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somewhere, VA: wherever it was i pulled off the highway for lunch. found it amusing that someone would advertise attending "cowpie high" on their car. delaware: lots of scary signs labeling genetic experiment crops; drive by a house that has at least 8 of some carnivorous bird circling overhead; think "wow, delaware is creepy." on the plus side: lots of butterflies, dragonflies, other cute large insects. maryland: delaware becomes maryland without much fanfare. more crops. towns like "parole, MD" and "bowie, MD." near DC there's a sign that says, "aggressive driver imaging in use;" i contemplate the possible meanings. a car goes by with a DC license plate and the state motto spot says, "washington, DC: taxation without representation." it's a rear license plate, but i can't believe it's real; can't find another DC license plate to compare it to. virginia: drive over the chesapeake bay bridge, which is awesome (but hard to photograph while driving). virgina may be for lovers, but it's not for vegetarians...at least where i try to stop for lunch. drive forever across this state, watch the terrain become more and more mountainous and the people become more and more friendly. discernible columns of light slip between clouds and land on blue-green hills. "hungry mother state park." a sticker on the mirror in a reststop restroom asks, "are you virginia's next traffic fatality?" totally forget to refuel after dinner, miraculously make it to gas station. tennessee: tennessee is really pretty, even in the dark. i think. pass an exit for knob creek (whooo!). north carolina: north carolina looks a lot like tennessee at night, save for that the roads come with "runaway truck ramps." i want to pretend to be a runaway truck and try one out, but think the better of it. arrive at the bed and breakfast that'll be my home for the next few days shortly before midnight, open the car door to an astounding chorus of chirping and squeaking night creatures (yay!). creep upstairs, pass out.