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Old 05-20-2011, 09:00 AM   #21
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DC Area trains and bikes...

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This morning I was able to score, even at this late date a weeks reservation at Prince William Forest NP. I will be using it as a base to visit historic sites and to take several day trips into DC. It looks like I can get away with taking the bike in using the train so I will probably do that. Suggestions for day trips from the park are welcome!
Has anyone done this? It looks like there are issues with weekends. Advice anyone?
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Old 05-20-2011, 09:37 AM   #22
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Has anyone done this? It looks like there are issues with weekends. Advice anyone?
Hi Rodney,

Here's a link to the Metro's bike information: Metro - Getting Around - Bike 'N Ride

The system is pretty bike friendly as long as it's not rush hours.
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Old 05-20-2011, 11:09 AM   #23
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Cool Interesting ...

The OSS (a predecessor of the CIA) used Prince William Forest to train spies during WWII.

"Operation Summer Shenanigans"

Gone AWOL, eh?
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Old 05-20-2011, 12:12 PM   #24
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I'm greatly enjoying reading about your travels - thanks for sharing. Virginia (and all the Blue Ridge and surrounding lands) is one of our favorite places, too, and your sharing will be valuable when we get up there later this year.

Reading your sharing reminds me what it's really all about for us - taking off on the next adventure!
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Old 05-20-2011, 03:00 PM   #25
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Rodney -

The Marine Corps Museum at Quantico is new and highly regarded - we have not been there yet, but should be interesting.

Also, Manassas is just up the road - well, 30 miles or so. This is anniversary time for the battle.

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Old 05-21-2011, 05:06 PM   #26
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Last day at First Landing

The park here has been interesting for sure, glad I did it: good trails, the beach, OK campsites. Had a great ride today; rode through the park to check out the board walk. Ended up being a 20 mile round trip. It was an interesting place, lots of people. Not really where I would vacation, but apparently a good number of folks like it. The King Neptune statue is HUGE!

Its approaching sunset and still no rapture, so I guess I will plan on heading west (really the only option without a boat) to Yorktown tomorrow.
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Old 05-24-2011, 02:35 PM   #27
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Thumbs up Yorktown

Rode from Newport News campground through the Battlefield today, ended up just over 26 miles. Great trails and road but YIKES the humidity and heat are back in force. The film at the visitor center was pretty good: it actually gave an overview of what happened and why it was important. Much better than the PC crap that has taken over at most of the parks. The acting was pretty cheesy and the portrayal of the English was over the top, but still informative.

All and all a good stay and a stop I would recommend. Tomorrow I head up to Prince William Forest outside of Quantico for the Memorial Day weekend. I have high hopes for the destination and day trips. Fingers crossed.
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Old 05-24-2011, 04:44 PM   #28
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History question (this should be easy). When the British surrendered to Wahington, what song did the British band play?

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Old 05-24-2011, 05:53 PM   #29
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Red face No one knows for sure

There is some dispute as to whether the British actually played "The World Turned Upside Down" as they surrendered at Yorktown. Tradition says yes, but at least one scholar has claimed that the earliest mention of the song being played as arms were laid down didn't occur until 1828, almost fifty years after the event.

Contemporary accounts are certain, however, of the importance "Yankee Doodle" had in the ceremony. Henry Knox, Washington's chief of artillery, says that the British band was specifically not allowed to play the song. The Marquis de Lafayette writes that the French army played the song to "discomfort" the British as they marched from the fort between the French and Americans.

"Yankee Doodle" was born as a jest at American soldiers. The song first appeared during the French and Indian War, sung by British troops to poke fun at the bumpkin nature of their American cousins. Americans were called Jonathan's by the British. The word yankee was probably derived from the Dutch word jankee, or little John.

At the battles of Lexington and Concord, British troops played "Yankee Doodle" to poke fun at the Americans as they marched through the countryside. The British again played the song to deride the colonists at Bunker Hill, but by this time, the "Jonathan's" had claimed the tune as their own.

World Turned Upside Down
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Old 05-24-2011, 07:40 PM   #30
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Rodney, Please keep in mind we are right up the road. You are always welcome to come visit...
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Old 05-25-2011, 01:02 AM   #31
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There is some dispute as to whether the British actually played "The World Turned Upside Down" as they surrendered at Yorktown. Tradition says yes, but at least one scholar has claimed that the earliest mention of the song being played as arms were laid down didn't occur until 1828, almost fifty years after the event.
Isn't there anything I can rely on anymore? Why should we let facts get in the way of truth? Next you'll tell me Washington didn't chop down the cherry tree. Was it one of those cherry trees the Japanese gave us? The cherry tree story came from a book published long after by someone known to history as Parson Weems—I've never seen a mention of his first name unless it was Parson, sort of like Major Major Major Major (perhaps more Majors than necessary Catch 22 fans). My increasingly weakened memory is that Weems' book was also around 1828. Could this be a coincidence?

Anyway, mistral, you get the prize for answering the question, maybe. The exact prize will be determined at a later date as soon as a panel of scholars agrees to exactly what was played. The panel will be appointed at a later date.

Who was the French admiral at the surrender ceremony? I never could spell (or pronounce) his name.

And, Rodney, I'm enjoying your rambles around the Tidewater.

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Old 05-26-2011, 10:12 AM   #32
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Rock, Paper, Scissors.

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Old 05-26-2011, 04:48 PM   #33
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That is pretty much how I look at it as well, Gene. Being able to see how the land lays is a big help, and the old structures are pretty cool. One can't help but wish that along with the McHistory tours they would intersperse some higher quality presentations though.
You live in the land of illiteracy . . folks actually apologize on enthusiast forums for lengthy posts. Only images are true. Plus, any consideration of difference would knock a hole in the never-ending present. I'm convinced that things were better on this score forty years ago, even with less money all around. (Chris Hedges says it better than I).

I toured the Hermann-Grima house with my son a year ago (New Orleans French Quarter). Helped that I was already familiar with it (and a good deal more), but helped even more that we had a grad student guide and we the only tourists that part of that afternoon. Maps, readings, etc are the only defense against stultification. I keep referring back to a single college geology course in much of this. You?

Architecture is it's own reward (when form and function are melded gracefully).

The scale of East Coast drives, walks, etc, makes it easier to shake off the McDisney crap ("good guys" bad guys" ". . and this'll make you laugh!") as it's easier to get from one to another. I had quite a laugh at myself when I saw both Civil War and Rev. War "battlefields" practically on top of each other. Nothing like back home as to distances between sites.

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Old 05-27-2011, 09:54 AM   #34
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Prince William Forest NP

Made my way up to Prince William Forest NP from Yorktown on Wed. The park is pretty nice, lots of trails and bike friendly. Bikers be forewarned: the first two or three miles past the visitor center are brutal! About mid way through the loop drive, direction of travel becomes one way; the old opposing lane (far left) is now a two lane bike/jogger path.

Campground: very nice and well kept. The CG layout is a holdover from the days of narrow campers. Most of the sites are reasonable to get into, but some like mine, are a gold plated B***h to get in. Took me 15 minutes of back and forth in the limited space, but in the end I did get in and my reward is a very nice site. Don't think it could be done with a wide body of the same length with the wheel base of an extended cab. Maybe though, just a guess. The campground toilet house (in B loop) also has 3 showers. Not a lot given the capacity of the CG for campers. It will be interesting to see how that works out this weekend. In any case, the showers are there, included in the price of camping so there are no coins to fuss with, and remarkably clean. The place gets four stars from me. Reservations are through the park, and from Memorial day through fall its all reservations. I don't know how the park has avoided the Reserve USA quagmire, but happily they have. The staff is great, they called me a couple days in advance to warn me about road work that might interfere with getting to the campground. Class act!

Yesterday I tested out the bike/train idea. Grade: C-. It is a lot of bother and getting onto a train is too iffy for my taste. I waited out three trains coming home before they would let me on. Instead, I think I would have been better off catching the George Washington Parkway (bike path) somewhere north of Mt Vernon and ride in from there. From the campground it is something like 11 miles into the Quantico rail station. I got off at Alexandria to ride into the city.

The bike route is very nice and follows the river. Alexandria was surprisingly pretty and the drivers fairly considerate of bikers. I was amused to see that the bike path runs right by the long term parking lot at Regan (storing that away for future reference). The pathway takes you across Memorial Bridge. Beautiful statues there that I wasn't able to appreciate previously in a car- thanks Italy! Then you are right on the mall. My hopes that a mid week visit would mean smaller crowds. BUZZZ! Every middle school student in the galaxy was at the Natural History Museum with me. Oh, well. In the larger context that is a good thing.

I also discovered that the reflection pool had been drained for repairs. Maybe that is why there appears to be so little reflection going on in D.C. Must be hard on the narcissists..... Anyway, they are hard at work on that. Can anyone tell me why they are pounding all the telephone post into the pool? I mean there must be 100's of the things about 20 ft apart all across the pool bottom.

Coming home I managed to catch a headwind most of the way back to Alexandria. Then the last dozen miles up to the campground. I will confess the last 10 was all I wanted, but so far this year I haven't stopped before the top of a hill yet this year (a misguided point of pride) although I was sorely tempted. About 50 yards short of the campground I passed the 50 mile mark for the day. This was the longest mileage day I have had since my 20's when I was fairly serious about riding for a couple years. I am happy to report that I have no undue soreness and my knees are not complaining as I feared they might. There may be something to be said for the cadence driven approach to riding. I haven't got on the bike yet today, but I suspect it wouldn't be wise to push too hard until my middle age body has had more rest and recharge time. I rate the day a success.
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Old 05-27-2011, 09:58 AM   #35
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Rodney, Please keep in mind we are right up the road. You are always welcome to come visit...
Thanks for the invite! Not sure where I am headed next, but I do need to be in Indy in about a week. VA has been so much more than I had guessed. OTOH, the humidity has moved in this week making me think of the high and dry of the Four Corners...
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Old 05-27-2011, 11:53 AM   #36
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I also discovered that the reflection pool had been drained for repairs. Maybe that is why there appears to be so little reflection going on in D.C. Must be hard on the narcissists..... Anyway, they are hard at work on that. Can anyone tell me why they are pounding all the telephone post into the pool? I mean there must be 100's of the things about 20 ft apart all across the pool bottom.
The old pool was built on soft river clay. The new pool will be supported by all of those "telephone posts" (pilings). Over 2,000 pilings will be used and they all need to be hammered down until they hit bedrock. Abe is sitting nearby monitoring the situation. Hopefully he doesn't mind the vibrations much.
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Old 05-27-2011, 12:24 PM   #37
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Rodney, by now you have probably discovered the " Bike Washington" webpage --a wealth of info on the DC area with printable maps. This even covers adventures like the C&O canal.
Patty and I are heading up to Birthday Bash 2 over the fourth, but not before riding the GAP (Great Allegheny Passage) bike trail from Cumberland Md to Pittsburg. we will do it in sections staging out of Confluence PA. Join us?
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Old 06-08-2011, 07:16 PM   #38
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Back in Shenandoah NP

It got to hot and muggy for me so I turned the rig to the west and climbed back up the Shenandoah Mts. The park grows on you, great riding and cooler than the flat lands. Just as I was getting ready to head out for TN, a camp host slot opened up for the month of June at Loft Mountain- so now I have something to do this month . Loft is a gorgeous campground, waterfalls close by, lots of wildlife, and the song birds are always going. Come see me
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Old 06-08-2011, 08:53 PM   #39
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Summer camping in VA? Easy. Go north (Quebec, perhaps) or go up. Shenandoah is the perfect park. We love Loft Mountain.

We're traveling - Adirondacs for the next week - but may find ourselves coming home via Shenandoah. Now we have a better reason. We'll keep you posted.

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