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| Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge at sunrise |
The first day of my cross-country road trip was this day. I left the family house at around 3 AM, before which my mom helped pack a shit-ton of my stuff into the Jeep. The sheer amount of stuff really weighed the car down, and my mom cautioned that I will have to drive a bit slower than normal traffic to avoid losing control of the car. While this helped add a little bit more anxiety during my trip, I made sure to take my time; I did plan for five days of traveling.
Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge
A few hours on the road led me bypassing Philadelphia, making my way down through Delaware, which I was surprised to see lots of farmland, but less surprised by the many wetlands areas, one of which was my first stop: Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge (which I'm proud to say I own a US quarter that has it on its face.)
I got into the refuge right near sunrise, and started an auto tour that led me around the refuge to look across different zones of habitat. My camera lens was not ideal to capture massive details at the distance I was at from them, but it was nice to see wading birds like herrings and egrets hanging out while they look around for their breakfast meal.
I ended up arriving early enough to get a bit of extra time to walk through some of the trails in the refuge. I unfortunately didn't get to see much more than what I saw in my car; I was hoping to see more birds of prey like eagles, or mammals like deer or foxes, but it was a beautiful area nonetheless.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel
After my time at Bombay Hook, I went further south to cross the Chesapeake Bay into Virginia. I stopped by a scenic outlook of the bay to see the bridge itself.
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| Scenic outlook just before the Chesapeake Bridge/Tunnel |
The drive up to and through the bridge was actually a bit terrifying. The lanes were really skinny, and there were a ton of cars going through it. I got through it in good time, however, and made it to Virginia to meet with my buddy Brett. This was probably much better than driving the longer way around DC.
Norfolk Botanical Gardens
After crossing the bridge to arrive in Norfolk, VA, I made a plan to meet up with Brett at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. The timing wasn't amazing, unfortunately. I ended up being there for a half hour or so, waiting on him and his girlfriend to come by so we can chat. That ate up a lot of time that I wish I had spent seeing the actual gardens. Barely making the time, he and I chatted about life and whatnot, making sure that we plan to see each other sometime after I make it out west. From there, the last leg of the day was upon me.
Raleigh, NC
Early on in my planning for this trip, I wanted to see my old high school friend, Katie, who now lives in Pembroke, NC. We initially planned for me to stay at her place for the night, but as the day approached, she let me know that her roommates at the time weren't comfortable with a random guy staying at their place (which I guess is a valid concern.) In a pinch, I reached out to a Facebook friend, Lars, who's living in Raleigh. Thankfully, he graciously let me stay at his place for the night, where I met his nice family, and collected a German and Oriental cockroach nearby. Katie and I still had dinner at a local place in downtown Raleigh, caught up a nice amount, and still keep in touch whenever she makes it back to Salt Lake City.
From here, I got a good night's rest and prepared to make my way further southwest.
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