The overiding theme for today was diversity...

Day 7
3/13/2006
Started:Just east of Greenbelt, MD
Finished: Georgetown
Today's ADT Miles: 24.8
Total ADT Miles: 154.6

We once again awoke this morning in the very hospitable home of John and Janet. Janet was kind enough to offer us breakfast and coffee before she dropped us back off on trail. She even made sure we had all of her contact phone numbers before we walked away in case Randy had any further problems with his foot. Janet and John are true trail angels. We found ourselves this morning in the heart of the rush hour traffic heading into Washington D.C. The first couple of miles on trail this morning were on roads and we often times were moving much quicker than the line of commuters in their cars. We were once again assured that there are some really kind people in the world when a perfect stranger wearing his USDA badge pulled over near the National Agricultural Visitor's Center to make sure we were ok and not in need of help. We were sitting on the side of the road so that Randy could wrap his heal with an ace bandage because he was still feeling quite a bit of discomfort from the shoe blow out yesterday. Seeing two hikers doctoring themselves caused him to think something might have been seriously wrong. We wholeheartedly thanked him and assured him we would be ok. It was nice to see that the help would have been available. Once we were back on trail the commuting traffic was traded in for a walk in the park, or should we say parks. We were now in the city of Greenbelt and the ADT led us around the quiet Greenbelt Lake Trail and then into Greenbelt Park where we spent a couple miles on forested trail which was a great change from the asphalt. After leaving Greenbelt Park we headed toward College Park where we walked along the edge of the northeast branch of the Anicostia Tributary Trail system. The quiet beauty of the parks slowly faded into the streets of Washington DC. On the outskirts of the capital we passed through Chillum Heights and walked by a number of mass housing developments. Once in the northeast corner of D.C. our route had us zigging and zagging through the crowded Washington suburbs. We met a gentleman named Frank Wilds who is running for City Council. We haven't met any of the other canidates but our conversation with Frank would have us vote for him. We taught him about the ADT and he was proud to have it go through Ward 5. The craziness of the city was then left behind as we entered Rock Creek Park and followed the beautiful Rock Creek for most of the rest of the afternoon. It led us past the old Pierce Mill, the National Zoo and the historic Oak Hill Cemetary. We ended the day with a stroll into the heart of Georgetown. The commuters had now changed directions and the streets were as crazy as they were this morning. The high end shops and restaurants and the well dressed locals that filled the streets were quite the contrast to the scenery we observed most of the day. We sat at the corner of Wisconsin and M Street awaiting our great friend Robert Phipps. He and his wife Linda are more like another set of parents to us. Randy has grown up with them in his life. Robert took us back to their precious home in Vienna, Virginia. Linda had prepared the most amazing vegetarian enchilades for us. After dinner she sliced some fresh strawberries and topped them with whip cream and drizzled toffee nut creamer over them... Delicious!!!! Robert shared a story with us about a veteran lumber jack and a new young lumber jack who were competing to see who could chop down more trees. The young lumberjack worked straight through all day and the old lumberjack took a break every hour for 15 minutes. At the end of the day the young lumberjack was amazed to see that he had lost and couldn't figure out how. When he asked the old lumberjack how he could rest for fifteen minutes for every hour and still cut down more trees, the old lumberjack informed him that during those 15 minutes he not only rested but spent the time sharpening his ax as well. Robert related that story to us by reminding us that a days rest every now and then could be what it takes to make it to California. So, we've decided to spend tomorrow sharpening our ax. We hope to update the Field Research and Data page and upload our photographs in the morning, but tonight the hot tub outback is screaming our names.

Your Friends on the ADT,
Randy and Sheri