This was what the area around 10th and F Street NW looked like in 2001. It used to be all row home style buildings, now the area is all modern “high rise” buildings (I say “high rise” because nothing in DC is actually very “high”).

The view over Paris, Virginia as seen from the top of the Ambassador Whitehouse trail at Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane, Virginia. The hike is absolutely worth it - one of my favorites. The views are incredible, and there are several wineries nearby to enjoy a tasting after the hike.

A view of Harpers Ferry WV from the overlook at Maryland Heights.

Quantico creek at the Prince William Forest, a hidden National Park Service gem in Northern VA.

A view of the Gore Range on the road to Piney Lake, just north of Vail.

A view of the building from the alley in the back. This was in the vicinity of the ghost tours at Harpers Ferry WV where we stopped for a cold brew and a bite to eat after a HOT afternoon on the Maryland Heights trail. The views were incredible!

A beaver dam, encountered on an early fall walk through Prince William Forest.

Fungi on a log at the G. R. Thompson Wildlife Preserve, close to Sky Meadows State Park. The trails surrounding the preserve actually intersect the AT, although we didn’t complete the loop since the trail was so overgrown. We may try this one again in the winter after the vegetation clears a bit.

One of the many waterfalls at the FDR memorial downtown. I love going to this place.

The view from the deck at the Naked Mountain Winery. We did a tasting and ended up buying some bottles of wine… a Riesling and their Rose. The views there were fantastic and the place really had a lot of character. It was way too conveniently located on the way back from our hike of the G. R. Thompson Wildlife Preserve. We really didn’t pick the hike because of the winery, ditto with Sugarloaf Mountain… honestly.

Looking up inside the dome of the WWI memorial. In my recent trips downtown, I’ve seen a lot more people visiting this often forgotten memorial.

A view of a marsh at Mason Neck State Park in southern Fairfax County. The trails here are meticulously maintained and if you do all the trails, you can end up hiking some five and a half miles. The kids enjoyed this hike as a predecessor to Bull Mountain the next day. The canopy made the otherwise miserably hot day tolerable.

A butterfly on a flower, caught on chip during our recent hike through the G. R. Thompson Wildlife Preserve. The trail we were supposed to follow was marked as a loop trail, but we never completed the loop because the vegetation was just too thick. The place had so many butterflies.

The view from the top of the rock scramble on section A of the Billy Goat Trail - you can access section A of the Billy Goat Trail walking south on the canal tow path from the Great Falls/C&O canal park or from the Old Angler’s Inn heading north on the tow path. It’s an interesting 1.7 miles of pure boulder scrambling… I’d recommend doing it when it isn’t as hot outside - there is a lot of exposure on the path and the summer sun made it a HOT hike.

The lower falls are 85 feet high. We had a pretty wet spring and summer, so the water was flowing pretty well, even in mid July. This was a VERY popular hike, we encountered a good amount of people and dogs on the way down and up. Wonderful views, almost no solitude.

This was taken handheld using a Canon G9 - I was pretty pleased with the result overall - I thought for sure that the whole picture would be a blurry mess since I was shooting at 1/6 shutter speed.