On Monday morning, we loaded up the tandems and Laurie and David's bikes and drove into D.C. to ride the Mt. Vernon Trail. We parked the cars and unloaded the bikes in large park along the Potomac a short distance south of Alexandria. We pedaled just a couple of miles north into the old red-brick city of Alexandria where we stopped at a little cafe for some yummy egg salad sandwiches. There was a bike shop, too, but we didn't go in.
We continued north a few more miles to the Ronald Reagan Airport, where we stopped right at the end of one of the runways and watched airplanes fly overhead. It was almost frightening.
After watching the planes for a while we turned around and rode south to the park where we'd left the cars. This was a nice way to ride this trail because there was a bathroom and water fountain in the park.
Continuing south along the trail there was less development, and we found ourselves winding through forests and wetlands and even climbing some nice hills. We reached Mt. Vernon around 5 p.m. and the place was pretty much shutting down -- it was too late to catch a tour of George Washington's home. We were a little disappointed that we couldn't even see the old place without passing through a museum, a food court, several gift shops, and paying out a bunch of cash for a tour. Oh well. We enjoyed some ice cream and snacks in the food court. We were hot and tired and still had several hilly miles to go to get back to the cars. Once back on the bikes, however, it was quite apparent that Mt. Vernon really was a mountain -- or at least it was on a hill -- the return ride seemed much easier and faster. In fact, in some places the hills we had climbed became winding descents that were dangerously fun. Quinn and I pretended we were on a pod racer.
That evening we had a delicious dinner of vegetables and pasta in Laurie and David's kitchen. We were all nice and tired.
Next up will be a day of train rides, monuments, and museums in D.C.
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