Father's Day

I hope all fathers had a wonderful Father's day and a good time was had by all. My day was excellent and I was able to do some fun things. Because I had rowed on Friday and Saturday, I decided to take a day off and go for a bike ride. I tried to entice Ann into going with me, but she seems to have developed an attitude that she'll only go riding if the temperature is between 69 and 71 degrees. Virginia, in the summer, is rarely so accommodating. So I headed off to the W&OD Trail for a ride by myself. Normally when I ride on the W&OD, I'll start at Rt28 and ride to Leesburg and back a round trip distance of 20 miles (W&OD mile markers 24 to 34). Since I was by myself, I decided to go in the opposite direction and see what that part of the trial was like. The first 3.5 miles was not much different then had I headed west. Then I hit the town of Herndon and Reston and things got a lot less rural and a lot more parkways to ride over (Reston Parkway, Town Center Parkway, Fairfax County Parkway, etc.). The trail is buffered by a heavy amount of foliage on either side though and it gives the impression that its more out in the country than it really is. I rode slightly past the 14 mile mark before turning around and taking a water break. I passed a group of about 15 in-line skaters out for a morning skate. I assume they're a part of some club or group. On the way back I knew I was out of water, so I rode past where I had parked my car and rode out to Smiths Station where I knew there was a water fountain. I took a short break and filled up my water bottle. Overall I rode 25 miles in just under 2 hours. my legs felt a bit rubbery, but in a good way.

After driving home, I got calls from Daughters#1 and 2 wishing me a happy Father's Day. Daughter#2 was headed out for a picnic lunch with the In Law clan somewhere in the Shenandoah National Park. Daughter#1 was headed to dinner at the boyfriends parent's house. We ate an early dinner during which Ann gave me a new windbreaker and The Son gave me a new pair of Concept 2 rowing shorts. The reason for the early dinner was so we could head out to for the last part of my Father's Day, which was a trip to Wolf Trap to see Riverdance. It was my third time to see Riverdance live at Wolf Trap and we were able to score really good seats - third row center. It was amazing being so close to the stage. Almost too close. When the dancers would move toward the back of the stage, it was difficult to see their feet. I've seen the tape of Riverdance so many times with Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, it takes me a while to get use to other lead dancers. It took a dance or two, but I quickly warmed up to the performance. I love when the whole troupe is out dancing. The only thing that bothered me was that the female lead dancer didn't look at all Irish and for some reason that bothered me. A minor complaint at best as she danced really well. Another surprise was the performance wasn't sold out. I realize it was the last performance and it was on a Sunday evening and it was Father's Day, but I don't think I've ever been to Wolf Trap for any performance that it wasn't sold out. The lawn was packed, but the reserved seating was only about 3/4 full. The upside of that was we got out of the parking lot pretty quickly and we were home by 11:15 - only 45 minutes. Because we knew we would be out late, Ann and I decided to take Monday off and just relax. We couldn't have made a better decision.