Portsmouth, Virginia - March 10-13, 2001

These pictures were taken with my Olympus C2100-Z digital camera on a trip to a conference in Portsmouth, Virginia, March 10-13, 2001.

All images are 24-bit JPEGs and should be viewed on a 24-bit display. Quality is likely to be very poor when viewed on an 8-bit display. Most images are shown at a resolution of 640x480, but are available in 800x600 and full 1600x1200 sizes by clicking on the links after the captions.

The Plan

I was scheduled to speak at the 10th SIAM Conference on Parallel Processing for Scientific Computation, being held in Portsmouth, Virginia. Air travel is a hassle and Portsmouth is right about at the limit of how far I can drive and still end up taking about the same amount of time as flying. So I did.

Saturday, March 10, 2001

I started out early Saturday morning in Williamstown. The second snowstorm in a week [2 Pictures] was just winding down when I got on the road at 7:30 AM. I decided to try something different. Instead of starting out by heading over to Troy, I took US 7 to MA 43, then south on NY 22 to NY 295 [2 Pictures]. This part of the drive took me on some rather slushy roads, but nothing too horrible. The Taconic State Parkway [2 Pictures] started slushy but was dry when I got into the mid-Hudson area. By the time I got to I-84 [2 Pictures] the roads were dry and the sun was out. Everything was smooth down the Thruway then I-287. There was a little congestion on US 202 in New Jersey, but not much. The first lunch and fuel stop was off of I-95 in Langhorn, Pennsylvania [Picture]. The trip continued down I-95 through Pennsylvania [Picture], into Delaware, then down I-95 to Baltimore. In the Baltimore area, I took the Harbor Tunnel (I-895) to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. I rejoined I-95 on the Capital Beltway [2 Pictures], then hit the Mixing Bowl and a good amount of construction as I continued south into Virginia [Picture].

I arrived in Richmond a bit before 5, and had time to visit with Josh, Julie, and Jessica for a few hours. Around 8, I was on my way again, now heading east on I-64 toward the Hampton Roads area. It was a beautiful night for travel, with a full moon providing a lot of light [Picture]. I arrived in Portsmouth and found my hotel by 10:00.

Saturday's travel log:

Time	Location	Mileage
7:31 AM	Williamstown, Mass.	122228
7:41 AM	Jct MA 43, South Williamstown	122234
7:54 AM	New York	122245
7:56 AM	Jct NY 22, Stephentown	122246
8:12 AM	Jct NY 295, Columbia County	122258
8:26 AM	Jct Taconic State Parkway	122268
9:30 AM	Jct I-84	122333
9:46 AM	Jct NYS Thruway/I-87 Exit 17	122350
10:00 AM	Woodbury Toll Barrier	122365
10:10 AM	Ramapo Service Area	122376
10:20 AM	New Jersey and I-287	122379
11:05 AM	US 202/206, Bridgewater	122430
11:48 AM	Jct I-95, Ewing Twp, NJ	122468
11:52 AM	Pennsylvania	122465
12:01 PM	Langhorn, PA, gas and lunch	missing
12:55 PM	Delaware and Jct I-495	122517
1:05 PM	Jct I-95 and Delaware Turnpike	122528
1:15 PM	Delaware Tpke Toll Plaza	122539
1:16 PM	Maryland	122540
1:27 PM	Chesapeake House Service Area	122553
2:15 PM	Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Toll Plaza	122595
2:19 PM	Baltimore Washington Parkway	122599
2:40 PM	Jct Capital Beltway/I-495/I-95	122621
3:00 PM	Virginia	122642
3:07 PM	Mixing Bowl	122649
3:25 PM	Rest Area on I-95	122664
4:57 PM	Josh and Julie's in Richmond	122750
7:56 PM	Gas stop in Richmond	122750
8:37 PM	I-64 Rest Area	122785
10:00 PM	Hotel in Portsmouth	122856

Sunday, March 11, 2001

My room on the 16th floor of the Portsmouth Renaissance had a nice view of the Elizabeth River and the city of Portsmouth [3 Pictures].

I attended a short course on cluster computing in the morning, but that was done by lunch time, leaving the afternoon mostly free. I took a ride to Virginia Beach and parked and walked around a bit [3 Pictures]. The weather was beautiful for early March, with temperatures in the upper 60's and bright sunshine. This made for quite a few people at and near the beach, and some even brave enough to dress for summer. Next, I drove north to Cape Henry and the lighthouses at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay [22 Pictures]. The old lighthouse is open for climbing, so I did it. It's not a very long climb, but the winding staircase ends before the top, and two ladders are used to get the rest of the way. I looked around Cape Henry some more, then made my way back [Picture] to the hotel in Portsmouth [Picture] for a reception and later some grading.

Sunday's travel log:

	Portsmouth	122856
	Virginia Beach	122879
	Cape Henry	122885
	Portsmouth	122906

Monday, March 12, 2001

This was the first day of the conference. My talk was in the morning. We had lunch at a sports bar on high street, were back for more talks during the afternoon, then went to dinner at a restaurant at Milepost 0 of the Intracoastal Highway on the wharf in Chesapeake. It was another warm and mostly sunny day, and was actually a bit humid.

Monday's travel log:

	Portsmouth	122906
	Back to Portsmouth	122915

Tuesday, March 13, 2001

After some overnight rain, it was a warm and somewhat humid morning in Portsmouth. The conference was only in day two of three, but after the morning sessions, I had to be on my way home. I left the hotel around noon [Picture], and was on my way. First, I had to take the downtown tunnel [2 Pictures] into Norfolk [2 Pictures]. I stopped to get some Bojangle's chicken (southern cuisine, I guess) on US 13 in Virginia Beach, and made my way to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel [7 Pictures]. The ride up US 13 through Virginia's eastern shore and through Maryland was smooth, but slow in and around the towns, which seem to be bigger than I remember from previous trips. I made a fuel stop and hit some rain and thurder in Delaware [4 Pictures]. Delaware 1 now has a connector that takes you right from US 13 south of Dover to Delaware 1. Delaware 1 is almost complete from Dover to I-95, and I think there was only one traffic light in the section which still dumps onto US 13. I usually take I-95 through Philadelphia, but with the time still close to the afternoon rush, I decided it would be best to avoid all that and take the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the New Jersey Turnpike. This worked out well, as the traffic on the Turnpike northbound wasn't bad at all. I decided to continue on the NJTP to the Garden State Parkway. There was plenty of traffic, but it moved right along. It was starting to get foggy, with the damp and relatively warm air on top of a snowcover, so I decided it would be best to take the Thruway instead of the Taconic to get home. The fog was dense in patches, but there were no real problems. After reaching Troy and starting on the familiar NY 7/NY 22/NY 346/VT 346/US 7 route home, I encountered more fog and some prime conditions for black ice, delaying my arrival in Williamstown by 15 minutes or so.

Tuesday's travel log:

12:08 PM	Portsmouth	122915
12:28 PM	Lunch stop, Virginia Beach	122926
12:45 PM	Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Rest Stop	122934
	Construction Delay on CBBT	122939
1:28 PM	North end CBBT, Virginia Eastern Shore	122949
2:40 PM	Maryland	123018
	Delaware	123059
3:31 PM	Gas stop in Laurel, DE	123066
4:32 PM	Toll Plaza on DE 1	123111
4:57 PM	Toll Plaza on DE 1	123139
5:17 PM	New Jersey, Delaware Memorial Bridge	123156
5:52 PM	Cooper Service Area, New Jersey Turnpike	123196
7:32 PM	New York (on Garden State Parkway)	123291
7:44 PM	Sloatsburg Service Area, NYS Thruway	123303
9:00 PM	Malden Service Area, NYS Thruway	123373
9:37 PM	I-787, Albany	123411
9:47 PM	NY 7, Troy	123421
10:32 PM	Gas stop in Pownal, VT on US 7	123453
10:46 PM	Back in Williamstown	123457

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