Mountain Biking - Fountainhead

The Grays suggested that we go mountain biking at Fountainhead Regional Park in Fairfax Station. The reviews were accurate so Sara and Julia did a different trail. The 'green' trail featured a few 12" drops, some berms, a lot of roots, and some good up and down. Geoff cut his finger, RJ managed to crush you-know-where on his back tire, and Bradley fell and scraped his arm/leg/back. So overall ... a successful day!

RJ, Bradley, Geoff, and Doug did two laps on the green trail ... as well as a loop to the water courtesy of a missed turn when we were looking for the trailhead.

Taking a break

Elevation Map of Route

Distance: 1.71 miles Max Speed: 9.5 mph Elevation Gain: 160 feet Time: 32 min

We celebrated with a trip to 7-eleven after the ride.

Requirements for next ride:

• RJ 'needs' a new mountain bike
• Everybody needs gloves to keep sweaty hands from slipping off the handlebars

Lake Linganore

The Kenemuths invited us and the Carters to a pontoon boat outing at Lake Linganore.

Boats linked together - the Kenemuth's is the second from the left

Julia preparing to slide / dive

Chilling on the boat

Rope swing (not pictured: jumping from the rock cliff on the opposite shore)

Overall it was a great day of swimming, jumping, sliding, swinging, and socializing. And nobody got sunburned!

G-Geoff Visit

We hosted G-Geoff for his good-will tour of DC. He brought his dog Arthur with him ... so we got some pictures. Geoff was on his own agenda, but he forced to play True Colors with us one night.

Arthur was pretty chill - he didn't bark over 4 days, but he did like to jump on people

Waking Julia was easier for a few days!

Bike Repair Shop

Plenty of bike repairs were needed this summer. Or should I say ... this week. 

GT 24" Mountain Bike

After a trip to whitetail the mountain bike needed a new chain, a new rear derailer, and a new rear shifting cable. 

After Julia and I replaced those 3 parts the shifting was terrible and the chain fell off the derailer. After some troubleshooting Doug decided that the rear derailer mounting bracket (hanger) was bent as the rider crushed down on the mangled mess.

So we ordered another part, waited another week, and fixed the bike that is not in great shape and will become a permanent resident of Whitetail.

Halfway done. New derailer, cable, and chain.

One of those derailer hangers is slightly bent

GT 26" Specialized Hard Rock

RJ took on the task of repairing the flat on the front week of the bike he started riding after the demise of the 26" GT. He found 2 huge thorns in the tire ... lucky he looked before putting the new tube in.

RJ works on the flat tire

Flat was fixed in less than an hour.

GT 26" Rocky Mountain Fusion

The rear gears would not shift on the bike pictured in the back of the pic above. After some investigation Doug discovered that somebody pushed the rear shifter so far beyond first gear that the rear derailer cable slipped.

After fixing the cable and doing some adjustments the bike was back in business.

Well Done Popcorn

Burned popcorn doesn't smell very good. But popcorn that is really burned and creates a billowing cloud of smoke that smells really, really bad. Although this did not merit a call to 9-1-1 we were pretty grossed out by the smell. By the time Doug got home the situation was not too bad ... but that didn't stop Julia from using the smell as an excuse to sleep on the porch in a tent in 74 -> 66 degree weather.

The smoking remnants of a bag of popcorn were extinguished and left in the yard to deter wildlife

Sara and Julia avoided the smell in the house by sleeping on the porch (weather was perfect)

Lindsey / Girls Weekend

We hosted Lindsey and her girls for a night during girls weekend in DC. RJ and Julia didn't understand how small children could make so much noise. Ah, if we only had videos of them at that age.

Sara and friends at the outlets

Big Chickens

Hillary had a 50th birthday and retirement party. Doug, RJ, and Julia used it as an opportunity to visit our chickens ... and get two more Slurpees.

Chickens are all still alive and quite grown up. Julia climbed into the coop to hang with Khaki.

Sara needs to get a water slide for her 50th birthday!