We had to pack up the 
computers and everything in 
Fiid's living room where we had been staying.
We 
packed the car, said good-bye to 
Linus and left.
Linus seemed sad to see us go. Oh well. At least I won't be 
parking in Fiid's front yard any more.
It was sort of sad to leave Arlington. We'd lived there for four years. Oh well.
The drive west on Rt. 29 (Lee Highway) to Luray, VA was gorgeous. 25 miles out from Fiid's house, we crested a hill and saw 
this. Bamm! Mountains.
There are also 
some silly things to see along the way to Luray. I wonder if they have a little cup by their cash register that says "need a steak, take a steak"?
Crossing the mountains was a bunch o' fun. Up one side and down the other. 45mph most of the way, nice twisty roads. No way I could forget why I bought a sports car. And yet, some yokel in a pickup truck kicked my butt on the way up! I had a car full of stuff, and every time I took a corner I heard something go "thud" so I gave up.
Luray Caverns were great. At least, that's what the people who arrived in time for the last tour at 4:00 pm said. Too bad we got there at 5:30. (yuk yuk yuk) Oh well, we were only hoping to stop by on the way through and it didn't happen. We did get to go through the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum there, where many super-old carriages and cars could be seen (go figure) including a nifty 
7-person sleigh and 
the HUP-mobile (Unix geeks may find the HUP-mobile mildly amusing in name). I was unable to find the "-9"-Mobile. yuk yuk yuk.
I-81 is pretty lame. It's hilly and has trucks, but it's not as crowded as I-95. Driving is made more interesting by the hilliness, since trucks with lots of cargo have to struggle to maintain 50 mph uphill, and then come charging down the hill at 70. Lotsa lane changing is required if you want to avoid being steamrollered.
We called it a night in Roanoke, 235 miles from Fiid's house. Roanoke is pretty cool. There is a big white electrically-lit star on a mountaintop overlooking the town. There's a whole star motif going on, on street signs, building murals, etc. It's very nifty. I would have taken a picture but it doesn't look very big through a camera lens. You have to see it stereoscopically so you can tell how far away it is, and see the radio tower next to it, to get a feel for how tall it is. It's huge.