuck in traffic.

One of us always sits in the back with Michelle. The main reason for that is obviously to take care of Michelle. The secondary reason is that with the car seat behind it, the front passenger seat has to be moved forward a lot. That makes it impossible for me to sit in the front passenger seat. Amber also feels more comfortable in the back seat where there is more room than the front.

Blogging will continue while I am driving down to Atlanta because of the “Future Posting” feature of Movable Type. But I don’t blog about news events as they happen.

After we move into our new apartment in Atlanta, regular blogging will resume. That might happen election day (Nov 2) or a couple of days later. When we were planning this move, I forgot that I might not have access to TV or Internet to watch the election coverage. That will not be good since I am an election coverage junkie. I’ll get a free dialup connection as a backup in case my DSL isn’t working on election day.