Wild horses and waves in Assateague

Monday September 30, 2013
Assateague National Seashore
Maryland

 

 

 

I love waking up with a marsh just outside my window!

 

When get up, this is what I see out my window.  Egrets and horses.   The horses are out by the bay but I can see them and with binoculars, I can watch them.   I love this camp site.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m ready to see the ocean up close and personal.

 

After lunch, we bike over to the group camping area on the ocean side to see how far it is to the ocean from our bay side camp site.   Can I walk all my beach toys over here?   I decide it will be a bit long for my backpack chair but I could use the bicycle cart.

 

This park has ome nice group tent sites right on the sand. The group area has their own parking lot and its own bath house although the bath houses here are pit toilets and cold showers.  Pretty much like back packing except you don’t have to pack a shovel if you get my drift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The equines have been here as well.  Watch where you walk.  Actually the truth is there is very little horse manure in the sand.  The horses are only really interested in the beach when the flies are bothersome in the summer and they need the breeze for some relief. 

 

 

 

 

Of course the beach does not disappoint.  Simply beautiful!!

 

The waves are terrific.  There are some people in the water on this last day of September.

 

 

 

Further south I can see no one as far as my eye can see.  Only the viewing platform of ocean campsite loop 1.

 

 

 

 

I roll up my pant legs and wade in.  I didn’t wear my suit.  Thought the water would be too cold.  Wrong again!

 

 

 

I could just watch these waves all day.

 

 

 

Other than myself, there is only one family along the shore.

 

But they are a big one with 9 children.  They come for almost 3 weeks every late September early October.  The children are home schooled.  Boy are they having fun.  Squealing and laughing.

 

 

 

 

 

The more I watch folks in the waves having fun the more I want to get in there myself.  For sure tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s definitely all about the waves today.

 

 

 

Later, when we get return to the campsite, we get a couple of nice surprises.  

 

 

The wild horses are even closer.  They are right out behind our site. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then four of them are in the neighbor’s yard.

 

 

 

I’m walking over to get some pictures of them my second surprise appears.   I hear someone say  “Yes, that’s Sherry”.   It’s amazing to meet people who read your blog when you are least expecting it.  Ron, Joan and Callie are out for a walk when they recognize Winnona and Ruby.   I chat with them for a while and then David comes riding up.  Meanwhile the horses move from our neighbor’s site to ours. 

 

At one point before David arrives the four of us actually have to move since the horses are coming right toward us and it is a law that you must maintain a minimum of 10’ away from the horses and preferably 30’.   The horses are paying us no mind at all and expect us to get out of their way, which we do of course.  This is their home not ours and they clearly know it.

 

 

Don’t you love David’s bike helmet?  He’s nothing if not stylish.

 

 

The horses are on their way to our place.  By the way, the pile of horse manure does not smell.  But if it were hotter, the flies might become bothersome around it.

 

 

 

They’ve pretty much already eaten the grass here so I’m not sure what they are looking for.

 

 

 

 

 

All the while we are having a great talk with Ron and Joan and sharing our similar views about this political ridiculousness that is leaving all of us in limbo.

 

 

 

 

After dinner we go out to see about a sunset in the west.   Unfortunately for us, the sun is not setting over the marsh in our backyard but rather behind the trees in back of the coach.  We don’t get to see much of a sunset but I thought this looked a bit like a bullseye of color in our practically empty campground.