I felt good this morning. I was able to go for a run after a somewhat long break. The last couple of days have been a little cooler than usual, and the temperature was in the 60s when I started out. I thought that I would feel a little sluggish because of the break. That happened to not be the case. I got my mojo going pretty quickly, probably because of the cool temperatures. The running came easy. I was was able to maintain a decent pace throughout the run, and I actually felt wonderfully refreshed the rest of the morning.
We walked from Weverton to Harpers Ferry last Sunday. We were walking a section of this trail for the first time this year. Because of the location closer to Harper Ferry, there was more activity on the trail than one wishes and hopes for. But it was OK. We still had our extended periods of quiet. Here are some pictures from the walk.
The railroad line runs beside the canal all the way to Harpers Ferry.
This is the Route 340 bridge across the Potomac.
The river is very rough downstream of Harpers Ferry. The water is also very low in summer.
Harpers Ferry is across the river in West Virginia at the meeting point of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. The railroad line crosses over the river on the bridges to the right of the picture.
The newer flowers that we saw for the year during this walk include White Campion,
Buttonbush,
Queen Anne Lace (here in its early stage),
flowers that I was unsuccessful in identifying last year too,
Crown Vetch (distinguished from Red Clover because of the nature of the leaves),
Hedge Bindweed,
Wild Sweet William,
Rose of Sharon,
and Asiatic Dayflower.
My bike ride last Wednesday started once again at Pennyfield lock, but this time I headed towards Washington, DC. I rode up to Chain Bridge. It was a typical hot and humid Washington, DC, summer day. I covered more distance this time than I did during my first ride of the year last week. I put in a little more effort than during that first ride – keeping up a decent speed on the trail. There were quite a few people on the trail in spite of the heat. Thankfully, interactions with folks I encountered were generally pleasant, including a conversation with a couple who were in the early stages of an ambitious ride of over 60 miles! I hope they made it.
Here are a couple of pictures from my ride. The first one was taken at Widewater.
You can make out the typical haze of a Washington, DC, summer day in the second picture.
Splattered Brains 