Don’t travel on a holiday weekend. Traffic is awful. We knew that, yet chose to drive from Chiba to Niigata. I am glad we did.
It was a marathon on the way up. We left at 6 am and I drove the first four hours through various slowdowns and jams until we got past the metropolitan expressways into Gunma and then Tod took over for another three hours.
We had a surprisingly nice lunch at Ranzan Parking Area. I always expect uninspired curry rice and ramen at roadside stops, but there was a delicious steamed vegetable lunch on the menu. I was really happy about that healthy choice after the slog through the slow traffic coming out of the city.
Though we could have taken the Shinkansen to our destination, we enjoyed being free to come and go on our own schedule. After nine years in the countryside, it’s become habit to follow our whims by using the car to get places. I love trains and public transport, but a car is convenient and allows easy changes to plans.
Tod did all the driving on our anniversary – an hour from Nojiriko to Itoigawa and then along the coast from beaches to museum to hotel. So I decided to try driving the whole way home myself the next day. At 450 km (280 miles), it was farther than I have driven in many years, though I’ve done the 725 km (450 miles) drive between Pittsburgh and Chicago a couple of times in the very distant past.
At 9:15 we loaded the car up with all of our stones and souvenirs. Google Maps said it would be clear sailing for five and a half hours. What a lie.
It started well, but 90 minutes into the trip there was an accident at Karuizawa causing a 22 minute delay. We decided to stop for a snack and see if the traffic cleared up, but after an ice cream’s worth of time, the delay had only gotten longer.
Closer to Tokyo there was a second, even longer snarl. Our total time on the road was 8 hours.
On the way back, the Cow reached a milestone – 100,000 km! I promised her if she drove well, I’d give her ear decorations, so this week she will get some nice stripes on her side mirrors.
I am proud of myself for managing this endurance run of highway driving. Not bad considering my friends at Oyama Senmaida recently asked me if I own a car or can drive at all.
