The Road to Hell

.....contrary to popular myth, is apparently not paved at all.

I find this utterly hilarous on several levels.

In 2002, I was warned off of moving to Maryland because, among other things, I'd be subjecting myself to corrupt and incompetent local government when I could just as easily move to orderly, well-run Northern Virginia. The Maryland House of Delegates may be full of blowhard Democrats who would rather argue about slot machines for two years than pass a budget, but they do manage to throw a few truckloads of chip-n-seal on pretty much any flat surface that connects two inhabited points in the state.

Second, the visual image of a real estate agent fording Bull Run in his Jaguar is just priceless. If only Major McDowell had thought of that in 1861, the Civil War might have lasted mere weeks.

Third, we Washingtonians have just now begun what promises to be an interminable and ill-informed public argument about reducing traffic congestion through privately owned demand-sensitive toll lanes, popularly known as "Lexus Lanes" for the assumption that only the rich will be able to afford the tolls. I say the Loudon experience demonstrates we don't need Lexus lanes at all. We can throw some sand and gravel in the median strip on the Beltway and I-66 and let all these off-road warriors pretend they're blazing trails in the wilderness.

I am a little disappointed that you can negotiate Braddock Road in an Audi, though. I thought maybe me and my '96 Jeep Cherokee would have a clear road.