Northern VA Tag-o-rama!

I re-traced my earlier route at warp speed, exiting the Beltway to tag Ali.

Ali asked, "Where to now?"

"Well, much as I'd like to head out toward Shenandoah's waters, I'll put aside my Pride and tag you within the RLD:"



Examining the utillity pole in the previous image more closely, Ali could just barely squeeze under the plastic protective shield:



Barely camouflaged, remember: "'A' is for 'Alligator!':"



As Ali settled in, he mentioned, "You've LOTS of history around here, haven't you?"

"Indeed," I said; "In fact, the road where we are could have been named for the Virginia settlement historically notable for the fact, John Wilkes Booth was killed about two miles outside town by Sgt. Boston Corbett, part of a contingent of federal troops, at the now obsolete Garrett farmstead on April 26, 1865 after Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865, in Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. (Paraphrasing Wikipedia.)

"Incidentally, Sgt. Boston Corbett was captured by Confederate Colonel John Singleton Mosby's troops in a raid on Fairfax courthouse (we've been ALL OVER the Mosby Heritage Area together). A Confederate soldier was about to execute Corbett, when a Confederate officer stepped in and insisted he be given the humane treatment due a military prisoner of war. Thus, Corbett was spared to accomplish this deed . . . "

As I handed Ali his evening boxed meal, he asked, "Got milk?"

I replied, "You'll not want for MILK, Ali!"

Arghhh. On my way home to lick my wounds I drove right by the tag site. Alas is me, I will simply have to wash my dirty bike to break me out of the Bruce induced funk that clouds my sad eyes!

Try some milk. . ..

XDrag, nice grab and a timely tag, as it seems the facility will be shuttered shortly (if not already). . ..

Yes!

I didn't realize the transitory nature of this place 'til after I made the tag, then reverse-engineered the clues to see if they were solvable through Google-fu. The imminent demise of the enterprise was disclosed (come to think of it, no one was SMILING, when I made the tag!).

Hard times; loyal employess could have worked their entire careers at this location. Of 110 employees, all but 40 will be laid off; those continuing will work for a new product name and at a new address. Not my career field, but . . . I would have thought, "This is a STEADY job!"

The road appears a sort of "Bermuda Triangle" for businesses; not too long ago, a huge private package-shipping company had a significant local headquarters in the neighborhood. A Federal technical center was nearby, and . . . a used-computer enterprise once occupied a building on the same side of the street.

The road in question is a dead end; perhaps in more ways than one!

A Modest Proposal:

Someone grab Ali; then . . . transport the mascot to the Meet/Greet/Eat/Ride in Marshall, VA (Old Salem Restaurant, noon Sunday, 11 August 2013), to pass on to one (or more) of the revelers there.

Ali could be grabbed on the way to the event; tagged on the way back.

This scenario has been exercised successfully in the past.

Sounds like a plan!

Man, this is only a mile from my house, maybe I should see if the movers could not pack the bike right away and do one last grab...

Do it, geoff2K!

Or, as Nike says, "Just do it!"

Then, tag if you like (any virgin water towers nearby?), or hand Ali off to an inmate bound for the Meet/Greet/Eat/Ride gathering.

Ideally, make the scene Sunday, in person!

Do it !
What could go wrong?
Good weather, good food and er..ah ...people.

We'll even include you in the class photo.

Hope to see you .

Ed

There's just too much left to do... I'm not going to be able to grab Ali

Have a good RTE folks!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

En Route: Hmmm... Maybe I'll follow this.



Grab: Shenandoah's Pride Milk. Port Royal Rd in Springfield.

Tag:




Gator is behind the No Parking Sign seen behind the bike.



Not Gators but close.

Instead of giving you clues so that you can blunder around on Google, I'm going to give you the general location & you can blunder around on your bike.

Tag is in part of Riverview Regional Park. Various parts of the park are gated & close at night, but the tag is only about 1/4-1/2 mile past one of these gates, so walk it in if it's dark.

Damn, I could use a nature walk to burn off all this ale

I was out in that area last night. But it was getting a touch dark, so I turned around. But now that I practiced my googlefoo skills and moved slightly beyond novice apprentice, I believe I finally found it.

I was on the wrong road last night.

Only catch is, now I need to get back out that way! ARghhh

Too tough for you slobs?

Someone grab it & bring to my place tomorrow night. HBN & are hosting a half-assed tech night. More like food & beers in the garage. PM if you didn't see details in the Chatter thread.

Hee Hee, I found it, but I haven't had time to get there to get it. WORK is my delimma!

Grab: jeffrey road, great falls, va (near end/riverbend park)





Very nice tag, hadn't been back there. Many "modest" homes were noted. . ..

New tag, or Ali to new tagger, sometime this evening.

Ali has been handed off. . .. After pressing the plastic, oogling a meal and watching wrenching, an oil change and other assorted maintenance. . ..

Because without HBN's pics, it didn't happen:

The meal:




Watching an oil change



Ali trying to find ancestors in the drain pan:"Grandpa?"

Thanks for stopping by. At the end of the night, nobody took Ali home with them

So I made her breakfast today and I'll try to find something on my way in.