JDPFu.com 2025

Today was a travel and hiking day.
It began with a simple walk around the block with Mom and Copper. Then I was on the road to DC, a 5 hour drive normally.

Along the way, I decided a few hours of hiking would be nice, so I stopped just outside Richmond, VA at Pocahontas State Park. There’s a small lake … eh, pond there with a trail around it of about 2.2 miles. Hiked. Oh, the state map provided by the VA DOT showed a state road that didn’t exist – it is currently a dead end at a McDonald’s. Don’t blame me – it was 12:15p or so and I did need to eat. Lots of pond wildlife photos were taken, including some close up skink photos because I blocked the escape with my other hand. My initial thoughts on this park when planning this were correct, but at the VA State line, the Welcomer talked me into going.

Hop back in to the car and I was off driving again arriving at Great Falls Park around 5pm, the Virginia side. The waterfalls really were great. A few people were kayaking up the Potomac river, but only two actually went over the falls. In movies, they show kayakers shoting the falls all at once. That wasn’t what I saw. Each drop was carefully considered with 5-10 minutes of thought between each. The River Trail is about 2.3 miles, hiked, and has views of Great Falls, the Potomac river and a number of rappelers. Photos and video of the falls, kayakers, rappelers, and wildlife were taken.

Back into the car around 6:45p and drive to the home of some friends from ICI. Meet and greet husband, wife and 4 yrs old son, Richard, then we’re off to a Thai restaurant for some fantastic food. Photos taken for Mom and Jim. Seafood soup and a tofu and shrimp appetizer followed by four main dishes of seafood and chicken. I ate too much, but it was all sooooo good.

After dinner, back to the townhouse to see the tour, chat and plan the next day. Oh, and Richard likes trains, not planes, not cars, not boats, just trains. To bed, much too late.