Familiar Territory

Tonight's installment of The Amazing Race was a little surreal for me, because I've done basically the exact same trip in reverse.

The last work trip I ever took while at The Company was a six day road trip that had me driving out of Norfolk to visit retailers in Richmond, Washington DC, York, Lancaster, and New York City. I drove all the roads they drove in tonight's episode, albeit going in the other direction. (Yes, including that particular traffic jam on US 50, which as I understand it began about 45 minutes after they opened that road to travelers, and has continued unabated ever since.)

When the teams were reading the clue to find the reflecting pool in front of the U.S. Capitol building, I instantly recognized the trouble that was coming. The famous reflecting pool is of course the one you see on all the postcards between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. But I knew from having been there myself that it wasn't the landmark in question.

Sure enough, we got to watch several teams aimlessly search the wrong area, not having carefully read their clue. Now, I have to say: it's about a two-and-a-half hour drive from York, Pennsylvania to DC. And what do you have to do during all that time? Read the damn clue again! And again! And again! You have enough time to memorize the thing. Any team that went to the wrong place got what they deserved.

The deja vu continued when one of the teams was consulting their Virginia state road map book. I have the exact same map in the seat pocket of my car, this very minute. This was a gift both thoughtful and humorous from some good friends of mine here in Denver.

Every time I'd been back to Colorado on a visit, I'd complained about how crazy (read: "not straight") the roads in Virginia Beach are, and ranted about how hard it was to get around. When they visited me there last September, they got to experience firsthand how bad my ability to give them directions was. So, as a Christmas present, they bought me this Virginia road map.

Of course, less than one month later was Black Monday. Barely one month after that, I ceased to have need of a Virginia road map. Nevertheless, this is a case where what they say is true: it is the thought that counts. I keep the map in my car to this day. It's not only a reminder of how thoughtful and fun my friends here in Denver are, but a reminder of the good times I did have during my years in Virginia.

Oh, and meanwhile, some people won the leg of the Race, and some other people got eliminated. Not so much the point of this post.