The journey began on Monday, May 22nd, 2011. We checked over transportation and other arrangements, making sure every joint and seam were as strong as we were. In the afternoon of our departure IIIT arranged a send-off with a brief ceremony in the library with the entire staff. A group of twelve colleagues from the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) office gathered to wish us well before our journey. 

We shared our road map and plans with the staff. We wanted their valuable feedback and a few pre-trip suggestions. Their words of inspiration motivated us to proceed. We started our voyage by praying the Asr prayer at the Herndon Mosque, located in the IIIT facility in Northern Virginia. Our ride was a black Mazda 6 2011 that would take us across and back.

We finally got rolling around 5 in the afternoon. I rolled down the window and looked at the IIIT/Herndon mosque for the last time before we hit the streets to begin our journey. 

As expected, rush hour traffic along I-95 slowed us down. Because of the heavy congestion, we were almost hour and a half late, and Magrib was approaching fast. We made a brief stop to pray Magrib in the Islamic Center-Fredericksburg, VA. On top of everything else, Zafry remembered that we left our camera behind, which forced us to make a pit stop at a nearby shopping complex. We bought a digital camera, dual charger for laptop and phone, and swallowed some sandwiches in a halal restaurant before hitting the road again.

This stretch of highway is quite scenic. From the north, I-95 enters this region of Virginia from Richmond into Norfolk and the Tidewater area, crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, before merging with I-40 and continuing south into North Carolina and dipping into Wilmington, which is the eastern most end of U.S.