South to the Old Dominion

March 31, 2012

Along the Potomac River

It wouldn't be spring without a trip to Virginia and there aren't too many places I know that have a nicer spring season.  I may be biased.  Arriving, I watched from my window as the last rays of setting sun colored the city in amber, a quick tour past significant landmarks - the National Cathedral, Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials - gliding in to a landing along the Potomac River.

Descending the rock face on our return

On Saturday it was great to reunite with my family and spend time together visiting and catching up on life.  We headed up to the Maryland side of Great Falls where we hiked south along the Potomac on the rough and rocky Billy Goat Trail.  The trail had one particular section requiring an ascending scramble along a crack in the rock face which was fun and exciting for all!  I had heard about this trail before and it was great to finally explore it.  At the southern end we elected to retrace our steps, enjoying the rock-hopping and scrambling one more time.

In the afternoon we played some basketball and soccer and enjoyed some delicious homemade zucchini bread - great job baking H!  Later on I was surprised by a birthday celebration - I don't think there is one of us in the crowd that doesn't like cake or a reason to party!

Action shot:  Great corner kick, C!

Sunday was Palm Sunday and after church we had some lunch and headed over to C's first soccer game of the season.  It was so fun to watch and the game was exciting from the start, with C's team scoring only minutes into the first half and keeping steady pressure on their opponent's defense.  His team does a great job looking for the open man and passing which keeps the other team off-balance and their ball control is very good.  At one point C chased down a player with the ball, running on a diagonal in the direction of the opponent's net, accelerated past the player with the ball, and just got a shot off back toward the net with the goalie coming out to intercept the ball.  But the goalie was too late, and C's shot went into the back of the net - score!!  I know that winning isn't everything, but C and his team played well and had fun on their way to a 5-3 victory.

Back at home we had some more time to play before dinner.  After that it was time to head out.  Weekend trips never seem long enough but fortunately we have a knack for packing a lot into a short time.