5/9/23 Alexandria to Arnold, Maryland

What a special and very memorable day we had.  The route to and through Washington DC was incredibly easy and fun. Bike paths were abundant and so many commuters were on the trails.  

 

Shortly after crossing the bridge and entering DC we met up with fellow bicycle enthusiasts, Kim and Mike.  Kim has such an outgoing personality that we were swapping stories and adventures within a few minutes. She was our photographer for the following shots.  

After our delicious breakfast (while the rain was coming down more steadily), we were enamored by how easy it was to safely navigate the streets  of DC we road past many iconic sites. 

Our 11:11 shot of the day was taken at 11:13! 

Of course we would be leaving DC and crossing the state line to Maryland, but we weren’t sure when/where that happened because there wasn’t awelcome to Maryland sign on the road, nor did I hear a message on my iPhone. When we realized we in Maryland we took our prerequisite photo. 

We continued our Eastwardly journey to and through Annapolis and onward to Arnold.  While  on a very nice pedestrian/cyclist pathway, Tim somehow acquired his 5th flat of our journey.  It was a very pleasant place to repair his flat. 

  

This afternoon we were excited about an opportunity to meet and  overnight at the home of Tara and Keith. Our new friend Teresa (from New Smyrna Florida) hooked us up.  We really enjoyed hanging out with them, their daughter Madison and their very friendly Collie, Tauni. They have a beautiful home and yard and a very cool little house that we took over for the night. Not only did they graciously provide us cool accommodations, we were also served our first home cooked dinner since we left California in the beginning of April.  It was special to sit down like a family, enjoy each other’s company and devour Keith’s delicious spaghetti with white clam sauce.

 

Today’s stats… 56 miles and 1950’ of climbing, cloudy skies, cool temperatures and minimal light rain.