The Trip: Part One
At around 4:30 PM, I left my house. At 4:44 PM, I took my first picture of the trip, on US 29 north of US 33 in Ruckersville. I only took 3 pictures for the next 10 minutes, which after those 10 minutes, I took a couple pictures on US 29 around the VA-230/VA-231 intersections. For the next 10 minutes after that, I wouldn't take any pictures at all, with my next picture being of some scenery on US 29 in Culpeper County.
I reached Culpeper at 5:09 PM, taking my first good picture of the trip. At 5:14 PM, I passed the northern end of US 15/29 Business northeast of Culpeper, continuing on the mainline routes. I crossed the Rappahannock River into Fauquier County at 5:21 PM, passing by Remington and the south end of VA-28 at 5:23 PM.
4 minutes later, I passed through the southern interchange of US 15/29 and US 17, continuing north on the three-way concurrency. At 5:33 PM, I reached Warrenton, going on the eastern bypass of the town, eventually merging away from US 17 at the north end of the bypass. 8 minutes later, I passed through the US 15/29 intersection with VA-215, and entered Prince William County for the first time in my roadgeek career.
At 5:50 PM, I merged onto East I-66, my first and last time leaving US 29 on this trip. I passed through the VA-28 interchange at 5:59 PM, followed by the VA-286 interchange a minute later. At 6:10 PM, I got onto I-495 North, passing by Tysons a couple minutes after.
I passed by the VA-267 interchange at 6:15 PM, before reaching a traffic jam. I sat in traffic for over 10 minutes, passing through the VA-193 interchange at 6:32 PM. At 6:39 PM, I finally got on the American Legion Memorial Bridge to cross the Potomac River into Maryland. I passed the state welcome sign a minute later, marking my first ever time in the state on land, and my second time in the state ever.
At 6:45 PM, I reached the I-270 interchange, continuing north/east on I-495. I passed through the MD-97 exit at 6:54 PM, followed by US 29 just 2 minutes later. At 6:59 PM, I reached the I-495/I-95 northern interchange, continuing south on I-495/95.
At 7:08 PM, I merged onto I-595/US 50 East, taking pictures of the very early stages of the sunset. I passed US 301/MD-3 at 7:15 PM, but I still continued straight on US 50/301. A minute later, I entered Anne Arundel County for the first time ever, and eventually at 7:22 PM, I passed the southern end of I-97. I continued east, before passing by MD-2/MD-450 at 7:26 PM. 2 minutes later, I exited on the MD-179 exit to refill on food/drink, which the stop would be my northernmost point I've ever been (until 3/18/24).
The Trip: Part Two
I left the stop at around 7:38 PM, taking my first picture back on the road 2 minutes later. At 7:43 PM, I got on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge for the first time in my life, spending 4 minutes on it, not being scared for even one second.
At 7:48 PM, I passed the exit for MD-8, followed by MD-18 at 7:51 PM. I reached the US 50/301 split at 7:56 PM, turning right/east to continue on US 50 for Ocean City. At 8:03 PM, I reached the US 50/MD-404 intersection, and of course, I continued east (really south) on US 50. I entered Talbot County at 8:10 PM, before intersecting MD-322 just 2 minutes later. Around here is when my pictures began getting blurry due to the night coming, but I continued taking them.
I intersected MD-565 at 8:18 PM, still taking blurry photos before crossing the Choptank River into Dorchester County at 8:27 PM. On the bridge, I got one last sunset picture as it got darker and darker outside. At 8:33 PM, I passed by MD-750 in Cambridge, before taking lots of blurry photos of the road.
At 8:48 PM, I reached the intersection with MD-331, crossing the Nanticoke River just a minute after. I reached Salisbury at 9:01 PM, at the interchange for US 50 Business. I continued on the Salisbury Bypass until 9:05 PM, where I merged onto US 13 North to stop at a gas station to refill for a break for the second time.
The Trip: Part Three
I returned to the road at 9:13 PM, merging back onto US 50 East, which was now on a concurrency with US 13 South. At 9:17 PM, I merged off US 13 with US 50 for the final stretch to the coast. I passed by Wor-Wic Community College shortly after, before intersecting MD-353 at 9:24 PM.
At 9:32 PM, I reached the US 50/MD-90 interchange, and I continued east on US 50. 4 minutes later, I got to the US 113 interchange, where just like I have been for a big part of the trip, I stayed on US 50 East. At 9:39 PM, I intersected MD-589, followed by MD-707 once I reached West Ocean City.
Shortly after, I reached the MD-611 intersection as I got closer and closer to Ocean City. At 9:44 PM, I took a picture of the Ocean City welcome sign, right before getting on the drawbridge into the town. I reached the east end of US 50 at 9:46 PM, which is when I got onto land in Ocean City for the first time ever. At 9:48 PM, I took a picture on MD-378 of a sign for US 50, which would be my last picture of the trip on the road. Shortly after the picture was taken, I reached my hotel. I took two more pictures that night, one of a traffic light from my balcony, and the final picture of the trip was of a nearby hotel.
After:
Shortly after I took the final pictures of the trip, I created this page, typing in a few words before leaving it be the day after I returned home (8/14/23), where I left it like that for nearly a year. I finally decided to come back and make the rest of the page for the 1 year anniversary of the trip, which is when I typed 95% of the page out.
The day after the trip, I went down to the beach during late-sunrise, and I took 136 pictures that day, though it was more of a quiet day compared to the other two full vacation days.
This trip gave me 608 pictures, and lots of new milage on roads in Maryland and Northern Virginia, as this was my first time on Maryland soil ever (the only other time I was in the state was when I was in the Potomac River in June 2021). This would be my 2nd biggest road trip ever until the 25th of that month.
