Charlottesville With The Dawsons

/ klcompren / Leave a comment

(Click here for more photographs.)

Back in April 2020, we had plans to attend a wedding in Virginia.  Drummond Dawson, the son of our friends Anne and Henley Dawson was to marry Kelsey Monacci in Charlottesville, VA.  (Here is a reminder of our last visit with Anne and Henley in 2016 at their lovely home in King and Queen Courthouse, VA.)  Clearly, Covid-19 made it necessary to reschedule the wedding for the end of October 2020.

When the time came, with Covid cases surging, we still didn’t feel comfortable with air travel so, sadly, we had to cancel once again.  The wedding took place and by all accounts was a lovely occasion. Continue reading →

Columbia Marina Kayaking

/ klcompren / 1 Comment

(Click here for more photographs.)

Jennifer and Jeff invited us to join them for a kayak outing.  We parked at the Columbia Island Marina which is located in Virginia, near the 14th street bridge, just to the north of the Pentagon.

IMG_0929

We put the kayaks in here and headed north to join the Potomac River near the Key Bridge.  We then paddled around the north end of Theodore Roosevelt Island and headed south almost to the 14th Street Bridge where we turned back into the marina.  (We explored Theodore Roosevelt Island back in 2016 where you can find a memorial to the 26th president of the U.S.)  Along the way, we had nice views of some notable Washington landmarks:  Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Watergate Hotel and the Kennedy Center.

Once we pulled the kayaks out of the water we had a nice lunch at one of the picnic tables.  We had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and great weather.

Great Falls (MD)

/ klcompren / 2 Comments

(Click here for more photographs.)

We recently made a visit to Great Falls on the Potomac River, from the Maryland side of the river.  We began by parking at the Great Falls Tavern, a stone lockhouse originally built to provide shelter for a lock keeper and his family.  That’s because the tavern is adjacent to lock #20 on the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal, the 184 mile long canal which shadows the Potomac and spans from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland.

Great Falls Tavern Continue reading →

The Move – Day 6

/ klcompren / 3 Comments

At long last, the drive is over.  Day 6 began in Kingsport, TN, and ended at our destination in Germantown, MD.  We crossed two state boundaries:  Virginia and Maryland.  Once again, we had scattered clouds and temps in the 70’s.  On balance, we couldn’t have asked for better weather for our drive.  We were very fortunate.

IMG_0189

This drive has reminded me just how awesome air travel is.  It’s incredible to think that in 5 hours you can cover the same distance that we just spent 6 days driving.  When we arrived, we didn’t have to start moving into the apartment right away.  Valerie’s sister kindly offered to allow us to park in their driveway and spend the night with them so that we can get a fresh start moving in tomorrow.

Day 6 miles driven was about 407.  Total for the trip was a little over 2,600.