Greg & Camille Go Bike

Morning walk with Erika & Carly Biked to Erika's new co-op/apartment and received tour from the real estate agent. Split up from parents and meeting up at the wharf. Where's the wharf? We waited not at the wharf for no reason and then eventually found them. No more time, said good byes and had to get biking.

Biked along the water and then by the Jefferson Memorial. Followed the path to Alexandria as we'd done a few times before and this time actually kept going. Lots of people on the trails which was a bit frustrating but some of them had their cute doggies! One had a doggy in their bike's front basket and another guy wore his dog in a backpack while biking. The rest of the way to Mt. Vernon was nice off-road trails with a bit more hills than the Alexandria portion.

We finally made it to Mt. Vernon. Stopped and briefly considered getting food from the food court (we were hungry) but decided the options were lame! (There were a bunch of other options coming up) Instead we got Pizza! Vocelli Pizza was calling to us. They have a Veggie-Palooza flavor and the chef seemed extremely excited to make it for us. He came out and chatted and announced that he just made us the best pizza ever. "I hooked y'all up!" He also told us that his vegan daughter initially asked for it and he decided it really is the best pizza ever. We devoured that pizza right in the parking lot and whole-heartedly agree. We plan to make many return trips.

Oof, we had to climb hills right after eating that whole pizza. Greg felt like a pizza. Ugh. There were some nice trails alongside the road. A bit later we passed through some kind of art park that featured a bunch of artwork on the side of the road. There were a bunch of buildings that looked abandoned but not sure what was inside. A gigantic bird flew overhead and settled on an old smokestack as we left.

We accidentally veered off from US bike route 1 as it crossed a bridge over the Occoquan River. In the distance we could see a foot bridge crossing the river, so we doubled back to check out the bridge. It was a real treat. There was a nice waterfall at one end of the bridge and lots of other people (especially families) enjoying the area. Continuing on, we passed through downtown Occoquan which we agreed was really cute. We stopped at Mom's Apple Pie and picked up a slice of both Strawberry Rhubarb and Blueberry pies.

Most of the remaining route to the hotel passed through neighborhoods featuring a bunch of hills. After leaving the neighborhoods though, we were disappointed to find the I-95 overpass that Google wanted us to take was absolutely awful. There was no shoulder and very heavy traffic zipping by at high speeds. We did not trust biking in the road here, so we biked/walked through the grass alongside the road. We followed a well worn path here which you would think would make it obvious that there was dire need for at least a sidewalk here.

On the other side of the overpass, the last couple miles were alongside big box stores and through a large shopping mall before finally settling in at the Best Western. Shortly after arriving, we joined a call with Camille's family to celebrate her dad's birthday. After, we excitedly ate the pies and crashed pretty early.