Face Of America-Biking from Pentagon to Gettysburg

So the big weekend was finally here for the FACE of America ride!  Tom and the other cyclists left the Pentagon at 7:30 AM on Saturday and headed for Frederick, MD.  This wasn't a regular bike race where you're trying to make good time.  In fact, they stopped about every 10 miles for a break.  As you'll see from some of the photos, these weren't necessarily disabled vets who have become trained athletes; rather many of them were vets who wouldn't normally get the opportunity to participate in an event like this because of physical issues they may have.  But every place they stopped, there were community members out to welcome them and to feed them.  Tom said this is probably the only 110 mile bike ride where they'll all gain weight!

Tom, Luke, Lisa (she's the colonel!) and her husband Michael

 There was a pace car that kept everyone at a fairly easy speed because the whole point of this ride was that they ride together.  There were teams representing each of the military services plus a ton of support people.  They each took turns helping their disabled brothers and sisters during the ride.

Team Coast Guard

It was nice that because of the slower pace they could actually enjoy the gorgeous scenery.  Rolling hills, covered bridges, and then... More Food!  Yep, the communities came out with baked goods, plus they had a Subway break along the way!

They arrived in Frederick around 3:30.  Tom rode his bike over to the hotel where I was waiting and we did a quick change before heading into historic downtown (more on that later!) to meet the other 4 riders, plus Luke's wife Andrea for dinner.

The next morning they were up early and out of Frederick by 7:30 again and on their way to Pennsylvania.  More rolling hills but this time they stopped every 20 miles so not quite so much food and socializing.  They headed into Gettysburg around 2 PM.

The drive was beautiful and as I came around a bend, there was that huge flag that would welcome the cyclists to a gentleman's farm who donates it for this event every year.  Again, the community was out, local ROTC, scouts directing traffic and just an awesome feeling of love and support.

Once the riders started coming through, the ROTC was at attention and the waving flags & hoots and hollers began!  The cyclists had stopped a mile up the rode and got into their teams, 5 cyclists across, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard and came in as teams.  It was pretty cool!

This guy saluted those who turned out to welcome them

Tom's view as they came through under the guns

Go Tom!

They had a big bbq lunch for them with live music and 110 miles after the fact, a lot of happy cyclists!

Loved this guy's shirt!

So Tom's feeling was, since this was really an easy ride that I should do it with him next year.  Hmm.  We'll see, but remember you read it here first!

The Community Garden

 So we decided to check out the community garden concept because clearly we're not doing a lot of planting on our 8th floor apartment patio.  This garden is located next to St. Augustine's Episcopal Church just a block from us and is near the waterfront which gets a ton of foot traffic.

 It's a fenced area so for $40 we get the combination to the lock, the use of tools, water and trash pickup and our own small plot.

 Unfortunately, we were left with the last plot in a corner that is under this big tree.  The tree is gorgeous but I don't see us getting much sun.

 Tom and I went over one night after work and dug out the weeds and then Tom's landscaping background (his folks had a flower shop and yard care business) kicked in and he started picking up anything to make borders.

 This side faces the water and we're required to maintain just this little part outside our garden with flowers and to rake the small hill so the guy from the church can mow.

The nursery guy said he wouldn't plant until May 12th but some of the neighboring plots already have things in.  Our plot is cleaned, ready for Taylor's wormy compost (after he figures out how to de-worm this batch and start another) and then the fun planting will begin! 

Things I Love in DC

I know I sometimes complain about living in a big city.  But there are definite benefits.  I happen upon cool things all the time.  This boxcar village set up across the street from the National's Ball Park.  Before and after games its bustling with food, drink, live music and people.  But on a morning run it is just quiet.

  This bird who screamed "Hello!" when I walked up to a neighborhood nursery.  I thought it was a fake at first, one of those movement activated things, but no he was very real indeed and apparently shy about having his photo taken.

That an early evening walk from our apartment can look like this.......

 That you step out of the Metro on Dupont Circle and find free swing lessons and big band music!

That Taylor has a second job at this upscale, all organic and local food market.

 That a walk around the neighborhood of said market has architecture and landscaping like this.....

Taylor Turns Twenty

 So the baby boy leaves the teen years behind today.  He got a lot of attention when he was born because there was a pretty big gap after Jessica and Nicholas who were born 18 months apart, and then an 8 year wait for little Taylor.  He was adored by his older siblings and they were a great help in watching over him.

He was a funny kid.  Lots of personality from the time he was just a baby.  He LOVED singing and dancing to all my old Disney records and knew all the music. He loved costumes.  He was VERY into dinosaurs (I always thought this was because we took him into Jurassic Park as an infant...I remember nursing him in the theatre) and he could do a spot on imitation of a velociraptor.  Seriously dead on imitation.

He also went through a phase where he HAD to wear a hat.  Not just any hat, but THIS particular green hat.  Wore it everywhere.  For years! Would get very upset when I wanted to wash it because it required him actually taking it off so I could do it.  He said the hat gave him confidence.

 He loved Lego's and making videos.  He and his friends would make little movies and he went through a phase where in every photo we took, he was doing this "hand on the chin" pose.

He took skiing lessons with his cousins then switched to snowboarding, but decided he liked skiing better and went back.  He, like the rest of the family never caught that Utah "Oh I HAVE to ski every weekend" bug.  We are once a year skiers.

He's the only Eagle Scout in our families.

He's traveled a lot.  When Tom was on active duty we would go see him in DC and in California when he was there, not to mention trips to New Jersey and NYC, so Taylor has a lot of miles on him.  He's also traveled with Tom on Coast Guard Trips and took a trip to China with friends from high school.

Taylor and Tom in Branson

Taylor, Maddie and Matt

 He's a musician, plays guitar, bass, bongos and is a great vocalist as well.  If you can get him to sing.  He attended The School of Rock and then played in a band with Nic and some friends called FLOW.  We think he has replaced his hat wearing fetish with a need for having long hair.  He's concerned about the environment, what we eat, how animals are cared for and doesn't look at the world exactly as we do.  He's exploring his spiritual options, reads a lot, loves buying old record albums and is genuinely troubled by the state of the world and it's focus on capitalism.  He wants to live off the grid.  He wants nothing more than his own little plot of land (preferably our back yard in Farmington) to grow his food.  He is our little hippie. But we are crazy about him and he makes us think, laugh and look at the world in a different way every day.