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Aug. 10th, 2009 09:46 amYesterday on the way back to Rockville from points West, we got stuck in the worst traffic jam I've ever been stuck in. Most of the time we've somehow managed to instinctively avoid these things. We'd actually thought of taking an alternate route home since we'd heard rumors of tie-ups around 5:00 pm. By the time we got on the road it was nearly midnight, though, so we thought things would be clear. They were clearER, in that 70 wasn't backed up all the way from Frederick to Rte. 522. However, just past Hagerstown, we encountered the Parking Lot.
Every huge truck currently in service in the United States just happened to be traveling in that direction, on that stretch of road, at that moment. We came to a halt next to about 50 such vehicles, all simultaneously spewing some kind of unidentifiable, noxiously toxic particulate (whatever it was did not smell like normal exhaust fumes). The heat and humidity trapped this particulate, and there was no breeze to speak of on that stretch of road. My window faced a particularly huge semi that was spewing a particularly voluminous amount of lung-searing, brain-dissolving particulate, so my window was closed. Breathing suddenly became a bit of a problem.
We momentarily tried closing the windows and turning on the filtered A/C, but that didn't work - a huge amount of exhaust spewed in the vents, so we quickly turned it off and left Rialian's tree-facing window open. There was just enough oxygen not to expire. I daydreamed of vaporizing large semis with death rays. It may have been a result of the fumes, or maybe not...
I made a makeshift filter out of my t-shirt and was actually able to breathe through it. It was a bit stuffy but I figured I could live with stuffy. I was not so sure I would live through the no-filter alternative. Finally we passed a truck stop area on the side of the road, and all the trucks pulled over so their drivers could take a nap while the road cleared up. Immediately, the air cleared to a "normal" amount of car exhaust. A breeze started blowing, and I was able to breathe without the shirt filter.
We were on that stretch of road for about an hour (for maybe 10 miles). We decided to get off of 70 even though it had started to clear up (it may or may not have stayed clear, and we weren't willing to experiment by that point). When we reached the next exit we escaped. The gas station at that exit had huge lines of people, all of whom were perusing maps, giving each other impromptu directions, and standing in line for the one available restroom. We decided not to wait for the restroom and to just head home.
Every huge truck currently in service in the United States just happened to be traveling in that direction, on that stretch of road, at that moment. We came to a halt next to about 50 such vehicles, all simultaneously spewing some kind of unidentifiable, noxiously toxic particulate (whatever it was did not smell like normal exhaust fumes). The heat and humidity trapped this particulate, and there was no breeze to speak of on that stretch of road. My window faced a particularly huge semi that was spewing a particularly voluminous amount of lung-searing, brain-dissolving particulate, so my window was closed. Breathing suddenly became a bit of a problem.
We momentarily tried closing the windows and turning on the filtered A/C, but that didn't work - a huge amount of exhaust spewed in the vents, so we quickly turned it off and left Rialian's tree-facing window open. There was just enough oxygen not to expire. I daydreamed of vaporizing large semis with death rays. It may have been a result of the fumes, or maybe not...
I made a makeshift filter out of my t-shirt and was actually able to breathe through it. It was a bit stuffy but I figured I could live with stuffy. I was not so sure I would live through the no-filter alternative. Finally we passed a truck stop area on the side of the road, and all the trucks pulled over so their drivers could take a nap while the road cleared up. Immediately, the air cleared to a "normal" amount of car exhaust. A breeze started blowing, and I was able to breathe without the shirt filter.
We were on that stretch of road for about an hour (for maybe 10 miles). We decided to get off of 70 even though it had started to clear up (it may or may not have stayed clear, and we weren't willing to experiment by that point). When we reached the next exit we escaped. The gas station at that exit had huge lines of people, all of whom were perusing maps, giving each other impromptu directions, and standing in line for the one available restroom. We decided not to wait for the restroom and to just head home.
