# We're Back



## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

Weâ€™re back.

2600 miles of driving accomplished in 5 days. Four days in Watertown, CT. One day at a campground in Charleston, SC. Never again.

My DW and I decided to make this trip to CT mostly to see her father. He is 84 and not in very good health. And we really wanted to use our Outback and have some family time. This was not the way to have QUALITY family time.

The first day was fairly uneventful. We departed from home at 2:30AM, mostly to get past Jacksonville before rush hour. We arrived in Emporia, VA at 4 PM and stayed at a Yogi Campground. Other than a quick dip in the pool, we did not get a chance to enjoy this campground. Asleep at 7PM and up again at 2AM. We wanted to get past DC before rush hour. This is where our trip got interesting.

I-95 between Richmond VA and Washington is tractor-trailer INTENSIVE. Because of the traffic and not so nice road conditions, it was all I could do just to watch what was going on around me, let alone watch for interchange signs. We ended up missing the exit for I-495. This is where our trip got crazy.

We were driving on I-385 heading for the heart of DC. I tried to get turned around by exiting, but instead ended up on the HOV lanes! So picture this. We are pulling a camper, in the HOV lanes with no exits, heading for downtown DC. I can only imagine what the drivers around me were thinking!









We ended up on surface streets about 8 blocks from the Washington Monument. Sightseeing at 4AM is not what I wanted to do. Fortunately we found signs that led us back to I-495 and finally got back on course.

We found the first Flying J and stopped for breakfast and a little nerve settling. From there the rest of the trip to Watertown was white knuckle driving. Lots of trucks, many interchanges, and terrible roads. I swear we would have had a smoother trip riding horses for all the bucking and bouncing we did.









The trip back was less demanding. We avoided the east coast craziness by taking I-84 to I-81 to US 15 to US 17 to I-95. Traffic was relatively light, although we did go through several small towns. It took longer, but was less stressful. And we actually saved money. It cost less in gas to go that way than pay the tolls on I-95.

This is the last time we will try a long trip in a short period of time. We love our Outback, and love to camp. We are planning a camping trip in a couple of months. But we will stick to a days driving or less for the foreseeable future! There are lots of campgrounds in Florida!









Here are the photos of our trip. When we were stationary, we enjoyed ourselves!









Dan


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## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

sounds like a rough trip. Good to see you back safe.


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Sorry to hear about the trouble you had on I-95 Dan
Glad to hear you went the other route home

Don


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## ARzark (Aug 9, 2005)

WOW








You deserve a medal for your efforts. You just may be the first Outbacker to navigate the DC streets... Outback in tow!

Glad your home safe and sound after all that intense driving. Now you can relax


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Welcome home...that sounds like a great trip, sans the DC driving.


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## Fire44 (Mar 6, 2005)

Look at it this way....you have been tested under fire!!!! You are ready for ANY driving test now!!!!!

Glad you made it up and back safely.

Gary


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## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

Man, I don't envy you east-coasters! Glad everything turned out okay.


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## aantolik (Apr 8, 2005)

Sounds very similar to what happened to me on 495 around DC many years ago. Seems they haven't marked it much better. Luckily I had a popup at the time & got turned around before I got to far into DC.


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

Flying J? There would have been a lot of flying F's in our car.









Glad you made it safely.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Hey, an adventure is an adventure, and in one way or another they are all good!
Welcome home! action May the next one go smoother!

But I'm not seeing any pictures in your link?









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I think you need to vacation in ND. We have exactly 2 interstate highways...one North/South and the other East/West.

And I don't even know what an HOV lane is.

Welcome back.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

PDX_Doug said:


> But I'm not seeing any pictures in your link?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When will they ever learn?














(kidding of course!)


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## Highlander96 (Mar 1, 2005)

Dan,

Glad you made it home safe and sound. Now you know why they call the area around 495/95/395/295 the "Mixing Bowl".........

I always use US 301 N from Exit 103 on 95N and follow to Rte. 50. You miss all of the DC Metro traffic and it is about the same distance, may take a few minutes longer.

Happy Outbacking!

Tim


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## Doxie-Doglover (Apr 19, 2006)

campmg said:


> Flying J? There would have been a lot of flying F's in our car.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


yeah, unfortunately, ours too.What's worse than husband who is "lost" , won't admit it or ask for directions? BEING IN DOWNTOWN DC WITH TT IN TOW OF COURSE!


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

3LEES,

Wow! What a trip! That's why I don't live in big cities! And I try to avoid them like the plague when I'm driving. Can't always be done, but it seems like you handled them pretty well.

Glad you're safe and sound.

Rest up from your excursion and get ready for the next.

Have a great summer!

Mark

BTW, Doug, click on the summer 06 trip link on the left in his gallery.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

We here on the east coast mostly always take the route you went home on. The Yogi Bear in Va is where we stopped 3 years in a row on the way to Myrtle Beach. Nice people and a nice campground. You probably drove within 5 miles of me when you passed thru NJ . Glad to hear it was a safe trip









John


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Glad to here you had a safe trip









Thor


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