June 13: Frederick to Westminster, Maryland
Today, we left Washington D.C. and returned to Frederick, Viriginia where I stopped riding back on June 7. Bayer was generous enough to let us stay one more night in Washington D.C. so we could do a little more sightseeing. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is open until 7:30 PM, so we decided that we would stop by yesterday after the conference ended at 4 PM.
The Museum of Natural History is a big place! We had time and energy enough to only see parts of the exhibit on mammals, the one on dinasaurs, and the one on geology. In this last exhibit, we saw the infamous Hope diamond. Here’s a couple pictures of our visit.
Today, we planned to ride from Frederick to somewhere near Hereford, Maryland, but when Pat arrived there several hours ahead of me, she couldn’t find a place for us to stay the night. She called me and I stopped riding so we could both take a look at the map to explore some other alternatives. In the end, the best option for us was to stay in Westminster. That would make a much shorter ride today than I wanted, but it will have to do.
I only took a couple pictures today. I think mostly because of the shortness of the day’s ride.
The next phase of our journey is from here to York Beach, Maine and it is a very exciting phase of our journey. In the next 700 miles or so of riding, we’ll visit seven more states. During this time, I’ve been asked to stop by four different locations to talk about The Dream Tour. Of those four places, two events have been confirmed. The first is a lunch event on June 23 at the Bayer HealthCare corporate headquarters in Tarrytown, New York. The second is an appearance at the Barton Center in North Oxford, Massachusetts on June 26. The Barton Center is the largest independent camping and educational program in the country dedicated to children who live with diabetes and the people who care for them. I’m thrilled to be able to be there to say a few words about my personal journey with diabetes.
June 13th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Hi- So glad to hear about the good time in Washington DC. It sounded like the hardest part was finding a parking place for the car, bikes, and unit on top of the BayerMobile. There is never enough time in DC for all to see. It just whetes the appetite for another trip. When we were there it just poured rain. It is so hard to sightsee with an umbrella. The Washington Monument was not yet repaired and the WWII was not yet finished and open to the public. But the Cherry Blossoms were in full bloom. So you see what you can and enjoy. Later, M&D
June 14th, 2006 at 3:43 am
We’re at camp in Maine near Augusta. Keep us posted on your eta at your southern Maine contact point so we can be there to at least say “Hello” and get a few pics.
June 14th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Hi Peter,
I have been reading your daily reports and enjoying the journey. I think I mentioned that I have a very old road atlas that I use to follow the towns, cities and roads that you are following. I see in todays report that you will be at the Barton Center in Charlton, MA on Mon June 26. I put it on my calendar and will try to make it there so I can meet you in person. Do you know what time you will be there? Many years ago the IDAA now known as DESA had there annual meeting at the Joslin Boys Camp in Charlton. I spent 4 days and 3 nights at the Camp along with about 25 other people living with diabetes who where into all kinds of sports and exercise activities. There were also medical people associated with the Joslin Clinic and other hospitals in Boston who spoke on various topics related to diabetes management. We also had a few professional athletes who spoke about managing diabetes in sports. It was a great meeting and I learned a lot about not being afraid to try different things on my own. Be well stay healthy and keep on pedaling.
Best regards, Florian