East coast travel help - Washington DC/Princeton/Newark

[ucsd_ucla_dad]

Do the freeways around there (Beltway, I-95, I-295) have HOV lanes? If so, are they just as jammed as the rest of the lanes during the busy times?

[jbusc]

Driving in LA is not so bad, as long as you know the freeways & major surface streets by heart

None of us mind getting in at 12 or so (it's only 9 pm our time) so night driving wouldn't be so bad. 5 am driving - that would mean getting up around 2 am our time I don't even go to sleep that early...

You're right about Princeton being to visit Princeton University - though that's not the only reason (some people have family business to take care of). It's not a college visit (I'm already in college ), I suppose you could say I'm partly visiting for grad school...except I'm not really likely to apply there anyways.

As for Arlington, it's also academic related, in some sense - but no visit to the Pentagon, sorry

[Motherdear]

I also live in the Metro DC area in Southern Fairfax County. My H slugs both ways to the Pentagon for years. My college student has worked in DC for the last 4 summers. She takes Metro train and bus. Both have noticed a signicant increase of sluggers and Metro riders, perhaps due to ga$ co$t$.

In any case, I had an 8:00 am appt in Bethesda the other day and then had to go to work on Ft Belvoir. I left southern FFX at 0630 and had found parking and inside the hospital by 0730. My appt was over around 1015 and I thought it would be much quicker to get back to Belvoir since rush hour was officially over. I was so wrong. It took 90 minutes.

Listen to WTOP 103.5 on the 8s for traffic updates 24 hours a day.

[jbusc]

Thanks everyone! Just got back in LA and I thought I would say thanks for all the great advice

The drive from Arlington to Princeton wasn't too bad. It took a long time to get from Arlington to Baltimore, but after that it was smooth sailing. On the way back we drove traffic-free late at night through Baltimore and went from Baltimore to Dulles traffic-free on the beltways the next day.

Also I didn't realize how much tolls were

Princeton was really hot and rainy. It was interesting to learn about some of the graduate programs - like the fact that the funding for PhD students is excellent (basically, fellowships for everyone admitted) - even though it didn't seem like a place I would go.

But now that I did such a rocking job on this trip, I get to plan next months trip to Knoxville too! O_o

[JustAMomOf4]

tolls - yeah forgot about tolls - lol. we are just so used to paying for every mile........
late at night is generally the best time to drive through Baltimore-
Glad it worked out and you had a good time! Knoxville should be easier!

[LIMOMOF2]

Motherdear - funny that you work at Fort Belvoir - my brother and his family live across the street from it in a teeny-tiny house with an absolutely beautiful backyard.