July 5th - Day 23
While today was a great day, it started on a sad note; we had to say good bye to the Mucci’s (but not before Auntie Mandy french braided our girls’ hair). While everyone thoroughly enjoyed the 5 days that we spent together, the journey must go on. More adventures, here we come…
A few highlights from the day:
On our drive today, we had the opportunity to stop at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park in Church Creek, Maryland. I always enjoy when our site seeing starts to connect to one another. Last weekend, we stopped in Lewiston, NY which was the last stop on the Underground Railroad for many, prior to crossing the river into Canada. Harriet Tubman elven lived in Canada for a while. Our country has come a long ways since the days of the Underground Railroad, but still has significant work to do.
Tonight we reached the most eastern portion of our trip. We are camping on the Assateague Island National Seashore, on the Atlantic in Maryland. While we haven’t made it to the beach yet, we are looking forward to doing so tomorrow. It will be fun to be able to compare camping and the beach on the Atlantic with camping and the beach on the Pacific (later on our trip).
One of the things that Assateague Island is known for are the wild horses that roam the island. We thought we were lucky by seeing a few horses on the road as we were driving in, but as we were finishing dinner, a number of horses made their way into the campground. The horses slowly made their way down to our campsite and walked right up to us. You’re suppose to stay 40 ft. away from the wild horses, but it is pretty tough when they are walking right up to you.
While the museum and wild horses were both really great, when we talked about our day, everyone collectively agreed those two things weren’t even the best part of the day. The best part of the day came when our camping neighbors invited us to enjoy a fire and roast marshmallows with them. What made this extra special is that they are Amish. Since they don’t drive in their culture, they hired a driver to drive them to Assateague Island from where they live near Lancaster, PA. We had great conversation with them and our kids are looking forward to playing together in the morning. We are thankful that this couple went out of their way to come talk to us, having noticed our OR license plate. We can often be so focused on our own selves, that we don’t step out and invite others into what we are doing. There is a lot that we can learn by their simple example!
A few pictures from the day:
