Bridge update
last update: 05/30 @ 14:13

Time for a construction update.

This is the second weekend of work closing down King Street and working overnight.

The first weekend, they cut out a section of track 3 (closest to our house) and added some supports below it before putting it back.

This weekend, it’s track 2 (currently in the middle — the eventual outcome will be 4, rather than 3 tracks). I didn’t look closely enough last time to see but they are doing similar work over both King and Commonwealth this time.

Clearly, they have a lot of faith in the switches north and south of us to keep trains off the interrupted tracks.

I invested another $2 to get up on the metro platform for a better view, and happened to be there as they moved another steel section into place to bang it into the ground.

They use what I call a jiggler on the three sided pieces and then get out the pile driver for the round posts.

Sarah and I wish the pile drive beat was a bit faster sometimes — it’s too slow for I’ve been working on the railroad.

I’m sure I’ll get tired of checking what they are up to and guessing what will come next. But I’m not there yet. (I wouldn’t mind quieter construction, of course.)

And they seemed to mismark the detour yesterday; we had a lot of traffic going the wrong way down Sunset but no accidents we’re aware of.

Panzer
last update: 05/30 @ 14:07

It’s been a while since I posted a Panzer photo.

Clearly it’s time to show him off again.

And this offers proof he is awake and alert sometimes between naps.

New Watercraft!!!
last update: 05/29 @ 17:17

Next time we take out the packrafts, I’ll stop having fun long enough to take more than one photo. This one turned out sort of OK.

At any rate: the Christmas packrafts have seen the river now.

And they are fun to paddle.

Today was warm and surprisingly high water (about 6.2 — this is just upstream from the back channel at Anglers). But the packrafts handled the current and eddy lines well. I either almost surfed a nice wave or did surf it briefly :)

Lots more fun to come…

Happy Birthday!!!
last update: 05/22 @ 09:38

Fun Day Yesterday!

The Mets were playing the Nationals here on Sarah’s birthday, so, of course we went to go watch.

And we got there early enough to catch all four racing presidents for photos.

(Abe won the race during the game.)

And most importantly: The Mets Won!

In a 2 to 1 nail biter — the Nats almost tied it up in the bottom of the 9th.

We went from mid to high 90s early in the week down to 60s yesterday and it was threatening to rain.

But the rain held off and by not going into overtime, we didn’t feel the need to retreat inside to warm up (it was nice to have that open in our back pockets).

Metro treated us well (as expected) with easy trips in and out of DC. I’m sure it helped being a 4pm start on a weekday — you can see it was sparsely attended.

We’ll get back to Los Tios at some point for the sombrero hat celebration, but Uncle Joe’s had a nice Chocolate Mouse Cake. And they were happy to give us a candle as well.

While Los Tios is not yet scheduled, we do have tickets to see Lyle Lovett at the Birchmere in a few more days.

It’s Sarah Celebration Month!

May is always fun to look forward to (the wedding last week was an extra bonus).

Back from a Great Wedding
last update: 05/19 @ 17:57

We had a great time helping celebrate John and Grace’s wedding. And took advantage of our free time to enjoy some of the sights on the way to and from Brant Lake, NY.

One of those sights: Sarah Street in Stroudsburg, PA.

More photos in the trips section.

Picture Perfect Day
last update: 05/08 @ 23:09

The river was just about 3.0, low for spring but I was quite happy with it. I was a bit busier than expected this morning, but really glad I jumped at the chance to get out.

Friday afternoon, no problem with parking, few other folks out — I did see a couple SUPs and a couple kayaks — and 75 degrees with sunny skies.

This is the Maryland Chute. If I’d been less busy in the morning, I would have paddled up the gorge. Next time.

I remain a huge fan of retirement!

Closing King Street
last update: 05/02 @ 11:05

Last night started the first of three weekends we’ve been warned of when the are closing down the street for the bridge construction.

I went to go take a peek just as the drizzle came in.

Clearly, they are getting ready for substantial work — and that getting ready requires a lot of standing around.

For this weekend, King Street is closed, Commonwealth will come later. And they promise to keep Sunset Drive open for local traffic.

Glad we’re not due to be trapped on the street.

The plans I’ve seen talk about two year, so it will be interesting to see what all get’s done this weekend.

Also, I’m curious how Monday’s rush hour goes: they plan to keep King Street closed through 10pm Monday. That’s going to be rough.

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