I consider today to be an accomplishment because I didn’t get lost. There were a couple of times when I was unsure that I was in the right place, but it was fine. I had to have breakfast at McDonald’s, something I haven’t done in a very long time, since it was the only thing around. It did the trick.
When I managed to get to the elusive Mount Vernon Trail, I found that my anger at the trail for being so hard to find took away from my enjoyment of it. That makes a whole lot of sense, right? And it was a beautiful day on a beautiful trail.
The trail ended, and I was directed to some extremely bike-friendly roads, where I often had the option of riding on the road or sidewalk. I alternated when the sidewalk was muddy or full of debris. I rode past George Washington’s Distillery and Grist Mill, which apparently is a huge tourist attraction. The buses were lined up down the road. I stopped for lunch and just had a small salad.
I got back on the road after applying some sunscreen. After that, the directions got a little tricky. I went down a small side street with a nice downhill run and crossed a footbridge to Historic Occoquan, a place I had never heard of, but it was quite lovely. I would have liked to explore it a little more, but I had to get going. The hill out of Occoquan was extremely dangerous riding for me. It went straight up, and there was no shoulder, blind curves, and absolutely no way for me to get out of the way of cars. One conscientious driver took the initiative to blare her horn at me, which I found to be most helpful and gave me the boost I needed to get up the hill. Thank you, lady in the red car!
I finally got out of there, and followed my directions to Woodbridge, land of shopping! It’s a good thing, actually, because I left my bathrobe in Alexandra last night, and needed to replace it. Done. I met a nice guy named Anthony at a fun place called Matchbox American Kitchen. The food was really good, and I enjoyed the music they were playing. He was kind enough to put the Red Sox on for me, too.
I got my laundry done and went to bed. Next stop, Fredericksburg!
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