First Solo Road Trip. Part One. NYC-DC (July 08)

Heading south from New York City and down into Virginia. At an interstate junction I make a knife edge decision, later to my regret, to see Washington DC. It takes me 70miles out of my way and into, what was on that hot July day, a horrid and oppressive city. It takes me 1 ½ hours to arrive downtown after being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic jams, then I drive around for hours, without success, trying to find somewhere to park. This is how I see the Nation’s capital: stressed out and blinded by my own sweat from a stuffy and airless car. I see all the sights too, scowling and cursing at everyone. Sightseers are everywhere too, wedged from monument to monument (It is a summer holiday Saturday) all dressed in those ugly bright block logo covered colours, wearing baseball caps and white trainers with long socks shouting at each other, like caricatures of themselves. In the end, bitterly disappointed, exhausted, dehydrated and stir crazy, I decide to just leave, thinking bollocks to it and I then make the firm decision to stay out of all big cities and off all major Interstate roads altogether until I get back to Kansas (which I do, and because of this, I see an America which is easily missed from the Interstates and I drive 2100 + miles home on roads no bigger than the A303 - the West bound duel-carriageway which runs from London to the West country ).