East Coast Greenway Ride

  Riding the Mt. Vernon Trail about to cross the Potomac onto the DC Mall Leo, Sandy, Sarah, and Randy posing at the Lincoln Memorial with Washington's monument in the background. A view of the back of the white house from much further away than the normal viewing area.  Fencing keeps us all further away after the January 6 shenanigans. Riding down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capital with bike lanes in the middle of the Avenue.   This concept of bike lanes between the car lanes works well.  The capital is also fenced off. However, the food trucks located in the mall were wide open so we chowed down before heading toward the Anacostia Trail. Sarah speeding along a straighter section of the Anacostia Trail. The trail has lots of curves that are really fun on the bike.  Even the bridges have curves.  Our riding along the Anacostia trail and DC was just over 40 miles. These sculptures were in Bladensburg Park just east of DC along the A...

Between rainstorms today we hiked to George Mason's plantation, a long hike of over a quarter-mile....  Our group displayed a wide range of enthusiasm tempered by my request to stop for a photo. George was one of the richest Virginia colonists who was one of the delegates to the constitutional convention of 1787 but refused to sign the constitution to be ratified by the states because he said there was no bill of rights and the executive branch was too powerful.  He complained loudly and after the states ratified the new constitution, the first 10 amendments are now our "Bill of Rights". Some of the glassware the early colonists had printed to complain about the tyranny of the British and some of the current campaigns as well are on display in the visitor's center of the plantation. Here are the kitchen, laundry, and garden buildings that slaves ran for the Masons. On the other side of the home was a storage house a schoolhouse where special tutors were hired to provi...