4/22/2015
The rain looked as if it were suspended in midair after a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. It was coming down hard during our evening in Stafford when Crystal announced that we were going to eat at Chili’s in Stafford. David the manager told her he was very enthused to feed us. I found a tiny bit of energy to run from the trailer to the inside of the restaurant. The building was warm and the staff was friendly. They knew who we were from the moment we stepped through the door. The prompt service impressed me because the seats were packed with bodies.
The meal was exactly what we had come to expect from Chili’s. I tried cheese poppers for my appetizer which was probably the only vegetarian option at Chili’s which I had not tried before. The buns of my black bean burger had been lightly toasted and had a buttery flavor. My onion rings were prepared a bit crispier than the last Chili’s where we had eaten. I preferred the crispy version and Crystal preferred the less crispy. The ambiance was great for conversation and watching people. The downpour outside wasn’t even noticeable. Crystal and I talked a lot about the businesses that had given us generous support. The ones that had given us the most help were also the most consistent in quality. We felt blessed that Chili’s fell into that category. They made sure the meals were delicious and plentiful. David was especially accommodating and caring. We returned to the pitter patter of rain hitting our trailer while parked in George Washington’s boyhood home. The sounds put us right to sleep.
The sun dried the wetness from the prior night’s storm. A light wind blew me forward when I hit the road and I gained momentum with each step. I began to break a sweat and I enjoyed the feel of my feet brushing against the ground. I saw Crystal had parked the trailer in a shopping center a few miles up. The trailer was resting under a sign that read COMICS. I knew she wasn’t in the trailer. She was busy purchasing a guilty pleasure for me. Sure enough I spotted Crystal through the glass window. I was like a dog that wanted to be let inside a home. I dried off for a moment and put on my shirt.
I took a short break to look at all the great comic books and merchandise they were selling. After Crystal purchased a few comics for me the owners rounded up a few more and donated them to us. I had a permanent grin etched onto my face. After chatting for a bit, we headed towards Dumfries with was only seven or eight miles away. When I passed Quantico a scene from the movie a few good men popped into my mind. It got stuck on rewind. For a few miles I looked like a crazy person quoting Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. Then a red dodge stealth pulled up in front of me. It was the owner of Treasure Chest Comics. They had driven a few miles to give me a couple more comic books he thought I would enjoy reading. I asked if he had a plastic bag with which I could carry the books. My sweaty arms would have ruined them otherwise. That act of kindness really made my day and put a spring in my step.
Highway one diverged into two one way streets. Crystal naturally took the road for northbound traffic and I took the one against traffic. I knew I should have taken her road but I thought I would find her around the point where the two roads met. The roads took us to different areas but she managed to get to me. She had made fried noodles for lunch and she had to drive through Virginia’s first town with caution. The weather seemed non-threatening so we relaxed in an empty lot and took our time with lunch and a movie.
We resumed our steps and a few miles later Crystal once again informed me that the weather would change on us. It was as if Mother Nature had a split personality. The sky where I stood was sunny and clear. Just a few miles in the distance black clouds hung in the air like large blankets on a clothesline. She had a second piece of news to counter the news of the impending storm. She said that the Lorton Comfort Inn had agreed to provide us with shelter from the storm. I took the news and used that as fuel to race the dark clouds. For the second night in a row I escaped nature’s wrath.
The hotel lived up to its name. Everything was comfortable. The bed, the tub, the chairs all felt like home. We watched the lightning put on a show in the dark night sky from the cozy room.
A hot breakfast of scrambled eggs on croissants powered me up for the day. While I consumed my fuel for a day of running Crystal phone began to ring. WJLA had called to inform us that they would like to do a live interview at their station in Arlington. We had plenty of time to run twenty three miles so we hit the road right before noon. The station wanted to get some footage of me on the road so they sent a van out to film. Crystal arranged for them to meet me around the eight mile mark. It only took two roads to get to a shopping center in the suburbs. I waited there so that the cameraman capture a few frames of film from my actual route. When he got there I agreed to pass him a half mile up.
The shot took a few seconds. I saw him in the distance with the camera rolling. I passed him and continued forward. When I ran into Alexandria I mistakenly ran onto a freeway. A very confusing set of streets sucked up a good amount of time. When I got on track I skipped taking pictures of the brick buildings and brick streets. Suddenly there were stoplights every few feet. I suddenly felt rushed. I had followed the directions that had been mapped out for me but I kept hitting wrong streets. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one. Crystal navigated the busy streets of Arlington and ended up at the pentagon. She drove the huge beastly trailer right up to the security gate and discovered that she was not at the abc station.
Both of us found our way to the Station with plenty of time before the interview. There was a buzz in the air from the masses of people. We were in another city and everyone had somewhere they needed to be. The fast paced lifestyle was reflected in the fast paced traffic. The people at the station were all busy as well. I looked into a room on the ground floor and there were hundreds of screens with various footage being pieced together. Other guests which were interviewed before me ran in and out of the place in a few minutes. I reminisced about a time when I was a city dweller. I grinned at the thought of how I managed to slow the pace of my life yet accomplish more in the process.
I think the spot went well. Neither of us got to see it. When the interview concluded we had no commitments for the next day so we looked for a place that was safe for our home on wheels. The last thing we wanted was to get towed in our Nation’s capital.
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