Cross-Country Blog Log: That Ol' Highway's A Callin' (Part III)

Raleigh

Now second guessing our plans to hit the beaches up the coast (Charleston, SC, and Outer Banks, NC), we were hit with heavy indecision. Des proposed a more direct route through Raleigh, NC, but neither of us could think of anything worth seeing there. After deliberating for about 25 frustrating minutes like a couple that wants to break up but nobody can say anything decisive enough to make it happen, I gave in to Desi saying, "Raleigh it is... I know it's what you wanted". Meanwhile, the stressful delay and the uncertainty that lay ahead was taking its toll on our morale (as clearly shown on the Pace and Des Morale chart) but we quickly countered with several consecutive episodes of 24 (season 3) that catapulted us back to healthy morale levels. By the time we got into Raleigh our suspicions had been confirmed and there truly was nothing to see. We ate at the Olive Garden and made our way over to our 2-tv, cabin hotel. Through the miracle of WiFi we were able to download Radiohead's 'In Rainbows CD2' which was the ultimate godsend. Then we turned on the tube and watched 'Romeo Must Die' with Jet Li, which had just the right mix of cheesy villains, quirky fight scenes, a fairly complicated plot, and a funny black guy, that my dad would have totally been glued to the tv with this one.

Before departing Raleigh we figured we owed it to the town to at least stop by UNC and Duke since we were so close. UNC was pretty cool I guess but we couldn't find anything (Dean Smith Center, some sort of bookstore, a food court) and there was no place to park. We ended up just kind of repeating the same figure-8 formation through the campus roads, never really seeing anything new but sure we would stumble into something. Eventually we did stumble into something: The Planetarium. This was even lamer than you might expect. There was not a single tour guide or fellow observer. We ran into a couple of construction workers and a half-asleep cashier and decided to book it before any pamphlets or questionnaires were forced upon us. The decision not to continue on and see Duke University ended up being one of the highlights of our time in Raleigh.

Our Nation's Capital

Made the final ascent and arrived at our destination in Arlington at about 8:00 p.m. My new place came with only about a 10-inch tv and we wanted to watch the Suns game at 10:30 so we decided to head out to Jeff's house in Baltimore. This 45-minute drive ended up taking about 2 hours due to some factors on which I won't go into detail--suffice it to say Des did some great navigating up until this point. Fortunately, we were still able to catch the 2nd half and then we slept over and enjoyed some delicious variations of Frosted Flakes in the morning before heading back. The journey officially came to a close when I dropped Des off at the airport on Sunday morning. Now I'm just doing my best to adjust to late work nights, $18/day parking fees, chilly weather, and life in the land of "dudes and chicks" (D.C.).


*Trip Stats:
Total Drive Time: 46:30
Avg MPH: 65
MPG: 31