Northern Virginia Roll Call

The entire length of the Blueridge Parkway in NC and VA is closed until further notice.

https://www.newsleader.com/story/ne...-carolina-and-virginia-is-closed/75511853007/

 

Yeah my family lives outside Asheville. They lost all cell service and internet for 5 days since all the comms go through asheville, which was under water. Power came back on within a day or two. But roads are basically gone in some stretches of the parkway. Where i used to live, as you pass the driveway was a sign that read blue ridge pkwy half mile.

 

I've been watching. It's clearly devastating, but you put up 30" of rain in an area somethings going to give. Hope your family is getting what they need.

 

There is a guy in the motorcycle thread that lives in the hills around Asheville, NC. He has loaned out chain saws, motorcycles and side by sides to help with getting people off the mountains. He has helped recover both alive and deceased.

You can read a small excerpt by him if you want to. 3 posts back to back. Built to ride is his user name.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/motorcycles-bs-thread-2-0.420753/page-2940#post-30171942

I feel for him and everyone else in the path of destruction.

edit….

I bet all the off road parks in areas out that way are torn to hell now.

That said.. any idea on your property in Tenn.?

 

Agree with above. NPS posted a few pics of the Blueridge Parkway without the Parkway.

Uwharrie is open, they are east and south of the floods. Pigsauh and another are indefinitely closed as are parts of the TransAmerican Trail.

Our property is good. We are 1.5 -2 hours west of the closest affected area. About three hours from Asheville. And we're 1000 feet above the valley floor on one of the higher spots around.

 

Saw this on FB this morning. Going to try and cross post in a few places.

 

Moving to the area this winter. Will be working at joint base Acostia. Mainly looking to live in Alexandria. Any advice on locations to avoid, best trails, general tips for new people.

(grew up in CT so not oblivious to NE culture)

 

Could go a little further south and get a little more for your money home-wise.

 

Anacostia specifically and most all of DC are very dangerous these days so I’d stay away when you’re not at work. Anacostia is the worst part of the city.

Agree with the others who have said the farther away from DC you can manage to live, the better. For many reasons.

 

Yeah ive def noticed that. I value my time a lot and am willing to pay to avoid traffic. Right now I’m budgeting 4k max to rent a house.

 

That's my final weekend in town. Cleaning and moving shit in a Uhaul. Have fun without me though!

 

Definitely understood. Although I'm willing to bet the I-395 (if you're in that part of Alexandria) commute to JBAB would be about the same or worse than the I-95 commute to the same. The travel distance is only a small part of the calculation in this cluster of a commute. Just food for thought!

Like someone said, the area around JBAB isn't the greatest. Definitely do not use the Anacostia Metro station. JBAB sits in a line of installations. Anacostia (very small), to Bolling (a little larger), Bellevue Military Housing (belongs to the Navy and Marine Corp with the Navy Lodge inside), and then the Naval Research Lab. Oh, and no matter how drunk you get, don't swim in the river. I've pulled a lot of grossness out of there back in the day.

And welcome to the DMV! Where many military careers are made, and many sanity points lost! Good luck! And good on you for picking an extremely marketable MOS!

 

Interesting. Maybe I need to visit and check out these highways to really get a good idea on where to stay. Luckily im a contractor and only have to be on site 3 days a week.

 

For sure. Try Google Map's futurecast feature. And we're always kicking around if you want to ask questions. Quite a few of us commute in the area.

 

I would definitely visit before leasing or buying anything. Traffic here can be a nightmare, but population density brings another set of problems. I'd take a bit of a drive over being stacked in like sardines.

 

I used to work in SW DC and lived in Crystal City then North Arlington. Depending on your lifestyle, I’d look into North Arlington. At the budget you mentioned, you can probably find a decent house for that price, especially out near Ballston. Lots of good food, easy access to i66, metro is close with 3 lines going through so even if one line is having issues you’ve got other options. if you take the metro it took me about 40 minutes including about a 1 mile walk from my house in the Bluemont neighborhood of ballston to the metro.


You could always live further west in Virginia but then you run into more traffic. I had to commute from purcelville to DC kind of randomly after Covid, about 40ish miles. It took anywhere from 1 hour during the peak of Covid to 2 hours in 2023. That included taking toll roads haha. No to scare you from western areas but thats the trade off haha. My parents commuted from Stafford to DC basically every day for like 8 years (1.5-2 hours each way) so it really depends on the person.

 

I live South Arlington by the Air Force Memorial, I have to commute into downtown, time of day can really make crazy changes. I go in at 5:55AM its 15 minutes, if I go at 7:30 its an hour. I did Ballston for years, Westover is amazing and Falls Church is a small town.

For driving in DC, just be prepared for super aggressive drivers, people doing the opposite of their singles, Ubers and scooters making random lane changes with no warning and buses that will run you off the road.

 

We keep this up and dude ain't gonna move here!

 

Appreciate all the info guys. basically traffic is an uncontrollable variable that you learn to work around with time. Im just looking forward to being back near some water and some mountains all within an hour or two. (lived in WA for a few years so are the Appalachians really mountains? yes, because im coming from the mid west where ive been watching corn grow for 4 years lol) Traffic and cost of living are the only worries. Im getting a substantial raise to move, but right now me and my wife are basically mid west rich with no worries lol. sometimes you need a little chaos though.

 

I really liked living in Arlington. I think it's a great place to live. I basically only drove when i needed to get groceries or head west haha. Falls church is also a good choice, you just start to lose the more urban benefits haha.

Even lane choice matters haha. I didn't drive in much but when I lived in Crystal city, getting onto 395 the far left lane was always the fastest since the right lanes were more through traffic haha.