Not sure how many of you will be making the trek to DC for the festivities this Tuesday, but today I made mine. I had planned to fly, but various circumstances intervened and it turned into a car trip. I canceled the ticket, and will use those large fluffy dollars for other air travel. I was rolling at 6 am( which is why I wasn’t at the Horne party) not too many folks up at that hour, so I barely dipped below 80 mph till Greenville. A pit stop at the Micky D’s, a egg mcMuffin, a refill on the java and I kept rolling.
Tunes are critical for the ride, but at 6 am I decided to listen to a audiobook, and what cheery thing did I pick? Blackwater, yeah I know what you are thinking, a downer…but my other choices were lets just say even heavier. Beowulf, The Aeneid, The Canterbury Tales, and the Divine Comedy-I’m saving Dante for the ride home.
But 4 hours of soldier of fortune wannabe’s was quite enough so I switched to music and spoken word.
The special Obama play list was first up -natch, various artists singing about Obama and voting, a podcast of his 2004 convention speech ( which made me sad cause it reminded me of Keenun) then Martin Luther King’s We Shall Overcome speech. Now I was feeling it, so naturally that meant a stop at WalMart. I know…whaaaa?
Yes, WalMart somewhere outside of Greensboro. I had to go to the camping and outdoor department to pick up a stash of “toasty-toes” and warm hand thingies. These are mission critical items for Tuesday, having already gotten the “we are going to freeze our asses off” email from my date on Tuesday. I bought a bunch, they will be distributed as necessary ( don’t worry Mel -I’ll save you some) Then back on the road.
I see various GA plates speeding by me, and I was sorry I didn’t go through with my “Inauguration or Bust” sign. This road trip is severely lacking in comparison to the Unity Express. I try to spice things up at the VA Welcome Center – I can’t pass up free maps! By Richmond I was hungry again, and I stopped at Dunkin Doughnuts and got one of their new flatbread sandwiches, yum and relatively unmessy driving food. Yes, Subway would have been healthier, but hard to eat at 80 mph.
Exactly 10 hours later, jittery from caffeine, and ears ringing from the Clash, NIN, Goldfrapp, George Michael, Gil Scott-Heron, Public Image Ltd., Siouxsie & the Banshees, just to name a few, I arrive at the apartment in Alexandria.
The apartment is warm, clean, has WiFi and is outside of the fray for now. Two people at the local Safeway commented on my Obama You Betcha button, and wished me well on Tuesday. I’m happy to be here, and will post more interesting stuff as I can.
Have you got a inauguration road trip story? If so post away..
Oh and IRE, if you know what’s good for you, do. not. mock. my. music. choices.
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