F15: More Horses to Home

Waterfront View

Another beach a little further north. I can’t get enough of these sweet Sanderlings (and bigger friend):

October 24 to October

Day 17 followed a very noisy night. There are still few people here, though the park is booked for the weekend. A bunch of 20-somethings moved in right behind us, in tents, in the dark, late. Oh, and they all walked to the toilets located just off our site THROUGH our site and slammed the doors every time! Jeesh, one even tied his dog to our picnic table! Time to leave.

We travelled just down the road to the adjacent Assateague Island State Park. We learned from Denny that, at 62, you could buy a card for $10 which entitles you to half price camping at all Maryland parks between Sundays and Thursdays. So we got the card, booked two nights (Saturday night a little more expensive) with electric and settled in to what is a deceptively nice campground. We will stay here in the future for sure.

Here’s the view of our site (H1, about $25 with electric Sunday through Thursday) showing the beach access:

We rode around the State and National Parks (16 km) and saw some horses and a deer:

I took a walk on the beach, and we enjoyed our first stay at this park:

It was a quiet night with no toilet doors banging! So Day 18 started well, if a little overcast. We took a short ride and saw how the horses were enjoying the campsites and each other:

The park closes tomorrow for the season, so it was emptying. After lunch, we enjoyed this view of the View:

The Cat’s Eye View was also cute:

We rode some more (21.5 km total) and saw more horses today than ever (16 in total), plus a couple more deer:

I went for one more beach walk and offer this final beach scene for Fall 2015:

It was time to head home on Day 19. We drove through Ocean City, a real seaside resort town that was virtually abandoned at this time of the year. Our favourite restaurant name was “Fractured Prune” (a donut store!).

David’s birthday present was a stop at an outlet mall. Lucky guy. He did let me buy him a few things. We continued our drive through Maryland and Delaware where we saw some beautiful fall colours:

Loved the “Harvest Season, Slow Vehicles on Roads” warnings.

We made it to the Hickory Travel Center on the Turnpike for the night and enjoyed this view from my chair:

Day 20 saw great driving conditions and a quick trip through Customs. It was a perfect way to end a perfect fall trip.

And sometimes, the best views are those taken from your own back door:

See you in the winter!

F15: Happy Hour to Horses

Waterfront View

This beach is beautiful everyday! and David is kind of cute, too:

October 17 to October 23

It has been so much fun to stay put and enjoy one place with our friends!

On Day 10, we dumped and got water, bought expensive bread and cheap beer (Yuengling), ate lunch then enjoyed the afternoon on the beach in our cabana watching anglers and pelicans fish (the pelicans did so much better!):

Happy Hour was at L&D’s where we watched some of the Jays game (which they lost). Cooler weather is expected tomorrow.

It was a really windy night, so Day 11 was cooler. We spent the morning inside reading then went on a beach walk where we were essentially the only ones out:

…except for some birds and the campground crab (there are tons of these holes everywhere on the beach and in the dunes). We did see dolphins, too, a little far out for pictures:

It was a quieter Happy Hour with L&D, and we decided to extend our stay another night.

Day 12 started breezy but it was another gorgeous day. We started with a beach walk during which David found two more pieces of beach glass (three total). These are rare finds here!

We took another ride into the village (15 km) and had another yummy lunch at Eduardo’s:

Linda, Denny, Ellie, Denny and I gathered in the dunes for our final beach visit of this trip. We then enjoyed a long, fun and yummy final Happy Hour!

We were sad to say goodbye on Day 13. We took our time packing up and getting as many of those little cockleburrs/prickers/sand spurs as we could out of our gear. We hugged goodbye and made plans for next year.

David and Patrick from the ferry crew chatted the whole way back to Hatteras (missing the Dolphins which I saw!), and we started the journey north. There are still a lot of dune repairs being made along Highway 12:

We got supplies drove a few hours, took the Chesapeake Tunnel and Bridge to the Virginia Welcome Centre where we stayed for the night.

Here’s the view from my chair:

It was another sunny morning on Day 14 as we travelled through Virginia. One house was flying the confederate flag, and the Dixie Smoke Shop (with a Confederate Flag Sign) on the Virginia/Maryland State Line says it’s “The End of the Real South” (the southward sign said “The Beginning…”).

We crossed the bridge into Assateague and were welcomed by our first wild horse:

We booked three nights (C39, $30 a night), took a 17.5 km bike ride, checked in with the much blownout beach from the storm:

…and saw a host of Herons and Egrets:

Here’s the view (of the campground deer) from my chair:

Day 15 was another sunny one, and we rode 19.5 km over the bridge and into the “closed for the season” store (rats, no ice cream). We did see a few horses (and a Black Rat Snake, but at least three of my besties are snake-a-phobes, so no pics):

After lunch, we rode some more (7.5 km) and saw a few more horses and birds.:

Here’s another view from my chair:

It was windy all night and on the morning of Day 16, so we hung out for the morning. We walked the beach some:

…and rode around looking for horses. As we stopped to chat with a couple from Alaska who had a cool kayak/bike rack on their similar RV, David’s bike actually was blown into the water! Crazy.

We’ve now packed up and are homeless for tomorrow, though we may snag a cancellation or go to the adjoining State Park.

Oh, and it’s time for a Cat’s Eye View:

Fall 2015: Heading to the Beach

Waterfront View:

What we came for!

October 9 to October 16

After waiting out Ted Cruz who threatened to shut down the government again, Hurricane Joachin and its storms, a nasty cold and warranty work on the MoHo, we finally headed out!

Day 1 was typical with an easy border crossing, lots of driving, a WalMart and Hannaford’s supply shop in Watertown, some nice fall colours and a noisy overnight (and pizza and wings) at the Pilot on Exit 219 of Highway 81.

The view from my chair was a sweet ride: a revamped fire engine RV:

Day 2 was more driving, some of it tense through Baltimore and Washington. Best signs of the day:

• “Open Joints on Bridge” near Washington, which has legalized marijuana, right?
• “CONCEALED Handgun Training”

We spent the night at a lovely Virginia Welcome Centre not far from Newport News.

Day 3 featured a stop at Moore’s Roadside Farmer’s Market in Virginia. All foods and produce were overpriced, but the samples were many! here are some of our signs:

• Church sign: “All Welcome, Except Joachin”
• 1st Pelican of the trip
• “Equine Adventures, the Original 4X4”

Our drive along Highway 158 on Cape Hatteras showed some of the after effects of the storm:

…but things looked fine. We pulled into the Frisco Campground and immediately set up the bug hut (mosquitoes are DEFINITELY after effects of the storm) and relaxed after three days of driving.

Here’s the view of Campsite P38 ($20):

Day 4

The campground is located well behind the dunes and you can see the ocean and the sound from some of the higher campsites. The boardwalks to the ocean were still under water:

…so we rode the bikes (9.5 km return) to the Frisco Bath House beach access and took our first chilly steps on the beach (not sure if that wharf fell before or after the storm:

No Campground Bunny here, just some Campground Deer:

We left Frisco early Day 5 and got the 9:30 ferry and were sent off by these Ibises:

It was a great, sunny sail and we enjoyed the company of Patrick, one of the Ferry hands. Highway 12 to the Okracoke Campground showed some signs of breaches in the dunes, but overall, things seemed normal.

We got to the park and got a great dune-side site (C1 $23). We immediately set up the Bug Hut (yep, loads of mosquitoes) and will enjoy this special site for several days:

Oh, and we hit the gorgeous beach!

Day 6 started sunny and bright. We biked (16.5 km) to Ocracoke Village and back and stopped for Americanos and treats. Then we continued our daily pattern of some version of beach, bike and beer with a beach walk, time in our beach cabana (it was very windy):

and a visit with the Surfer Dudes, three guys next door who were surfing beaches from Charleston, SC to Maryland!

By the way, if you come here, beware the “cockleburrs”, little prickly devils all over the grass and dunes. Ouch!

It was a gorgeous morning on Day 7 so we rode to the Pony Pen (14.5 km return). The road north of there to the ferry had been closed during the storm from flooding. We had a great talk with the Pony Ranger who said they horses were all safe. We missed seeing the newborn foal (in February), but enjoyed these guys:

We rested for a bit then rode (12 more kms) back to the Village and had lunch at Eduardo’s Taco Truck:

Then walked the beach some more:

Then we welcomed our friends Linda and Denny, and their friends Denny and Ellie. We met Linda and Denny four years ago in Texas then saw them again three years ago here. It was a great reunion over Happy Hour.

Here’s the evening view from my chair:

Ho hum, another sunny Day 8. We had a beach walk, a 16 km bike ride (our reward was an ice cream!), a couple of beach walks and an early and quiet evening:

Yes, Day 9 began beautifully, and I was even inspired to get this sunrise view:

We rode 24 kms (and had Americanos) around the entire Village with a quick stop at the Ocracoke Lighthouse:

We spent the afternoon on the beach with our friends:

and watched some “Beach TV”:

It was another amazing day. Here’s the view from the dunes of us and Linda and Denny: