MEMORIES OF SOUTH HAVEN, MI
MARAUDERVILLE X (MV10), 12-16 September 2012
“They Came by Air, Land, and Sea !!” (The 10th Anniversary)
Pics for the MV10 trip are here >>>> http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forum...ad.php?t=82213
Tuesday, 11 September 2012 (On the Road)
• Planned departure of 8:00 AM. The Bluerauder wheels actually roll at 8:45 AM. Not too bad considering my wife’s time and mine are usually off by 30 minutes minimum.
• Looks like a nice day shaping up. Blue skies all around and the map looks clear for the entire trip. GPS Jill says our 1st day of travel to the Hampton Inn in Toledo-South/Maumee is 487 miles or 8:45 hours. Oughta get to the hotel right around 6:00 PM. Hammerdown/Fordfrk are about 3 hours ahead of us in the DTR. Should be able to catch them on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
• Am taking the I-95 North to I-495 to I-270 to I-70. Pick up the Pennsylvania Turnpike I-76 at Breezewood, PA and then I-80 west.
• Total trip estimated at 687 miles one-way (11:45 hours).
• Hit my first traffic jam about 2 blocks from the house. This doesn’t look good. It takes 30 minutes to get 3 miles to I-95. Good news is that it is now after 9:00 AM and I can jump into the HOV-3 lanes headed north. The bad news is that there is a major probem in all lanes. Takes me 2 hours and I am not even to my work exit yet. That is normally a 45 minute trip. If this doesn’t ease up soon I am gonna go home and try again tomorrow.
• I hate Northern Virginia. The right offer would get me outta here in a heartbeat.
• Traffic eases considerably after Tyson’s Corner and the Dulles Toll Road. Hey, we’re moving and finally on our way.
• The unforeseen delay puts us way off schedule so we decided to make an “early” stop for lunch between Frederick and Hagerstown. After a quick gourmet meal at Mickey D’s, we head out to the parking lot.
• A black Ford Explorer rolls into the lot and the driver is familiar. It is Ladyhawke. She recognized the Blue Marauder and came over to wish us happy motoring.
• Haggis is working today and they won’t be able to leave until 3:30 PM. They’ll see us at the hotel.
• Still 417 miles and a little over 7 hours to go. We’ve lost an hour. Gotta make up time.
• Stop at the Shell station in Breezewood, PA and fill her up. $4.359 per gallon for 93 Premium. This price will be pretty standard for the rest of the entire trip.
• Uneventful trip on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Same, same as we blend onto the Ohio Turnpike and I-80. Run 75-80 MPH the entire way except for the frequent 50 MPH construction zones and a 20 miles parade behind an Ohio State patrol car.
• Arrive at the Hampton Inn at 6:30 PM and call Hammerdown/Fordfrk. They are staying at the Fairfield about 0.9 miles away. We will check in, drop our bags and meet them for dinner near their place. Call BigDogJim’s room … no answer. JCMM (Joe) and his wife are headed out to do some shopping. Meet BigDog in the lobby after freshening up a bit and dropping the luggage. He follows us over to the Fairfield.
• Dinner with Connie, Jack and Jim at the Applebee’s across the parking lot from the Fairfield. Exchange stories of the road trip thus far. Planned departure from the Hampton Inn is 8:30 AM.
• Jack tells us the story of “The Melon Lady” that he sees at the gym. This is gonna be an inside joke for the remainder of MV10.
• Jim and I both top of with gas before heading back to the hotel. BigDog jumps on the computer to check stuff. We head to the room for a good night’s sleep.
• Haggis and Ladyhawke arrive after 11:00 PM. DWSTANG67 (Dean) will arrive about 2:00 AM after getting his gas tank repaired.
• In bed by 10:30 PM. Driving all day has really tired me out. Night All !!