East Coast Greenway Ride

 We elected to drive from Ashland to Fredricksburg, VA, and begin riding bike paths and streets.  In the first mile, we had to go off-road to connect a shopping mall parking lot with another string of streets.  Sandy leads the way.   The bike paths once we found them, were a delight.  The nearby stream was a gathering point for many turtles. Due to a bridge reconstruction project we got to ride through a lot more of Fredricksburg than we had planned but experienced the old town was well worth seeing. Along the trail, we were treated with an artist's perception of what a "Dancing Dandelion would look like. As we left Fredericksburg, we rode 30 miles of very lightly traveled roads to the Pohick Recreation Park where we set up camp next to the Mt. Vernon Trail.  Google guided us through of multitude of turns that added to the fun,  The grotto above appeared next to one of the backroads we were riding and is likely associated with a church nearby.  We...

  Since this day was to be a day of likely rain we elected to drive to the Ashland RV park north of Richmond.  On the way from Williamsburg, we stopped at the Berkeley Plantation.  Berkeley was the name of the company in England that was funding the effort to establish a profitable company in the new world in 1619, now the site of the first Thanksgiving. Benjamin Harrison III bought Berkeley in 1691 and a dynasty of Harrison's lived here over the centuries.  Benjamin the V was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Later two more Benjamins were elected president of the United States. The Berkeley Plantation rivals Thomas Jefferson's Monticello for history and beauty.  We got to tour the inside of the very old home but could not take pics.   The current owner of the plantation is George or more formally known as King George.  He carries a regal air about him and commands the center of attention. George oversees the local bird ...