Family Bike Tour #2 (National Harbor) Day 1

 Spring break 2024.  We wanted to do something, but recent illness made it hard to book anything.  First year with the kids in school...soooo much sickness!  We mostly stayed local for the break but tried to do some special out of the norm activities to make the break seem more special.  We were all finally healthy and decided the weather looked good enough to do another overnight bike trip as a family.  We opted for a shorter ride than our first given the weather wasn't as warm.  National Harbor in Maryland was our destination... 18 miles away from home but we would pass through DC, Virginia, before returning to Maryland for our destination.  

We packed up that morning.  That is the beauty of an overnight bike trip.  You can't bring a lot and you don't need a lot!  

Ready to go.... Oh wait, wrong set of wheels.  (Just a random grocery cart abandoned in our front yard)

Ok.  That looks better.  Bringing the canopy was a game time decision.  The weather was suppose to be in the mid 50s with no rain, but the clouds looked ominous.  We got caught in unexpected rain without the canopy the day before.  Plus it helps block the wind so I opted to bring it last minute.  (probably the right call)

As soon as we got to the bike trail by our house the kids were off riding on their own.

Attempting to keep up.

Dorothy biked about a mile of the trip.  Part on this trail and part on a trail in VA.

Gabe biked as much as we would allow.  Here he is on a protected bike line for a few blocks connecting two sections of trail.

We normally load Gabe up when the trail ends downtown, but he kept on biking in the protected bike lane.

Red light chat with dad.

He biked all the way to Union Station downtown.

We made Gabe load up here.  Dad told him because we were going to be on streets without bike lanes.  Well, we ended up on a road with a bike lane.   Gabe noticed immediately and disgruntlely said, "Why am I not biking in this bike lane?!?"  We explained it was much busier and it was not a protected bike lane.  That appeased him.  Well, we turned and were then in a protected bike lane.  Again. Gabe even more disgruntled, "Why am I not biking in the protected bike lane?!?!"  We explained that the protected bike lane was actually going to end soon (which it did) and that we would let him bike again as soon as we got on the trail in VA.  Navigating downtown on a large bike in the height of tourist season is always an adventure.  Right before crossing the Potomac River into Virginia we stopped for a snack and to zip close their window as they were getting cold. (Guess it was a good thing we brought the cover).  We crossed the river and got on a trail.  We were stopping soon for lunch and Gabe was hungry so he opted to just ride on the cargo bike until after lunch.  

We planned to stop for lunch in Crystal City.  As soon as we got off the trail there was this little park with a ton of food options.  (Think permanent food trucks kinda).  We decided to stop there since they had a lot of good options and it was literally right off the trail.  The kid's opted for pizza.  They got HUGE slices and devoured them and ate some of the snacks we packed.

Seriously hungry kids!

We loaded up after lunch and Dorothy insisted on stopping immediately before we got on the trail because "Spring is calling"

Finally back on the trail.  Both kids were eager to get biking again as seen below.

And Dorothy even took the lead!

Dorothy biked a little bit of the trail before deciding to hop back on the cargo bike.  The trail was nice, but it was really loud with all of the traffic making it hard to talk to the kids when they were riding on their own.  We followed the trail until it went through Old Town Alexandria, and apparently this time we were okay with Gabe biking in an unprotected bike lane.  So there he goes biking right along.  Mike led, then Gabe and Dorothy and I were the caboose so we could keep an eye on him and traffic.  

And then we got to the bridge to cross back from VA to MD to our destination.  We stopped for a quick snack and to check in with Gabe.  He was eager to bike the bridge...so we pedaled on.  

Up up up the bridge... which is especially hard when you remember his bike has no gears to shift.

Then across.  It was sooo windy. 

Lots to factor in.  Wind, Bridge joints, Crazy traffic noise, other people on the bridge... he did such a good job.  

We made it across and circled around to National Harbor.  In the background you can see the bridge.  

1.25 miles and lets just take a moment to think about that.  First of all a 5 year old just biked that.  And also I biked it.  Remember I said it was windy...now scroll up and look again what my cargo bike looked like with the rain/wind tent for the kids.  I was like a sail up there!  But we made it.  Gabe biked all through National Harbor right up to our hotel where the kids were so excited to have a pool to swim in!  

How Gabe still had energy to swim I don't know!

Then we walked down to the restaurants to find some dinner.  Gabe was so excited to see a preview of the Titanic exhibit we planned to go to the next day!  He is currently obsessed with the Titanic and sunken ships.

Our dinner spot was overlooking the bridge we biked over and the ferris wheel, which the kids were eager to ride on!  So post dinner we walked out to the ferris wheel and got tickets.  

The boys were so excited!

It was a pretty nice ride.  Smooth, heated fully enclosed cars with music.

Dorothy was also so excited and loved it.  Don't let my smile fool you.  I am scared of heights but decided to be courageous and go on it with the fam.  You know set a good example of overcoming fears.  I was mostly okay for the ride.... until we stopped at the top to unload other cars...and it started swaying.  Then I definitely started crying.  We got off and I let the kids know that that the one and only time I would be accompanying them on a ferris wheel.  Next time, just dad.

Me being sooo excited to have my feet back on solid ground.

We walked back to our hotel and retired for the night ready for the next day's adventure.

Totals for the Day:  

Bike Trip: 18miles

Dorothy: ~1 mile

Gabe: 13.2miles!  (Also, how cool is it that the area has enough safe bike infrastructure that a 5 year old can bike that far??!!!)

Sheehy Family Bike Tour: Episode 1 comes to a close

Everyone slept well (thanks to hours in the hot sun and lots of miles for little legs).  We woke up and had some morning snuggles, pre-breakfast snacks in the room, got dressed and walked to find breakfast.  A chocolate chip muffin for Gabe, a chocolate chip bagel with cream cheese for Dorothy and bagels for Mike and I.  

Morning snuggles.  I didn't pack a lot of extra stuff (minus snacks...I always bring lots of snacks) but I did throw 2 kid books and 2 matchbox cars into the bike bag.

The kids really wanted to swim again but we convinced them we should get on the road and there would be more swim time soon with upcoming swim lessons and summer around the corner.  With that we packed up our stuff and went down to the hotel's bike room to load up our bikes.  We loaded the kids and bikes onto the cargo bike and started the journey.  Before we left Reston we had to take the kids to the spot where we first met our dog Orion.  The kids often request to hear 'The Story of Orion' which is basically how he ended up with us.  

    Quick summary:  Orion was in a shelter in Louisiana, got brought to a shelter in DC, and a coworker fostered him as a puppy.  He was an adorable puppy and got adopted quickly by Mitch.  Mitch lived in a condo and traveled a lot for work.  Orion had and still does have crazy energy so after several months, Mitch began looking for a new home for Orion.  He contacted his foster family, who told us about the dog.  Mitch and Orion were living in Reston VA so Mike and I biked out to meet him (and then took the metro home). A week later Mitch dropped him off at our house to be our puppy, but Mitch still dog sits for us from time to time and actually watched Orion for us during this trip.

The kids on the bike at the spot we first met Orion.

Okay, so back to the trip.  Gabe was eager to bike as soon as he could.  There were some busy road crossings and a big uphill early on so I told him a good time would be after that.  Little man couldn't wait.  We got past the busy roads and he kept asking to bike and to try the big hill.  So we unloaded him and off he went.  Dorothy was still a bit tired so she had no interest in biking yet, but instead was trying to snuggle my back while I biked.  

Gabe biked quite a bit and made it about half way up the big hill before stopping to walk his bike.  At the top he hopped right back on his bike and started pedaling.

We stopped for an early snack to get Dorothy some more energy, refuel Gabe and make sure we stayed hydrated.

Dorothy was ready to give biking a try. So she hopped on her purple bike.  But that didn't last long.  She was going so slow so she was all over the trail which made her nervous.  So she hopped back on the cargo bike.  It is easy to get frustrated having to stop and load/unload her and her bike but I have to remind myself she is 3 and any biking is impressive!  So we set off and caught back up to the boys who were resting in the shade.  Gabe decided he wanted a break and back on the cargo bike.

Dorothy on her "sweet ride" (her new nickname for her bike).

We biked on to Vienna where we made an impromptu stop for lunch.  I spied a smoothie place (Greenheart) right off the trail.  The kids enjoyed climbing on the caboose that was in the park and we all enjoyed our lunch.

Dorothy picked a purple smoothie since it is her favorite color.  While really expensive, they were good smoothies and gave the kids crazy amounts of biking energy!

After lunch Gabe started biking right away.  Dorothy also decided to give it a try.  The boys biked ahead since Gabe is faster, and I stayed with Dot so I could load her up if needed.  She had some serious smoothie power going!  She biked a long way.  We even got to some road crossings where she stopped, and walked her bike across the road and then started pedaling again.  We were going slow enough that we spied lots of deer along the trail that the speedy boys missed seeing.  

Dorothy cruising along the Washington Old Dominion trail.

The girls biking.  Love that little girl's smile!

The boys stopped to wait for us.  Gabe apparently started getting worried since it was taking us a while, but it was because Dorothy biked the whole way.  Gabe decided he wanted us to bike together as a family so he told Dorothy she could lead the next section and he would go slow behind her.  So off we went, our own family biking peloton. 

The smiles and comments from those passing by were so cute.  The kids got lots of encouragement from other cyclists!

We eventually ended up at a part of the trail Dorothy deemed to be too tricky (downhill and curvy) so she loaded back up, but her biking today was seriously impressive!  Gabe kept biking.  We stopped at the same playground since it was right off the trail  The kids played there for a while.  Gabe biked more laps around the playground.  Seriously, he is like the energizer bunny!  Dorothy also did some laps around the playground on a tricycle that was abandoned there.  But then she also made dad pull her around on this abandoned power wheel toy 😜

After the stop we knew we needed to keep biking to get home.  Gabe knew we were switching back to the Custis trail soon, which is pretty hilly and the pavement is often not as nice.  He was determined to try, so we let him.  Those little 4 year old legs powered him up some pretty steep and long hills, and he kept going.  A few hills got him so he stopped to walk his bike up but then he hopped right back on to pedal onward.  He kept saying he wanted to bike up the hill he crashed on.  I was so impressed by his determination and energy!  

We ended up stopping for dinner at the same spot we stopped for lunch the day before.  Mike's bike needed an adjustment from the bike shop so he popped in to get that done.  We got Italian subs for dinner and ate outside.  We were so close to the hill where Gabe crashed, but we realized a possible thunderstorm was on the way and we needed to try to avoid being caught in it.  So, much to Gabe's disappointment, we loaded him and his bike on the cargo bike to tackle his crash hill.  But seriously, the amount Gabe biked in general, but especially on the super hilly Custis trail was just impressive!

We crossed the Potomac River and were back in DC.  We opted to take Rock Creek Park trail home rather than roads given rush hour traffic.  However, the route to the trail kept involving steps.  There was no way I could do steps with my bike load.  So we biked on the cobblestone streets of Georgetown (also a challenge with my load) and I had to have Mike help me down one curb.  We stopped at a corner and asked some bike shop workers how to get to the trail without stairs.  They advised us and we were off.  We took the trail up Rock Creek Park until we got to the section of Beach Drive completely closed to traffic.  Both kids really wanted to bike.  We stopped to check the weather again but decided against it since the threat of a thunderstorm was still there and we needed to push to get home.  It was so cool that they both wanted to bike even more, and it kind of broke my heart that we couldn't let them.  Rain would have been fine, but no one wants to be stuck in a thunderstorm on a steel frame bike.  Dorothy started singing her own song at this point, "Sad, sad, sad...sad, sad, sad"  But after promising to take her to Beach Drive soon, their singing changed to other songs.  They basically sang the rest of the way home, and we missed the storm which actually didn't come until later that night.  However, it was good to be home.  Riding with the kids is fun, but it makes for many more hours on the bike.  Everyone was exhausted and slept well!

Gabe pedaled about 14.5 miles (including a lot of steep and long hills) total today and Dorothy a couple. Mom and Dad biked ~29 miles.

Trip totals: 

Mom and Dad: ~60 miles

Gabe: ~24.5 miles!!!!!!! 😮🚴

Dorothy: a few miles

We got home and the kids asked if we could do it again tomorrow!  Needless to say, the next generation of Sheehys also loves crazy bike trips.

The next generation

 We have been talking about taking a family bike tour for a while, and almost did last year (but our cargo bike was in the shop).  Well, we finally did it!  It was spring break, and while we had aspirations for a grander trip, recent prolonged illness led to us never planning anything.  However, we were all feeling well enough for an adventure...bingo.... bike trip!

We brainstormed different destinations knowing we wanted a route with bike trails where the kids could do some of their own riding, and ideally a hotel with a pool as a treat.  Reston,VA checked the boxes!  29 miles of riding, mostly on trails of the Metropolitan Branch Trail , Custis Trail,  and Washington Old Dominion trail (with Rock Creek Park trail/Beach Drive on the way home) made it an easy to manage route.

Gabe started biking right away on the new section of the MBT that goes close to our home.

Gabe got loaded back on the cargo bike as we got off the trail and had to navigate some city streets (with bike lanes) to cross into Virginia.  

Our set up.  Mike's bike in the background, and me on the cargo bike with two kids and 2 kid bikes.

Gabe was eager to bike again once we got to the Custis trail in VA.  Unfortunately that was short lived as he got going too fast going down a hill with not the best pavement.  He fishtailed, crashed and went sliding down the hill.  There were lots of tears and some blood but we got him cleaned up.  He was pretty scared by the fall but luckily he only had some road rash. His chin, elbow and knee still have some pretty big wounds.  (note to self always pack way more bandages than you think you will need).  I had enough bandaids to patch him up on the trail but needed to restock when we stopped for lunch.  Also, right at this time Mike's bike had an issue.  His front derailleur stopped shifting.  Luckily, the crash and his bike needing repair happened close to a bike shop, lunch spot, and pharmacy.  So once Gabe felt okay we got loaded back up we got off the trail.  Mike got his bike fixed. We all got lunch and stocked up on bandaids.  Gabe had the idea that he should test ride his bike in the parking lot to make sure it still worked good since we were at the bike shop.  So about 30 minutes after his crash he was out there riding again.  His bike was fine, but I love that he thought of that and was eager to bike again.

Lunch of hamburgers.  Or in Gabe's case a bun with mustard...burger on the side.  Post crash picture with his bandaid beard.

Then back on the bikes.  The kids rode on the cargo bike for a while and we had some fun stops of playgrounds (see background of pic above), cookie stops, and snack breaks.  And because the bike trip wasn't enough Gabe spent a significant amount of time biking laps around the playground on a small paved loop.  Also side note.... next time when a dad at the playground offers you a NA beer take him up on it.  Taste and hydration of a beer without the alcohol.  It would have tasted so good.  Anyway, next time... Then back on the cargo bike.  Once the trail flattened out and we switched to the Washington Old Dominion trail the kids were up for biking again.  Dorothy biked a bit but was nervous about how narrow and busy the trail was compared to biking on Beach Drive (which is closed to cars) but she did great!  She probably put in a couple of miles total and Gabe biked about 10 miles total (super impressive especially after his crash).

Dorothy on the trail!  

Then we finally loaded up for the last stretch to Reston town center where we stopped for dinner near our hotel, finally checked in and went for a swim.  The kids stayed up way past their bedtime and were absolutely exhausted but had a great day!  

Day 24: Tour de Beverages in Missoula and Day 25

We got breakfast at our B&B and grabbed gear we wanted to pack up in our bike boxes to ship home. And then we hopped on our bikes and rode back to Adventure Cycling's headquarters.

Mike really liked that their doorhandles were bike handlebars. 

We went in and grabbed our bike boxes, brought them outside and began the oh so fun process of breaking down our bikes and packing them up. We were working on Mike's bike first when a family rolled up on their bikes. Two children were on single bikes while the dad and two girls were on a triple seater bike. The mom was driving the support RV. They were doing a cross country tour. Pretty impressive! 

Pretty soon after that a man with a nice camera came out and started taking our photo. Kind of strange, but hey, they have a biking publications, I guess, so who knows what kind of photos they need. And we were set up right in front of their sign so I guess it was a good photo op. 

Although many of the photos could probably be titled how not to break down your bike. We definitely did not do it in the best order. 

The photographer ended up leaving and not soon after that I ended up snapping one of our hex wrenches with my brute strength. Since we needed it to continue taking Mike's bike apart, and we needed it for mine, we were kind of in a pinch. I went in to Adventure Cycling to ask if they had any that we could borrow, which they did thankfully. I came back out to find the photographer there again but this time he had a super tall ladder that he was standing on to get a better angle I guess. Hysterical. 

Somehow that case needs to be squished down to 11 inches. It involves lots of sitting on the case to cinch it down. 

Packing my bike was a little faster due to learning from the mistakes that we made with Mike's bike. We got them packed up and started lugging the cases two blocks to FedEx for shipment home. This was already a feat with those huge cases weighing 70 pounds each, but to make it even more fun, my nose decided to start bleeding. So now I have blood on my shirt, I'm carrying a huge massive case, and then Kleenex shoved up my nose. I was a sight to be seen. Mike was super helpful though ashe would take his case a little ways and then come back and get mine until my nose got under control. The scene that I was however led to a stranger calling me 'foxy' as I walked by. Oh Missoula. 

We finally got them dropped off which took far too long. Next time I think we may just pay a bike shop to pack them up for us. We decided to go get lunch and then begin our tour of beverages. We talked about going floating down the river today but after dealing with the bikes and with the weather not as warm as yesterday, we decided to just enjoy downtown Missoula. 

The tour of beverages wasn't exactly planned, but it ended up being quite fun. Mike had read in the weekly paper the 'Best of Missoula' section and found several tea houses. So naturally we had to visit all three of them and enjoy beverages at two of them.

Mike also purchased some looseleaf tea to bring back home. We popped into several other shops downtown including some that focused on fair trade clothing and peace shop. Then onto the breweries. We walked across the river to the Kettle House brewery. Along the way I passed an amazing candy store, and a place that made bubble tea.  I decided to pass on the bubble tea though as three different teas in one day would just be too much for me (though probably not too much for Mike but I'm not a tea snob like him 😉). 

We then walked by the beer run start area to pick up our packets for the 5K tomorrow. Yep, we're still doing that.  However, we did not partake in the beer run due to my Achilles and the fact that we just aren't that crazy. Then back to the B&B to shower up and head out for dinner. Mike found an amazing local place called Five on Black which is basically a Brazilian Chipotle. Delicious. We closed out the night by visiting the Flathead Brewing company which had a brewpub in town even though we visited the actual brewery a few days ago in Bigfork. 

Our final day in Missoula involved our earliest wake up at the entire trip. We are pretty ridiculous. The race started at 8 AM, and we ran while it was drizzling out the entire time. The locals are very excited about the rain however given the drought and nearby forest fires.

Why are we doing this?

The race was fun and down by the river so it was pretty. We both did well but nothing amazing due to injury and general fatigue from biking that far. We quickly scurried back to the B&B to catch breakfast, watch some of the Tour, and packed up. 

We were carrying our bags downtown to enjoy part of the day downtown before our flight at 3:30. Carrying bike panniers is no fun let me tell you. I know what it is like to be a pack mule now. Speaking of knowing what it's like to be things, I also now know what it's like to be a car windshield getting splattered by bugs. Some of those bigger ones hurt when they smack you. Anyway we walked by the Holiday Inn which is the hotel associated with the race and got the idea of asking them if they could hold our bags for the day while we walked around downtown. We knew it was a little shady since we weren't staying in the hotel but decided to ask and be honest if they questioned us. We were even willing to pay a small fee for the convenience of not having to carry them. I went up and asked but they never questioned me and just took our bags. We were free and enjoyed it!

Now free of our luggage, we went down to the Missoula farmers market. I have never seen so much beautiful cheap produce in my life. Each stand took such pride in how they displayed their goods. We bought a half a pound of huckleberries, which Mike downed and I had a few. We also purchased a large bowl of sugar snap peas, which would be wonderful treats on the airplane. Oh, and a pound of locally grown cherries which we are still enjoying.

We ended up going back to Five on Black for lunch because it was just that good. Then back to the Holiday Inn to grab our bags (tipping them nicely) and get a cab to the airport. The first flight to Chicago was smooth. We didn't have a lot of time in Chicago, however, so no dinner. Hungry Erin is not a happy Erin. Luckily, we still had some snacks left from our bike trip along with the fresh produce that we had got at the farmers market to tide us over on the flight back to Baltimore. We ended up getting Subway in the Baltimore airport at about midnight and learned that that subway will be closing at the end of the month and guess what will be taking its place? A STEAK N SHAKE!!

Cab ride back home and that was a wrap for our honeymoon. It was a wonderful journey and I know we are going to look back and enjoy reading these entries years down the road. Thanks for journeying with us! 

Day 23 (day 16 of biking): WE MADE IT!!!

57 miles to Adventure Cycling. 57.7 to the B&B 

Grand total of the tour: 779

Seeley Lake was a neat area. Several bike routes pass through so we saw lots of cyclist friends both road biking and mountain bike touring. Although with it being so popular the locals aren't impressed with your tour. We heard about groups going all the way to Venezuela. 

We loaded up and checked out and were on our bikes by 10am which is probably one of our earliest starts. Ha. We knew we had about 18 miles before we were off the road with no shoulder. It looked beautiful right along the water but was hard to enjoy with the traffic. Luckily we got a shoulder eventually before the 18 miles were up and a nice flat stretch that we flew through. I hopped on Mike's back wheel and we cruised. We arrived at Clearwater Junction, filled up our water bottles and got on a new road that would take us to Missoula!

It is only 39 miles away. We wanted to make it in before 5 so we could stop by Adventure Cycling's headquarters. I mostly wanted to make it so I could enjoy the free icecream they advertise!

We knew we had one more climb before the mostly downhill ride into Missoula. I was so excited to see this sign for the last time!

We pulled off at the top of our climb to find some shade in an experimental forest. No one knows what that means, but the flies were crazy in there. We celebrated our achievement with our last coke. 

Yup, that is the last bottle of that six pack of coke we bought back in Fairmont Hotsprings. It was carried 526 miles and over who knows how many feet of elevation change. It tasted glorious!

Then back on the road. We enjoyed the mostly downhill ride but a strong head wind made it so you still had to work. However, with the blazing hot sun, the head wind was oddly welcome to keep us cool. I remember thinking at one point, we only have 23 more miles to go. It seemed so crazy and yet was such a welcomed thought. The journey was amazing and I am glad to be done, but oddly I really do think I would like to do it again. 

We ducked off about 15 miles before Missoula to cool off in the creek. We saw plenty of people floating in rafts and tubes down the river so we had to get a part of it. We saw one raft go by full of third grade children and one chaperone.  Mike was sure we could take them on, kick them off the rafts, load up our bikes and panniers and ride in style into Missoula before making the evening news. We decided to pass on that option although it was tempting. 

So instead back on our trusty bikes to finish out our ride. 

We didn't have lunch today, but instead several stops where we enjoyed snacks of fresh fruit and granola bars partially due to the lack of amenities along the way. We arrived just outside of Missoula right off of I-90 and stopped at a travel plaza to refill water bottles. It was so hard to walk in there and not buy everything in sight. There was a Subway, Arby's, a deli, a convenience store, and grocery store all in this one building.  I felt like a starved grizzly that just found a huckleberry patch!  I had self control however. We decided to not buy anything, but I seriously don't know how I managed and biked the remaining 6.5 miles into town.  The thought of free icecream rewards must have helped!

So there we went.  Into Missoula, and to the Adventure Cycling headquarters.

We were treated and shown where the icecream and pop was located!

I biked over 750 miles for that icecream. And let's talk about distance for a moment. I signed up for a 750 mile bike trip.  This was definitely 779 miles!

We got to sign in, and looked for the photos of some of our fellow cyclists we had met along the way on the wall of travelers. We found a few familiar faces and added our own. 

It was neat to see where everyone was from and what tours they were taking. 

We confirmed that they had received our bike boxes that they so graciously allowed us to ship to them, and held them for the weeks while we were biking. We will be back tomorrow to deal with packing them up. 

As for tonight, we checked into our B&B which was so cool. We had the attic, and the house had such a neat history. It had been on the University's campus serving a variety of functions throughout the years before the university decided to demolish it. Local historians protested so the university said that anyone with a proposal to get it off campus could have it for free. So they found a construction company willing to take on the task of sawing the brick home in half and moving it across town. The pictures were unbelievable. 

And then we capped off the night by visiting the Tamarack Brewery and walking through downtown. 

The final numbers:

5 National Parks (a ton more state and provincial parks and National Forests)

779 miles

15,000+ feet climbed total

3 times crossed the Continental Divide

2 tubes of sunscreen

0 chasing dogs

5 bear sightings (4 Canadian bears and 1 American bear)

16 days of biking

2 nights of camping

5 breweries visited (2 Canadian)

4? Icecream treats

0 flat tires!!!

526 Miles the final coke was carried

4 loads of laundry 

9 cans of tomato juice consumed by Erin