Mount Vernon

Fairfax, Virginia


There are many ways to get to Mount Vernon, the plantation home of George Washington (did you see National Treasure 2? Mount Vernon was featured there!), you could go by car, boat or bike!
I heard about the Mount Vernon trail and decided that now is as good a time as any to bike to Mount Vernon from Alexandria. Boy, that trail wiped me out! I had to dismount my bike and walk it uphill a few times along the way! Especially the part were you're getting really close to Mount Vernon, that is some hill! To be fair, the view was nice along the trail, since it's right by the Potomac river. It was just really hard for me to bike! (Especially since I do not know how to use the gears on the bike! Hee-hee!) Once we got there, I was already thinking about the ride back to Alexandria, and I figured it wouldn't be as bad going since it's going to be down hill. =D
Here's a photo of the outside of George Washington's house. Unfortunately, we were not able to view the inside since the line was so long and we were thinking we still need to ride back. Hehe! I've been inside the house once, but at that time, I did not have my own camera yet. =)


    
Instead of going inside the house, we just decided to look around the estate. My, my, the back of the house has a really gorgeous view of the Potomac River. I wouldn't mind having a house with a view like that! (Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the back of the house... Hee-hee!) This was also the first time I saw a mule upclose... I did not realize they look just like a donkey... on steroids! Hehe! They're huge!!!



The plantation was pretty big and we only got to see a part of the plantation because the ride back was on our mind and we need to get the bikes back by a certain time... hehe! The plantation is beautiful though and I think it's worth a visit! Maybe next time we'll just take the boat to Mount Vernon and then see some more of the plantation! (Haha! I'm afraid of biking to Mount Vernon now!)

A-tubing we will go!

Antietam Creek, Maryland


Yes! We're on our way to our creek tubing experience! Since this is our first time tubing, we chose a lazy float down the creek. (No whitewater!) Yeah, this is not the creek yet, this is the bus that will take us to the creek! I believe Antietam creek was significant during the American Civil War... I just couldn't remember if our guide talked about it and I just glossed over the facts since I was excited to go tubing! Hee-hee! If you want more info on Antietam, here's wikipedia to the rescue!


    
It was a lovely day and even if the sun was hot, there was a lot of shade from the trees on the banks of the creek! I think everybody had fun that day! There was even a family there that included their grandma and grandpa tubing down the creek! Halfway through the time that we were supposed to go tubing, we took a break for lunch! As you can see, we had a slight problem with one of our tubes... It had a hole in it and I don't know if it would still be inflated by the time we got to the pick-up point! =D No worries there as they had extras for just those types of things.

    


Towards the end of the tubing adventure, there was a little bit of swift water but not too bad... Just enough to give you a little bit of a rush. I forgot to mention, the water in the creek was not deep at all... Maybe waist high at the deepest part? I actually saw a couple of kayakers there! I couldn't believe they're paddling in shallow water! Then again, I remembered our trip to the bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico where our guide told us before we went in the water, to not panick if our kayak tips over in the mangrove, just stand up and turn the kayak over. Hee-hee! All in all, it was a fun day tubing! I wouldn't mind doing it again! =)