Brony Con Day 0: Antelope Freeway 1/2 Mile · 5:06am Aug 1st, 2019
I sit in my hotel room, in the inner harbor of Baltimore contemplating this tour of Pennsylvania & Maryland rest stops day zero of our epic BronyCon trip. It’s sad think that this will probably be the last time we’ll make the trip to Baltimore... and just when we finally were starting to get to know our way there!
Anyhow our trip started around noon, later than we usually do as we were arriving a day early. We ended up sitting behind a car with an interesting bumper sticker proclaiming “A-6 Intruder”. I wonder if they were people with an interest in history, or Navy Veterans?
That was just one of several interesting sights we encountered on the trip. Some of these were familiar. It was nice to see the pleasant vistas of Pennsylvania and Maryland again. We don’t have much in the way of hills in Northern Ohio, courtesy of the glaciers of the last ice age. So the picturesque hilly farm country, and the foothills often Alleghenies were great scenery to drive through. It’s sad to think this might be the last we see of them for a while. But who knows, I might find myself out here again?
Now, bit of honesty here, today was one of those “high maintenance” days for my T1D. Not a catastrophe or anything, but definitely one of those days where I have had to do a lot of management on it to keep things from getting too messed up. So, not the most fun. Anyhow part of regime for dealing with that is drinking lots of stuff, and actually getting up and moving on occasion. Technically that’s what everyone should do on a car trip anyhow, but hey we also all have a schedule so sometimes we rush these things. Anyhow, that led to us stopping at more rest areas than usual. It wasn’t an entirely bad thing, but did slow us down a bit. The relaxed pace is nice, and lord knows we never would have used the luxury bathroom trailer otherwise!
OGM and I also had a nice preread of an EQG doc I’m working on. It’s part of an anthology too, so look forward to that as well as my new story from Robb’s TrotCon panel.
Anyhow at one of the rest areas in Pennsylvania, we spotted the most beautiful moth. It hung rather prominently on one the entrances, perhaps taking a rest itself. It was an overall pink color, with yellow and pink stripped wings. Hasbro’s production design would be enamored with it, I suspect. If I get an identification for it later, I’ll post it here. It’s probably a good bet that it is poisonous, at least to the birds that are its predators.
Not long after that stop, we grabbed lunch from a turnpike hospitality center, from... shall we say the Viceroy of GERD? We don’t usually eat fast food, and the lack luster fare was a stark reminder why.
I’m afraid that neither I nor OGM are fond of the infamous Breezewood highway interchange which was what we next encountered. The physical layout resembles a half eaten pretzel, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be the actual prototype! Beside that, and ever present construction (OGM says he wants a shirt that reads “End Construction!” based on the road signs we saw today. I’d buy it!), Breezewood is also the height of American consumerism. If you want to see a dystopia where big corporations became the government, visit Breezewood. There stands national brand after national brand, packed into a postage stamp of a place, and shabbily grubbing for money. ‘Tis a retched place, I would not tarry there.
Not long after, the biggest delay of our trip hit: a twenty minute traffic jam. There we saw a lovely “rolling coal” truck (or so it claimed), apparently engaged in its abhorrent behavior for “Lex”. Lex Luthor, perhaps? But this did not really surprise us, given the locale.
No, what made us go “What The?” was the semi truck with gigantic spikes attached to the hubs of the wheels. Apparently the owner of the rig decided to go full Road Warrior... or prehaps Roman Army charioteer. Whichever the case neither OGM nor myself could work out how it was safe or legal. Or how you would not manage to impale yourself if you happened to slip on the steps to the cab.
The traffic jam itself transpired to be caused by another semi, the cab of which was totally incinerated and required significant emergency response. I earnestly hope everyone involved was alright.
Our last rest stop was near Hagerstown, finally in Maryland. Three Civil War battles, Antietam, Gettysburg, and Monocacy were fought in the nexus of the old roads that connected Washington, DC with the Northern States. I’ve been to Gettysburg twice already, and needless to say loved it. Perhaps sometime I’ll visit Antietam or Monocacy. Incidentally, if you have read the book “Confederates in the Attic”, as I recently have I believe part of the author’s hardcore reenactor friend’s “Civil Wargasm” road trip followed the highway tour the rest area signage is still promoting some twenty years later. A lot has changed since that book was written, but it is still very relevant and a good read for even those with a passing interest in Civil War history. Incidentally , the weekend after BronyCon will be the reenactment at Hale Farm & Village and I’ll be joining up with the Ohio 1st Light Artillery Battery A there for the weekend which is exciting.
Eventually we pulled into Baltimore and found our rooms in spite of the MC Esher architecture. We decided against rushing over to try an get our badges tonight, but instead to pick them up tomorrow morning. And that is where I shall begin tomorrow’s post!
Glad you made it safe and sound, despite the delays. Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Be glad you didn't go for badges last night. c.c; Hope it doesn't take too long this morning!