The last two days of my Florida spring break trip, I would be driving back from Jacksonville. Despite I spent the majority of these two days on the road, which weren't the most interesting material, I still made make this post, mostly of dashcam photos, so that the entire journey was whole here.

I knew some friends that lived in Durham, North Carolina, which would constitute a small detour. Knowing it’s not possible for me to drive from Jacksonville to Washington DC in a day, I paid them a visit to spend the night.

Google Maps indicated it would be 7 hours of nonstop driving from Jacksonville to Durham, so I left my overnight Airbnb, situated in a quiet residential neighborhood at 9am in the morning.

Residential Community Residential Community
Residential Community
Where my overnight Airbnb was located.
Roads in Suburb Jacksonville Roads in Suburb Jacksonville
Roads in Suburb Jacksonville
Interstate 95 Interstate 95
Interstate 95
Initially there was some traffic, not enough to slow down the pace of driving.
Interstate 95 Interstate 95
Interstate 95
As I was passing Savannah into South Carolina, there was some traffic on the northbound direction of I95.
Interstate 95 Interstate 95
Interstate 95 Interstate 95
Interstate 95
There was an accident on southbound direction of I95, which caused miles of traffic backup. I thought the minor slowdown on my northbound direction was caused by drivers slowing down to spectate the accident, resulting in a phantom traffic jam.
Crossing Lake Marion Crossing Lake Marion
Crossing Lake Marion
Interstate 95 Interstate 95
Interstate 95
Mostly smooth sailing through beautiful forests in North Carolina.
Interstate 40 Interstate 40
Interstate 40
There was some traffic building up approaching the city of Raleigh.

Since this was a public post, the fun time with my friends won't be part of it.

Fast forward to March 24, since it wasn't that much a long journey from Durham to Washington DC, I got up reasonably late, said goodbye to my friends, and left for home at noon.

Interstate 85 Interstate 85
Interstate 85
Some roadwork was the only source of slowdown on Interstate 85. Weirdly, I thought the part of road that these cones blocked off was perfectly fine?
Interstate 85 Interstate 85
Interstate 85
Interstate 95 Interstate 95
Interstate 95
Traffic was building up passing Richmond. Looking at this, maybe the I295 detour I took on my way to Florida was a blessing in disguise?
Passing Downtown Richmond Passing Downtown Richmond
Passing Downtown Richmond
Passing Downtown Richmond
Interstate 95 passed right through downtown Richmond, which accounted for this increased traffic.
Interstate 95 Interstate 95
Interstate 95
There was heavy traffic on the northbound direction of I95 leading away from Richmond. I tried taking naps in a nearby truck stop to wait it out, to no avail. So I decided to turn off the interstate, and took the country route of VA301 instead.
Country Road Country Road
Country Road Country Road
Country Road
Route 301 Route 301
Route 301 Route 301
Route 301
Before passing Bowling Green, Route 301 was a two-lane road with few traffic, lined with soaring trees and farmland.
Route 301 Route 301
Route 301 Route 301
Route 301
Probably since it’s gaining latitude, there were fewer and fewer leaves on trees as I approached Maryland.
Harry W Nice Bridge Harry W Nice Bridge
Harry W Nice Bridge
Route 301 Route 301
Route 301
There was an accident near Waldorf, causing some slowdown.
Interstate 495 Interstate 495
Interstate 495 Interstate 495
Interstate 495
Home stretch. Sunday afternoon rush hour traffic around Washington DC, which wasn’t too bad.

That's the end of my 11-day, 2881-mile roadtrip. Lots of fond memories. Distance-wise, I don't think it's a record that I will break easily.

END