Arlington Cemetary

In all my years living in Virginia, I've never once had a chance to visit the cemetary. A friend had told me that if I indicated to the guard who I was visiting, I could take my bike right up to their gravesite. I set out early this morning with a list of famous people whose graves I wanted to visit. As I approached the gaurd, I handed him my list. He snickered..and asked which one I was related to. Apparently you can't take your bike in unless you have a relative buried on site. Bummer! I'll need to spend some time reviewing my geneology tree before my next visit. Oh well, better luck next time!

Trip to the National Harbor

Woodrow Wilson Bridge has undergone several improvements in the past few years...one of which is a pedestrian/bike path that spans the entire length of the bridge. It featuers several "bump outs" to provide panoramic views of the DC area, a park area, and a path extension that leads to the National Harbor. The distance from my house to the harbor is only 10 miles - good for days when you're strapped for time. The weather was humid, muggy, and buggy today. Riding up to Gaylord brought back memories of KT (Our Mayor and CEO) precariously hanging from a cable in the atrium at Nationwide!

Wrong Turn!

I've been living in the DC metro area for over 5 years now, and I still manage to get lost several times a month. GPS has been a real life saver, but even today's latest technology can't seem to keep up with the ever-changing DC landscape. And it seems the bike trails undergo just about as many changes as the roads. My goal for today was to ride from our home in Alexandria to Georgetown, via the bike trails. Unfortunately, after coming across a few detour signs, a turn there and a turn here, I ended up on the I-395 bridge, heading north into DC. Oops! Georgetown will have to wait for another day.

Crazy squirrel

Another ride to Mt. Vernon - 20 miles total. The days have been scorching hot - >100 degrees for the past few weeks. I decided to ride the trail in the morning. A good idea - as the trail was much quieter, and cooler than usual. At my halfway point, I decided to hop off my bike and grab a drink. A squirrel popped out of nowhere and started chasing me!! Just when I thought it was safe, it started running after me again! Suddenly I was wishing that there were a few more people on the trail. Assuming he wanted a bite to eat, I grabbed for the only thing I had - a piece of hard candy. I thought for sure he wouldn't be satisfied, but he stuffed it in his cheeks and ran off!

4th of July at Mt. Vernon

I wanted to take my parents and husband to Mt. Vernon via the bike trail on July 4th. They hadn't been on a bike in a while, so we decided to do only the first 4 miles of the trail. The ride was much more leisurely, so I had a chance to really take in the surroundings. After reaching our destination point, we tied the bikes to the car and drove the rest of the way to Mt. Vernon. We saw some spectacular daytime fireworks, and even saw George Washington!