Road Trip to DC - Travelling Day

We've been planning for this trip for about a week ago. It will be a long weekend since Friday ni cuti Good Friday. Therefore, no schooling for Harith. We would like to take this opportunity to go for a long distance trip. Contacted a friend in DC saying that we're coming over. Alhamdulillah he and his family were welcoming us.

For this trip we've rented a car for the ling weekend. Maklum la, susah sangat nak dapat kereta, sewa je la lagi senang. This time dapat pulak the new Nissan Sentra. Macam tau-tau je orang nak pegi long distance trip. Indeed it is a long distance trip. Approximately its about 300 miles of driving. Estimated traveling time around 5 hours and 30 minutes to 6 hours (depending on the traffics).

Kami bertolak around 11.30 in the afternoon, straight away hit the highway. It was our first time traveling abroad bawak kereta sendiri for a long distance trip. Kalau takat jalan dekat-dekat tu pernah la. Speed limit atas highway is between 55 to 65 mph. At first kami ikut la the limit. Tapi it seems we are the only one driving at that speed kot. Berdesup... semua kereta lain pergi. Tengok lori trailer overtake kami selamba je. Kami pun maintain around 70-75 mph on the road, which seems like a reasonable speed.

Overall the trip was boring, sebab highway dia takde banyak benda tepi jalan. Tapi the trip was not that tiring or makes us mengantuk. Maybe due to cautious kot. Nice service area, with Starbucks and Cinnabon at every stop. Harith pulak buat perangai nak hotdog. In the end beli fries for him. Kat rumah bila buat hotdog, tak pulak makan. Agaknya bila tengok gambar dalam display, buat dia teringin kot.

For this trip, we didn't use GPS, the GPS itself will cost more than our rented car ;) We just rely on a printout direction from maps.google.com. We studied the map earlier, highlighted few landmarks - George Washington Bridge, Newark Airport, Delaware Memorial Bridge, Millard E Tydings Memorial Bridge, and Fort McHenry Tunnel just to confirm that we were on the right track. The tolls cost about usd16.45. Total states crossed = 6 - Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.

The trip went smoothly, except for a massive traffic jam somewhere around Bronx. A short stretch dalam 7.8 miles, sangkut dekat sejam before dapat naik GW bridge. We've reached Virginia safely around 1900 hours. Alhamdulillah selamat sampai within 6 hours plus of traveling time. Tuan rumah pulak kebetulan buat house warming merangkap sambutan Mauludur Rasul kat rumah dia in the afternoon. We've missed that event, but not the food. Hehehe. Friday, kami plan nak jalan sendiri ke DC naik Metro train. Will report that in the next entry.

Together signing off...