Mon Sept 28: Mt Vernon anchorage to Potomac Creek anchorage

 In which we look forward to a break from the big city and schedules ...

The last few days have been fun but exhausting.  We are ready for fewer people and no scheduled events.

We pulled up the anchor after a calm night (Rick was on anchor duty so, OF COURSE, the chain was COMPLETELY CLEAN) and motored south out of the Washington DC area.  Mr Weather says 'rain is coming' (rain/wind is always either coming or going away so it's hard to muster any interest in this announcement)  so we want to get a bit further down the road than our original destination of Occoquan River and we set course for an anchorage in Potomac Creek (off the Potomac River - Really?  They couldn't think of literally any other name??). 

The trip back down the Potomac took us back past Quantico Marine base where we saw many funded-by-our-tax dollars helicopters, and even an a MV-22 Osprey tilt-wing airplane (Rick had to geek out a bit about that).   Further down the river we passed the Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay.  This is an area on the Maryland side of the river where they salvaged and the sunk about 30 wooden boats that had been made to help out in WWI.  We couldn't get close to the boats themselves but the wreckage was clear. 

  

Why don't we see this in more scary films?  We had never heard of it before.

 

It was a quiet little anchorage and we had a relaxed afternoon, with Rick taking a quick bath in the now cold water off the back of the boat.  During much of the trip northward we had water temperatures in the 80's but not we are down at about 67 degrees so it was a chilly bath!  See Kim - we had down time!  (My boss is worried there is never any apparent down time - that's just because I don't write about it.  Too boring for my intrepid readers).

I used my down time trying to decide on a Biden yard sign.  I was raised to never force my opinions on others (clearly I got over that as a parent) - never put bumper stickers on the car, never put signs in the yard.  But I feel like we have arrived at pre-WWII Germany status and to say or do nothing now may be a horrible regret in the future.  A yard sign is the least we can do.  Lots of great options:

As the sun went down the moon came up and we had a wonderful sunrise/moonrise scenario!   

 

THEN (duh-duh-DUH) we heard the sound.   At first we couldn't figure out what it was and then the bugs started coming out.   There was a hatch of some sort, and there were so many little flying insects that the air hummed as though a big motor had been turned on in the distance.  We had to turn off the lights and screen-up in order not to be overwhelmed.  It was crazy how many millions of bugs swarmed around the boat..... in the end the screens held and we lived to tell this tale.  This is not a 'found narrative' kind of story.