With the double benefit of a long weekend and sunny skies, area residents return to work with spirits and energy restored. But that feeling may be fleeting — transportation experts warn that the first Tuesday after Labor Day is often referred to as “Terrible Traffic Tuesday,” or T3 for short. Sandwiched somewhere between Manic Monday and T.G.I.F., T3 is the day that workers hit the roads, students at local universities return to campus, and school buses ferry the young to and from the first week of the school-year in many localities — in essence, the perfect storm of traffic artery cloggings. For everyone’s safety and sanity, DCist can only hope more of the area’s workers resort to public transport or car pools, though we’re not holding our breaths on that one. How has your T3 been so far?

Evacuees Set to Arrive in Coming Days: The 400 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina set to be housed in the D.C. Armory will be arriving over the next two days, parting from the original plan that had them scheduled to arrive yesterday, reports WTOP. NBC 4’s Tom Sherwood found that the delay was provoked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), who wants to identify the evacuees and establish who will care for them in the District. And while flight arrangements for the evacuees are finalized, the ten bus convoy sent from the District to pick up displaced families along the Gulf Coast have come up empty so far in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, forcing two of the bus drivers to quit in frustration while District officials decide when the buses should return.

Post Laments Passing Dog Days: It being September, the District once again resumes it frenetic pace as legions of lobbyists, students, diplomats, and members of Congress return from a full month of repose, usually outside the confines of the Beltway. The Post’s John Kelly isn’t happy about the passing of the dog days of August, though, writing,

…with school out and Congress gone, we cruised to work on snarl-free streets. We enjoyed spur-of-the-moment meals at popular eateries. We got our favorite treadmill at the health club. We wandered through a city where hustle-bustle had been replaced by easy-peasy. And even though you and your fellow vacationers have been dribbling back into town for days, and school buses started ruining our reverie last week, we still cling to our fond memories of a big town transformed into a small town. In other words, don’t feel sorry for us because we were stuck in Washington in the dog days of summer. Envy us.

Home Sales Down in NoVA: Signaling a possible cooling of the area’s red hot real estate market, home sales in Northern Virginia are down relative to this time last year, notes WTOP. Sales are down eight percent in Fairfax County, 19 percent in Arlington County, and have only grown marginally by three percent in Prince William County. Realtors warn that an impending burst won’t likely materialize, though, with home prices remaining relatively stable.

Briefly Noted: Gas prices rose 34 cents over weekend … Area students join in relief efforts, while local universities offer admission to the displaced … Adrian Fenty sets up campaign headquarters on Florida Avenue NW … Did you know that Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard briefly attended George Washington University? Neither did we.

Picture above by adrummer boy.