I didn't write much this week because I felt under the gun to get things sorted out and get to Virginia, but now that I'm in Virginia, I can take a minute to sit back and catch up.
In the afternoon Monday, I had a production meeting for The Full Monty, and on Monday evening I had dinner with Andrea (after checking out the view from her office 25 floors above Millennium Park!), and then I took Derrick and she went with Jamie to the opening performance and party for The Ballad of Emmett Till at The Goodman. It was good to see the show and everyone at the party. The show had undergone some significant changes in my two week absence, but I think they were good changes, and I think I had a better appreciation of it after two weeks than if I'd seen it every day...
On Tuesday, I did some laundry and errands, and I met Anna for lunch in Lincoln Park. After lunch we stopped by Swirlz and Jeremy gave us each a free mini red velvet cupcake while we talked about Redmoon and Hunchback. Good times. Tuesday evening I went to dinner with Susannah (who I had not seen since November) and Neil. We went to Quartino which was fantastic. They do a sort of family style, but the portions are not ridiculously priced or sized, so we had a little of everything with room for dessert!
Wednesday I did more errands, got my hair trimmed, and finished my packing and cleaning. In the evening, I met Kim and Derrick for dinner at Uncommon Ground, which was delicious!
Thursday I did the last-minute day-of packing, final cleaning, packing of the car, etc. And I drove 540 miles to Morgantown, WV which I had decided was a good mid-point for this drive. Google Maps likes to send me through the DC area, and I like to avoid it, so I reroute myself to take I-68 instead of the Pennsylvania Turnpike because it is a newer (and cheaper!) road, and Morgantown is a 9/7 split of the 16 hour trip. The drive was pretty standard. I made good time, almost exactly 9 hours. Weather was overcast with some rain towards the end, but nothing bad, and the temperature across IL, IN, OH, PA, and WV was between 50 and 60 degrees. It was actually pleasant driving conditions--not too hot and no glaring sun to deal with, but also no pouring rain.
This morning, I hit the road at about 9. I had wanted to leave sooner, but I couldn't sleep last night (I blame being on Central Time), so I hit snooze for 30 minutes. It was drizzly and quite foggy through most of the mountains of WV, and then it was less foggy in MD. It rained off and on all day, but not very hard until a couple of spurts towards the last stretch of I-64. Let me just say, having just driving in IN, OH, PA, WV, and MD, I have to reassert my opinion that VA drivers are terrible! They don't understand the concept of stay to the right, pass on the left, and as such, you find yourself (or at least I do) on I-95, passing people in the right lane because there is a string of cars going just too slow for me in the left lane, and people going barely the speed limit in the middle lane. Also, there is much more room to pass on the right because everyone else is in the left lane, thinking they are going fast. And let me just vent a little about I-64. It took me two hours and fifteen minutes to get from the I-295 merge east of Richmond through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. We're talking a little over 60 miles. (That's just shy of an average of 27 mph.) It rained off and on, but never hard enough to be detrimental to driving, and I only saw one incident on the shoulder (which didn't even cause a lane closure). I have come to the conclusion that I-64 is no longer adequate for the volume of traffic that travels it. And yes, I understand that I was traveling toward the beach on a Friday afternoon in May, but this stretch of road is always terrible.
But, needless to say, I made it home in one piece, if a little grumpy. Mom and I unloaded the car, and Dad got home shortly thereafter at which point we toasted my homecoming with a bottle of Prosecco.
I'm looking forward to a quiet week of paperwork and writing here at the beach, which may prove to be less than quiet. I hope to see some friends, and I know I'll see some family. I'll also try to get a good battery recharge in now before the summer gets in full swing!
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