Thanksgiving Break

Whenever I've a long drive, I tend to think a lot, if I'm not singing to the tunes blaring on my stereo. So, for my drive down to Richmond, VA and back over the Thanksgiving holiday, more than 1000 miles of tar to cover, I got the chance to reflect on a lot of things. About the future, about my future and all that uncertainties. Fun stuff...

So, in order to clear up my vacation, I took 4 extra days for vacation for this break. So, last Tuesday, I started my journey at about 7.45am. The drive was pretty smooth until I was leaving CT and entering NY. Then, some traffic on the Geo. Washington bridge in NYC. But, the worst was at Northern Virginia (I got stuck here every time... 3 out of 3 times). The traffic was pretty much crawling at 10-20 MPH for 2 hours! So, instead of the 8+ hours, it took me a good 10 hours and 15 minutes to reach my cousin place. Reaching at 6pm.

Also, for this trip, I planned that I'll be reaching Richmond, VA early enough to meet up with my college buddy Quang, before he leave for home for Thanksgiving. So, we met up for dinner. And followed by coffee and pub til late. It was fun to catch up with a Wolverines. I think that was my first time seeing a college buddy since graduating in late April. Can't believe it's been that long.

So, like Thanksgiving should be, I stuffed my face with a lot of food and wine over the break.

Other than eating, I helped out with some Christmas decoration, and also, helped my niece with decorating the gingerbread house. It's a laborious task, even with pre-made icing and ginger bread and candies.

Also, as it was also my cousin's birthday, we went to The Jefferson's in Richmond for dinner. Fortunately, I brought a change of preppy clothes, as it was certainly a place that you need to dress-up for. Even though it says casual, the decorations and the staffs in the restaurant warrant for more than jeans and t-shirt.

Also, we played this board game 'Rummikub' over the holiday. It was like Gin Rummy, but with tiles. The rules are simple, but the possibilities are vast. It's amazing to see how mind clicks and all that. It was so fun, that I decided to order a set and have it for game night with my colleagues once in awhile when we have them.

So... my thoughts... well, it was just a bunch of questions with no certain anwers. I rather not to bore you guys here.

The drive back from Richmond, VA wasn't that bad. Knowing that Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest day on the road, I decided to wait til Monday to start my 516.6 miles journey. I left my cousin's place at 9.15 am, and got back to my apartment at 5.50pm. I did hit some office traffic in CT. Oh well, if not, I could have pulled an 8-hour, including 30-minute stopping for coffee and restroom.

Also, with this trip, I managed to try out my ride's full potential. It's rather responsive to the accelerator, and I can get pretty good mileage, close to 30 mpg on average. And with gas prices this low, it's not really that big a factor... but to see the car going 400+ miles on a tank of gas is rather amusing... :-)