The Advantage of Traveling on the Fourth of July

My husband, son, and I visited my in-laws in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia this weekend, returning yesterday. Despite the 630-mile journey--which is going to take all day no matter how you slice it--it was smooth sailing. (We skirted the NY/NJ area by taking I-81 to I-84 to the Mass Pike.)

No traffic to speak of. No backups. No roadwork. No pileups. Everyone must have been at the beach, out of town, on the Cape, in the Berkshires--anything but on the road.

Except for the superabundance of cops looking for speeders (which forced me to drive at a sedate 70 instead of my preferred 80 on the nearly empty interstates), it was one of the nicest long drives I've ever made. Even the massive rain in central Pennsylvania in mid-afternoon couldn't (ahem) dampen our spirits.

Tuesday holidays--they're meant for traveling.