Drove to DC from Michigan yesterday. Google Maps estimated nine hours, but it didn’t account for traffic. Total driving time was 10.5 hours.
The Turnpike system is really nice. The tolls were steep, about $30 total from three different legs of the trip, but the drive was easy once I got out of the cities. The mountains of eastern Ohio and Pennsylvania are beautiful. There was some light rain, and the grey from the sky was a striking combination when mixed with the lush green of the mountains.
As I expected it to be, the weather in northern Virginia in late June is hot and humid. I will be running from one air-conditioned room to another.
I will take the language test at the Foreign Service Institute in a few hours. I’m not as nervous about it as I was going in to the Oral Assessment in February. The stakes are high, though. I need the language bonus points.