The 180 Mile Driveway

I supposed after driving 3/4 of the east coast, the remedy is to hop on a bike for 180 miles…at least that’s what I did. After spending a night out on the Appalachian Trail with Jake and Ellen, I was looking forward to another overnight adventure. I’m not much of a cyclist, but I had the motivation and a great partner by my side. Luke and I talked about riding the bike trail on the C&O Canal Towpath from Cumberland to D.C. a few months ago. What I love is when talking turns into doing, and somehow we made it happen! Luke was a champ at planning the trip and I take no credit there. Of course there were several things that were against us from the beginning. We were traveling to Cumberland by Amtrack, and before that by metro. Oh and did I mention we had 2 bikes with full gear and 17 lbs of Chihuahua. You didn’t think I’d leave Pebbles and Boots out of this adventure did you?

Test 1

We rode our bikes from Luke’s house in Greenbelt to the metro station a few blocks away. The tricky part was that we had to have a carrier for each dog riding on Amtrack, but we really didn’t want the carriers after we got to Cumberland. It’d be extra weight and take up space on the bike. We decided to use a mesh carrier for Boots, and Pebbles rode in the plastic crate. In order to fit the plastic crate on the bike, we had to turn it right side up and fit it into the milk crate that the dogs would be riding in on the trip. Boots did great in the mesh carrier, as long as his head could poke out.

I never realized how much I’d be sweating during the transition from 2 metro trains, to union station, and finally onto amtrack. It was quite the experience lugging fully loaded bikes and 2 chihuahuas through all those hoops. Locating the elevators, handicap access, and maneuvering through rush hour crowds was a workout! I remember having to push my way out of a metro train as crowds were pouring in. I was afraid the doors would close and we’d miss our stop.

Someone we made it…to Cumberland lol. The amtrack staff was wonderful and no one gave me a hard time about the dogs. One person asked if I’d drugged the dogs because they were behaving so well. We got to Cumberland around 730 and rode our bikes to the hostel we were staying at…which used to be an old synagogue.

The start

The next morning we loaded up our bikes, stopped by McDonald’s for breakfast, and bought groceries. We made the mistake of feeding the dogs some of our breakfast. This later resulted into Boots jumping out of the crate because he had to use the bathroom so bad. We quickly learned to let them out every time we stopped just in case they had to go.

The first day was full of adventure. We saw a black bear, hundreds of turtles, deer, beavers, birds, and snakes. We made it about 30 miles in and I got a flat tire. Luke changed it and we continued on.

So many turtles

The next morning we rode to town and stopped at the bike shop to get another spare tube since we used mine up, and we bought a new tire. Luke was worried about how mine was looking, and as soon as we left the bike shop I heard a thump thump thump as I pedaled along. There was a huge bulge on my tire. Good thing we had a new one to put on and this happened in town. We got breakfast, resuppied some more, and had a late start of 11 am on the trail. I was very worried about finishing the trail in time. We had 3 days to complete 180 miles, and I was a beginner cyclist.

We were able to get in around 56 miles that day and camped near Shepardstown that night. The next day we had 70 miles to do…our last day. I’d been having some knee pain, but we pushed through and finished around 8pm that night. At the finish we met a gentleman who rode on the same train as us, but did twice as much lol. He had biked from Pittsburgh to D.C.! We were still very proud of our accomplishment.

The finish

I have not officially announced anything, but I am in the beginning stages of planning a touring trip next year. My goal is to bike the Trans American Trail which goes from coast to coast. It would take around 4 months and I am very excited about planning and training for this. The best part…the dogs will come! That’s right I’ll be getting a trailer for them so they can enjoy every minute alongside me (well behind me). More on this as planning progresses, but in the meantime here are some other pictures from our trip on the C&O Canal.

Pebbles getting exercise

Pebs waiting for Luke

Not sure about the water

Paw Paw Tunnel

Water source

Wilmington, NC

I had now driven from Vermont to Pennsylvania, and ended up in the mountains of Georgia. I successfully dropped Jake and Ellen off on the Appalachian Trail, camped a night with them, and by the grace of God (and two wonderful strangers) made it back to my car. My next stop was Wilmington, NC to visit the Sprague family! Yes, I was literally going from the mountains to the sea that day.

After arriving at my car around 1230pm, I was estatic when Google maps told me my drive was estimated to be under 7 hours. I had expected an 8-9 hour drive and boy was I happy when I saw the number 6 pop up on my screen. I drove the rest of the day and was able to make it before Boyd went to bed that evening. Now many of you are probably wondering who I’m talking about. I met the Sprague family about 5 years ago on a babysitting website. I was interviewed to watch their 18 month old son Boyd. Little did I know that when I decided to take that job that I’d be meeting my second family.

I arrived in the evening to a very excited Boyd that ran up to my car and past me clearly looking for Pebbles and Boots lol. After working with children for years now, I have learned not to take these occurrences to heart. I gave him a hug and released the hounds! After he went to bed, Dora and I got to work. We were planning some activities to do with Boyd’s class the next day.

We decided to do a lesson on the soil cycle and of course you can’t do that without live worms. The kids loved it! I enjoyed being back in my teaching element and seeing the excitement and natural curiosity of the children. In the afternoon we made birdhouses out of pinecones.

Rolling pinecones in the seed

Worms!

The next few days consisted of water balloon fights, playing at the beach, a soccer game, The Jungle Book, a campfire, and genuinely enjoying time together. I am so thankful to have Dora, Nathan, and Boyd in my life.

Practicing yoga