July 6th - Day 24
When we first started planning for our trip, no one circled Assateague Island as a must see on their list of places to go. However, after spending the entire day here today, Aubrey has decided that this has been the best stop so far, other than seeing our friends.
We knew that we wanted to camp on both the Atlantic and the Pacific on this trip, but did not know where. As the trip details and itinerary came into focus and we decided we wanted to visit the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park, we zeroed in on the Maryland or Virginia coast. Becca then thought of Chincoteague Island as she read the Misty of Chincoteague books when she was a child. However, due to camp site availability when I was booking sites, we ended up at Assateague Island, just north of Chincoteague. We were not disappointed!
A few highlights of the day:
After a relatively lazy/chaotic morning in the RV and visiting again with our Amish camping neighbors, Becca took the kids to the bay on the western side of the island to swim (if that is what you call it) while I stayed back and worked for a couple of hours. The water depth was only about 1 ft. deep, which thrilled the kids as they were able to walk nearly a half mile out into the bay.
As the kids were finishing lunch, I went to pull out a few towels that were in a tub underneath the RV. Walking back around the back, I was greeted by a half dozen wild horses standing around the table in our campsite. I don’t know if they smelled the kid’s macaroni and cheese and wanted to partake, or if they were just passing through. Either way, it was certainly a fun surprise.
This afternoon we spent a fair bit of time playing in the water at the beach. While we often go to the Pacific Ocean beach in Oregon, we never play in the water due to the cool temperatures. Rather, we go to the beach during the summer wearing sweatshirts and we do what we can to make sure the tide doesn’t get our shoes wet (LOL) or go ankle deep if you are the kids. In fact, I (Troy) never even take my shoes off at the beach in Oregon. Here, everyone (including myself) played in the waves. The older kids even bought a boogie board to keep themselves busy in the water on this hot afternoon on the Atlantic.
Shortly before we left the beach, we were once again greeted with visitors; a herd of about 10 horses. Looking down the beach, we watched as they came walking down along the tide. They soon made their way to where we were. It felt as if the horses put on a nightly parade, walking down the beach, posing for pictures, and looking for handouts. I’m pretty sure they have learned how to work the crowds here.
A few pictures from the day:
