Autumn Adventures around NoVa

Some of my new friends are complaining that I never post any pictures of life in the US here, so I don’t want to disappoint. Being home is super fun! Here are some adventures I’ve had in the last few months while hanging around Northern Virginia.

I’ve been riding my bike more often- I did a very fun 25 mile ride with some friends in Dover, Delaware in September, and this past weekend I did a 56 mile ride to the end of the Washington/Old Dominion trail here in Virginia. The nice thing about getting out on a bike is being out in the fresh air, enjoying the fall weather, and not having it hurt every fiber of my body, like running does.

bikers taking a break eastern shore bike ride — Dover Delaware Ride

five ladies bikers eating pie eastern shore virginia — Dover Delaware Ride

Man biking on Washington Old Dominion Trail Leesburg WOD Virginia — Riding the WOD out to Purcellville

purcellville bike trail washington old dominion biking leesburg virginia WOD — Riding the WOD out to Purcellville

Speaking of running, I did the Army 10 Miler with my sweetheart and some friends, but due to security measures, couldn’t take my phone with me to get pics. But we kicked ass at 2 hours, 11 seconds.
The fall weather up here does something amazing to the trees. We don’t have beautiful fall leaves down in Texas- they just turn brown and fall off. Here in NoVa, they turn sunny yellow, brilliant orange, fiery red, majestic purple, and some just stay a glossy green. Really. It’s very beautiful, and it makes my daily drive home on Fairfax County Parkway really great.

fall foliage leaf peeping virginia — Beautiful fall foliage in Northern Virginia

Fall trees, northern Virginia NOVA — Beautiful fall foliage in Northern Virginia

Last week, I took a day off work to do some things, and wound up in a corner of DC that I had never been to, and ran smack into (not literally) the Washington National Cathedral. I had heard of it but never really seen a picture of it or been to it. Wow! What a gorgeous cathedral. I can’t wait to go check it out with some friends and tour it. We also were able to visit the US Capitol on a school field trip, and I took Chris along as a chaperon. We met the representative from our district.

National Cathedral exterior in the fall leaves — National Cathedral

Washington DC National Cathedral — National Cathedral

And, of course, my favorite event of all time occurs around this time each year: Halloween/ my birthday. Accompanying that is decorating the house, carving pumpkins (this year I did some drilling!), dressing up, and going to Oktoberfest (where we volunteered for the city of Reston’s Oktoberfest at the wine tent). And getting a year old, which turns out to not be so bad (so far).