The last task I discussed was task seven, which was the one with the personal ad contest. Since then, Caitlin and I have also completed task eight, which was to read The Da Vinci Code, and task nine, which was to not drink soda for a week. I did not write about either of those because, quite frankly, they just weren’t interesting enough. However, we decided that this weekend was the perfect opportunity to complete our tenth task, which was to rollerblade from Ashburn to Purcellville down the WO&D; trail.
We started out at around 9am from the parking lot of our work, which is situated about 500 yards from the trail. For the trip, I brought a small bag in which I had water, sunscreen, a few snacks, a phone, and a pair of flip flops. Caitlin brought a large backpack in which she had water, sunscreen, many snacks, a phone, a pair of flip flops, an evening gown, a bathtub, a toddler, and a Shetland pony.
Along the way, we stopped for a few food and water breaks, during which we hungrily devoured EVERYTHING we’d brought, sunscreen included. Once we’d gotten to Purcellville, we also had an enormous and completely unhealthy lunch at a restaurant that was inexplicably named The White Palace. At a little past 5:30pm (that same day!) we staggered back into our company parking lot feeling fresh and ready to do it all over again.
Notable Moment: I would have to say that the most notable moment of the day would be when we both crossed the theoretical finish line with a pulse. Caitlin was also particularly thrilled about finding a black rat snake on the trail; my level of excitement was roughly equivalent to that which I would experience if I were to find a snail in my Cheerios. She, of course, picked up the snake and started cooing at it, causing it to respond defensively by covering her hands in its unpleasant musk. I was content to take pictures from a distance.
Conclusion: Completing this task gave us both a delicious sense of accomplishment and about three hundred different flavors of pain. It was actually a lot of fun, but when we nearly dying as we rolled into Purcellville and were then faced with the realization that we were only halfway through our journey, it was daunting. Trips such as these are fun in moderation; I’m thinking once in a lifetime sounds sufficient.
