Day 2 - What Maryland has taught me.... already

As a lifetime Midwesterner, you can imagine the culture shock that I'm going through after moving to this part of the country.  Life outside of D.C. is considerably different than anything I experienced at home.  In response to requests I received before I left, here's the first installment of "What Maryland has taught me..."

1.  Interstates are for sitting, not for driving.

As I was warned before I left Indiana, traffic here is ridiculous.  I was amused when Maria was telling us that she went through the city in order to save time, instead of taking the interstate.  Here's the view from a bridge over I-270 at about 3:00 p.m. yesterday (Sunday):

2.)  U-turns are an essential and encouraged part of drivers-ed

I've never taken so many U-turns in so short of time than I have in my two days here.  Many places here are unreachable without them, as the two major roads in N. Bethesda are divided highways with concrete medians.  On top of that, for some reason the business signs here are not above tree level, so we frequently cruise right by our target destination and are forced to do a "Maryland special" as I have started referring to them as.


3.) Places here cannot be found except by those who already know where they are...

To be honest a good part of our adventure so far has been just trying to navigate the area.  In addition to the lack of tall signs, the high population density forces many businesses to improvise when it comes to building shape.  For example, we spent 30 mins looking for the Target, only to find out that it is only visible when approached from the North, and is only accessible through the parking garage that blocks the sight of the building in the first place.  Is there a nice tall sign guiding would-be patrons to the store... no... where is the sign?  On the ground, 10 ft tall, and not visible until you've already arrived at the store.

4.)  If I am ever single again (God forbid) I'm buying a mini-Schnauzer

I think Furmata has gotten more attention than either of us have.  Every female and gay guy below the age of 30 stops and talks to her.  Believe me guys... CHICK MAGNET.  Get one and you won't be disappointed.

5.)  I truly am a fatty...

After 2 days and walking 8 miles, I can honestly say that I am in pain.  And thats pathetic!!  There is some hope though... there are a lot of really fit people here.  Perhaps if I stay long enough I'll catch it too!!  High food prices + traffic jams = walking lots = dropping weight like it's hot!

We shall leave it at that, as the day has more than stated and we have an exciting first encounter with the Metro scheduled for today.  The weather is still beautiful here, hope everyone else is experiencing something similar.