Departure Day

August 25th. I woke up around 6:00 on Monday morning, after a Sunday evening of socializing with Tagrid, Theresa and Angie and her daughter Ella (women with whom I played on the Speed Bumps soccer team), and doing some last minute emails and packing.

I had spent Sunday on my bike participating in the Reston Century with my friend Tom. Tom and I had ridden the Potomac Peddlers Historic Century (our first 100 mile ride) last September, and had planned to do it again (actually we had talked about doing three centuries this year – well, Tom did), but my plans for France interfered with that plan. So I found the Reston Century, which was scheduled for August 24th, the day before my plane to Nice, and suggested we ride that one instead. I have to say everyone thought I was crazy to do a long bike ride the day before my departure, but good planning allows for one to take advantage of all sorts of opportunities. Besides, being completely goal-driven, I didn’t want to waste all my training of the past several months - including training rides with my sister Chris, my friend Becky, and of course, Tom.

Sunday morning I was up at 6 a.m. to ride down to catch the 6:43 5A bus at the Rosslyn metro (the bike rack in front of the bus made this possible), which would drop me off at the Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride by 7:20. I biked over to Reston Town Center (a few miles) to meet Tom. It was a bright sunny morning, and the Town Center was packed with bikers. We stood in a long line to register our appearance that day (we were pre-registered, but this check-in allowed us to pick up a t-shirt later) and headed off with our cue sheets by 8 a.m.

The sky was cloudless all morning, and though the sun was warm, biking along at about 14 miles an hour, we didn’t notice the heat too much (up in the 80s most of the day). The large numbers of bikers meant that we were often biking near others, which has not always been the case for the two of us. Camaraderie is a helpful thing as you tackle interminable hills and long stretches of flat roads. It was a good course, at least 30 miles on the Washington and Old Dominion Bike Trail, and the rest in the towns like Hamilton, Taylorsville and Waterford. There were a good number of challenging hills and fast and long downhills; we biked past rolling fields and herds of cows, horse farms, housing developments and small towns. We made three stops at the well-supplied Rest Stops, where water and Gatorade were available, as well as picnic tables full of bananas, oranges, granola bars, peanut butter sandwiches, cookies, baked goods, M&Ms, and other candy bars.

We finished the ride about 4:30, pretty exhausted, as the last 15 miles on the W&OD trail were slightly uphill; a punishing finish after 90 or so miles on the bike. (In an ironic twist, the Reston Century was not 100 miles, it was 104 miles! Well, I guess it’s hard to design the perfect route.) There was a free buffet meal being served to the bikers on the RTC plaza post-ride, but we headed over to the sidewalk tables at Clydes for a Sierra Nevada beer instead. I sent a text message to my friends and family, letting everyone know I had finished the ride – and was now ready to head to Nice!

Afterward, Tom drove me back to Tagrid’s home, so I would be there for the 6 p.m. ladies gathering Tagrid had organized.

Back to Monday. I awoke early, and decided to blog my morning thoughts (see On the Verge, and Barnard - Second Generation Begins) though I was feeling pretty good, I knew I wanted to go swimming in Tagrid’s backyard pool; the water is great for sore legs. The thought of having a wet swim suit in my luggage made me ask Tagrid if there was a swimsuit requirement for the pool. Of course not, she said. You might as well get in practice, she said. So I had a lovely swim in the pool, au natural, with their two new puppies running back and forth around the pool as I swam laps.

First on the list to do that morning was a trip to the post office, to send off two boxes – one to my friend Bonnie (maternity clothes she had lent to me during my brief expectant period) and another to Priscilla, with those things that I wanted with me in Nice, but that I didn’t need immediately. Happily, the cost of sending the box to France was not exhorbitant (I was weighing the option of not sending it, if so), and it should appear here in 10 days.

After dropping off a few things at my storage unit (the first of three trips that day), Tagrid took me with her to visit the Obama headquarters in Ballston. She had brought with her bagels and fruit for the office; we organized and cleaned up the small “kitchen” in the office, and set up a breakfast spread for the volunteers. We were there just before 10; there were a few people in the office when we arrived, a few young people listening in to a morning call, it appeared. By the time we left, the rooms had started to hum, as volunteers began to appear to begin the day’s work.

Tagrid dropped me off at my condo, so I could complete the cleaning of the rooms for my renters. I still had some left-over toiletries to drop off at Miriam’s Kitchen (they provide them to their clients) and needed to drop off my absentee ballot at the Arlington County offices at the Courthouse metro. I did some cleaning and then got on the metro to Courthouse, dropped off the application, hopped back on the Metro, and headed to Foggy Bottom and Western Presbyterian. At the church, I chatted with Shenella, the church secretary and caught up on the latest, left my garage key for Bill, and made some copies of my birth certificate and other important papers – intending to send them home as a necessary back up in emergencies. I dropped off the toiletries and headed back to the Metro to meet my friend Tim for lunch in Ballston.

On the way to lunch, I received a call from Chris, Chelsea and Nathan, who were in the midst of eating their box lunches in the quad at Barnard with hundreds of other families and newly arrived Barnard freshmen. They had finished moving Chelsea into her new dorm room that morning (not wanting to wait for the moving carts, they had carried everything to her fourth floor room – it made them think of me, Chelsea told me, who would have done something just like that). It was good to hear from them; I told Chelsea I’d call her later that day.

Tim and I met at Grand Cru, a wine store/restaurant in the Ballston neighborhood (good food and wine, but not a place to go if you are in a hurry – the service leaves a little to be desired). I hadn’t seen Tim in a long time, but we had recently reconnected, and we had a good time catching up on our respective lives.

After lunch, I was headed back to the condo. On the way, I stopped in the Ballston mall to get a copy made of the key to the bike storage closet (I had promised my renter that I would provide him a key so he could store his bike), and then found a Boxes Etc. location (I think that’s what it’s still called) to buy a manila envelope to send the copies of my papers that I had made at the church. I had just enough postage (in the form of stamps) to cover the cost of sending the envelope back to Amherst. Back at the condo, I picked up another few things to bring to my storage unit, and headed back to the metro. It was a really hot day, and I had been doing some walking already; I still had a metro card with a lot of money on it (courtesy of Fannie Mae), taking the metro from Virginia Square to Clarendon seemed the right thing to do.

Off the metro, I walked into the Pacers Running Store to buy some running shorts and then walked a few blocks to my storage unit, to drop off the two bags I had with me. I then headed over to Tagrid’s, walking through my old Lyon Park neighborhood, and past my former home on 1st Road, a little walk down memory lane. I needed to get my bike back to the condo, where I would store it. I was getting down to the last few things on my list.

After checking in with Tagrid, I hopped on my bike – deciding to take a small detour on the way to see Beth and Reilly’s recently completed renovation of Reilly’s family home in the Ashton Heights neighborhood. I had seen the construction last spring; the completed home is lovely and fits lovingly in amongst its neighbors.

Back at the condo, the final tasks included scrubbing down the tub, wiping down the refridgerator interior, as well as the surfaces and cabinets in the kitchen. I scrubbed out some obvious spots in the carpet and did a final vacuuming. The vacuum was left in the basement for some fortuitous person.

While cleaning I also put a call into HSBC International Bank, to check on the status of my application to HSBC France and the Nice branch. I was told the application had been reviewed and was now in France – progress! I’ll check in with them next week to see how it is progressing.

My friend (and ride to the airport) arrived at my condo to help me with the final cleaning, the final stop at my storage unit to drop off my toolbox and then off to get my luggage.

Back at Tagrid’s, I did my final packing, which meant storing my computer, and putting the last of the clothes that I had been wearing in my suitcases. Tagrid had also had me try on a dress and a skirt that she had that she thought that I could wear (both fit) and I packed them too. Soon I was doing my good byes and heading out to the airport with my friend.

I spent the minutes before getting on the plane online sending last minute emails and on the phone with my mom and dad. I was ready for this adventure finally to happen. And it was time.