Newport News & CNU Soccer

 For Labor Day weekend, Steve and I went to Newport News for a soccer tournament - and I wasn't annoyed to watch soccer on a holiday weekend - imagine! 

We drove down Saturday to watch the game that afternoon, then spent the night. On Sunday morning, I went for a quick ride and Steve went to hit some golf balls. 

Steve dropped me off at Newport News Park, which had a 5 mile loop trail around a small lake. I set off on that with the intention of finding a turnoff that would lead me to the Colonial Parkway - all of this on the advice of Julie Johnson - Brian Johnson's sister who is also a cyclist. 

Here is the trail around the lake. It was gravel/dirt and fairly well maintained. 

Then there was a turnoff for George Washington's headquarters. The park ranger told me to follow this turnoff.

I had no idea where I was going or what was meant by Washington's headquarters. But soon I came on quite a bit of Revolutionary War history. My time was limited, however (Steve coming back for me at a set time), so I can't say I learned too much. I can say that the Battle of Yorktown was instrumental in ending the Revolutionary War and that the French helped the Americans. When I think of it now, why would French soldiers be over here fighting this war? 

Who are these French soldiers, and what motivated them to fight and die so far from home? 

I had connected to some kind of historic driving tour, so I followed it because it was a nice paved road through the woods with almost no traffic. But I didn't really know where I was going. Here I am crossing a bridge, getting distracted by the graffiti when I should have been noticing that I was crossing a road I expected to turn onto. 

Here is another cemetery for soldiers.

This might have been Washington's headquarters. At this point, I knew I did not have time to stop and investigate. I was worried about being late to miss Steve, which would have meant we'd be late for the game. We all know how this would go over with Steve!

Lots of beautiful old oak trees.

I thought this field was beautiful with its flowing tall grass. In the distance, you can see people approaching on horseback.

Then I came across a place called "Beaver Lake" or something like that. You can see why.

I ended up making my way back with 5 minutes to spare. Steve arrived and we were off to shower, checkout, and head for the game. CNU played Gettytsburg, which was a really intense games. Connor didn't get in. He may or may not have been frustrated, but we were secretly a little glad. There was a lot of contact and a lot of injuries. 

Distance: 20 miles

Speed: 12.6 mph

Elevation: flat!!