Day 4 Washington D.C.

I've been slacking on writing...


Anyway...

Friday I awoke after finally managing some sleep  when the storms dies down and I managed to kill all the mosquitoes in my tent.

I ate a quick breakfast and got rolling. There had obviously been some winds in the area, as there were downed trees across the trail not for from where I had camped.

I finally reached Swains Lock, the last free camping area outside D.C., and where I had originally planned to stay before approaching storms force me to make camp.

I soon reached the Great Falls Tavern Visitors Center. Man, if I had known, I would have made time to stop and walk the trails to cross Olmsted Island to see the falls. Or go for a mule-drawn canal boat ride.

Lock Number 1. Made it. Time to explore D.C.

The fact the the nearest cafe to the Lincoln Memorial only had non-American beer is about the saddest thing ever.

This was a local community garden and a butterfly garden. Very cool. The Farm at Walker Jones. New Jersey and K St NW

Lunch at Meats & Foods (247 Florida Ave Nw) So good I had a full second round.

After lunch it was time to go meet up with a friend, who works in the city and gave be a quick tour.

Then my phone died. It would remain dead for the next couple days.

All the following photos are by Ben.

Meeting up with Ben, who I only knew from Google Plus before.

We had beers and bourbon sitting in the park near Thomas Jefferson.

After a couple drinks, it was time for me to head back out of civilization, and time for Ben to catch up with his family before they left without him on the way to their beach cabin.

Heading out, I decided I wasn't going to follow the exact same schedule as riding in, so I wasn't stopping at Horsepen Branch to camp, but I did remember some awesome person had left a whole roll of paper towels in the portolet, and I would stop there to -hopefully- grab a couple towels so I could clean and lube my chain. As I arrived I noticed another bike in the campground, with a hammok, but couldn't see the rider. I called out hello, but received no answer at first. I leaned my bike against a tree and called out again, only to have a solo female rider pop their head out of whatever they were doing. She seemed initially shocked and worried, until I reassured her that I had no intention of sharing the campsite with her, I was just stopping to grab some towels. I warned her about the mosquito situation at that site, and shared some bug repellant with her after inquiring about the lack of insect screening on her hammock, because it seemed miserable to sleep in raingear. We had a pleasant, but short conversation. She was from Minnesota, but had lived in Louisville, KY for a time. I then rolled along, finally stopping at Turtle Run H/B for the evening.