Vacation – Assateague Island Photoblog

So, we’re back from Assateague and man was it just what the doctor ordered! I swear I haven’t been this relaxed and light-minded in a while. It’s so nice to just let go and focus on something else for a while. It was also really nice to spend some time with my Dad and just talk. Neither of us are huge phone people so we definitely had a lot to share while we were on the island.

It took us a while to get really going but we were running on schedule. We were finally on the road around 10am on Friday morning. We arrived on the island with the sun shining through the clouds and relatively warm air on the bay side. We camped on the bay side instead of the ocean side of the island, which was a good call for lots of reasons. One we didn’t have to haul gear onto the beach and two it was significantly colder on that side.

We got a sweet camping site though and were quick to set everything up. I remembered more than I expected and didn’t have too hard of a time helping Dad get the tents put up. Out spot was up against the trees too so we didn’t feel too much breeze coming off the water.

Fire pit and table. You can see the water just a stone's throw away.

Empty site before we set up the tents.

My tent. It was a tiny little thing but it served its purpose.

Dad's tent.

Campsite.

Once the site was all set up I went and helped Dad gather up firewood before going exploring. He wanted to start cooking some food so I had plenty of time to get a good look around the island. Lucky for me it was easy to cut through the woods and grassy areas because there were pony trails all over the place. And anywhere a pony can go, so could I.

Little thicket behind my tent.

Went back in here to get firewood. Ponies had cleared out all this space underneath the trees.

I was determined to find an opening back here and find where it went.

During my exploring I found this break in the trees thanks to more ponies.

It's amazing how many places these little guys have cleared out, most likely for shelters during the rain.

The new trail ended up taking me out onto the bay side beach.

The sun was so bright, I was sad to find it washed out a lot of my pictures.

I followed these little tracks for a while, but the fox who left them was too clever for me.

That's not snow, it's actually sand. That's how bright the sun was our first day there.

Once I made it past the beach I got into the marsh lands.

There were clam shells EVERYWHERE. I got quite a hall of some really pretty colored, polished pieces.

There were some really pretty places to check out...but something was missing.

No matter where I went or the trails I followed, my first day I didn't find any ponies.

Once I got back to camp, Dad and I enjoyed sausage, soup, and a beautiful sun set.

I was a little sad that I didn’t see any ponies during my hike. I was out for a good hour or so but nothing. We saw a few when we were driving in but we didn’t want to stop. The ones that are near the road are not supposed to be encouraged to come closer by passerbys with cameras or food.

It was an early night for both of us. It was pretty hard for me to fall asleep. I was still wired and hadn’t gotten up nearly as early as Dad did. He said he heard me tossing and turning for a long while. It was also freezing outside so at first I was cold until the sleeping bag he lent me started to do its job. It’s meant for 0 degree weather so after about an hour I was sweating and sweltering and ended up having to loose most of my layers except my base layer and then still open up my bag. Anyone who mocks those bags has never slept in one, they get HOT! My nose was cold and runny while the rest of me felt like it was back in my bed at home. I didn’t sleep well but I haven’t slept well in a few weeks. Weird dreams wake me almost every night now. At some point I woke up 100% convinced in my head that I had stopped breathing and was lucky I’d woken up. That was pretty weird. After that I probably spent ten or fifteen minutes listening to a raccoon scurry around our campsite looking for food before I finally went back to bed.

Lucky for me, when I got up in the morning I didn’t have to wait long before I got what I came for.

This little came wandering into our camp just after breakfast.

She was a perfect example of why NOT to feed the ponies. She completely ignored Dad trying to shoo her away.

They sparred over the food, but eventually he just took it back to the car.

She was a spunky little thing, I'll give her that.

She hung around for a while, always trying to get closer to our food. We kept our distance since these buggers are known to kick and bite.

See those ears? She was not my biggest fan. I think she got sick of my camera pretty quick.

As if to prove this was her campsite now, she eventually laid down...

...and went to sleep. O_O

We decided before eating some real food we'd take a hike down the beach.

It was a beautiful morning.

It wasn't long though before the rain clouds started rolling in.

Dad could tell pretty quick that the weather wasn't going to be nearly as nice as it was the day before.

On our way back to camp we met this lady. She was just chilling in the road as if she owned it.

Dad made a point of stopping and cursing at her to move. As if she understands that...haha.

Now this lady, she was my favorite. Very pregnant and SUPER sweet.

She was hanging out with our earlier campsite invader.

Our friend was quick to return to our camp the moment she saw us there.

So while Miss Attitude was busy harassing Dad some more, I went and took pictures of her pretty little pinto friend.

She never actually came into our came. Instead she just watched me warily and kept a good distance while I snapped away.

No amount of shooing or stomping feet from myself or Dad deterred the chestnut from hanging out though.

I finally let Dad take my picture. Yes, I look huge. I had on two layers of pants and four layers of shirts. It was COLD!

Eventually though, Dad and I made the call to leave instead of staying an extra night. Neither of us wanted to break down wet gear in the rain the next morning.

So, with a storm on the horizon I decided to take one last swing around before we packed up.

I followed more pony trails, hoping to catch a glimpse of a herd.

The view was spectacular with the rain clouds and the water.

I followed the beach in the opposite direction from the day before.

I'm not sure how much the water had receded but there were roots all over this part of the beach.

This tree kept me interested for a little while. It was just there all alone.

Dead tree, wish I'd found it the day before when we were gathering firewood.

Eventually I made my way back into the woods a bit. These ponies really leave tracks too easy to follow.

The clouds over the marshes made for some really pretty photo opportunities though so I didn't mind.

They didn't smell all that great but it was a nice change of pace to what I'm used to hiking.

No ponies found, I went back to camp before it started raining to help Dad pack up.

BUT, those little guys are good at not disappointing. At some point we heard neighing getting closer and closer to camp.

This was a new chestnut. She was clearly looking for something and was quite distressed about it.

She kept up a racket long after she'd moved on. She circled the campsites twice. Eventually we assumed she was looking for Miss Attitude and the Pretty Pinto.

Just as we were getting in the car to leave, we caught site of her again. She'd found them and all three were heading off towards the shelter of the trees.

One last highlight of the trip were these little buggers. Native deer to the island, they only stand a little around my thigh.

Apparently Dad has never caught a glimpse of them, despite coming here every spring to hike the beach. They're pretty elusive and look like baby deer even though they're full grown.

And that my friends is the gist of my trip. I took a ton of pictures and had a wonderful time. I’m sad we couldn’t stay a second night but the pros outweighed the cons. Packing up wet gear then drying it out when we got home would have been a real pain. Dad and I had a good time driving back. We yapped almost the whole way, except for the last little bit where I was struggling to stay awake. Now we’re back at his house and I have to say, the quiet of his house is very inviting. It’s a little chilly but nothing my heating blanket can’t fix. I came prepared cause I know Dad doesn’t turn on the heat unless he has to.

All in all, it was what I was hoping for. I got to clear my head and get away. And though I’ll get ‘I told you so’s’ from certain people (don’t do it), it was relieving to put my phone away for a few days and just relax. Though when I turned it back on tonight I had 15 messages waiting and about 20 emails. >_< I'll deal with those later. For now, I'm taking Sunday off. Snooze snooze and munch munch.