Ponies To The Right, Ponies to the Left

I left the RV around 5:30 this afternoon to go for a walk. As I started down the road that goes through the campground, I was stopped in my tracks by five ponies entering the campground.

Now we are not allowed to "approach" any wildlife, especially ponies. They were blocking the road, and I couldn't get around them without approaching them. So I waited, and soon they ambled on to the campsite in the center of the loop.
The people at this site did nothing to encourage them and did not feed them, but they sure had a lot of horse visitors!

After they passed through the campsites, I walked down the road to the beach, less than a quarter mile away. When I got to the place where the road intersects the walkway to the beach, I saw that there was a herd of ten ponies blocking the way there! Cars were stopped as the ponies strolled across the road. This time I managed to get around them without "approaching" them.

The walk on the beach was very nice, and as I started home I discovered that my way was once again blocked by three ponies! I managed to get by them, and now I know a prime pony-viewing time at Assateague.

(I also did laundry and grocery shopping today. Laundromats are everything I remember them being)

Feelin' HOT HOT HOT

Hot, hazy day today, with temps in the mid-90s. It was also a day for terrapin sightings -- three Diamondback Terrapins, two with barnacles attached. The first two were at a campsite a few down from mine. They were just finishing laying (and covering) their eggs (did they arrive together in some sort of terrapin maternity club?). Then, for one, it was time for her closeup! Isn't she lovely?

The third terrapin was on a path by the salt marsh. I really have no way of knowing if this was a boy terrapin or a girl terrapin -- the fact of egg laying was really the only clue for the first two.

I went down to the beach tonight in the hopes of seeing the space shuttle as it followed the coast on the way to meet with the Space Station. The launch was scheduled for 7:38, and at 7:05 it was still iffy. The problem was the two emergency landing sites in Europe -- they were inaccessible due to weather, and that would scrub the launch.

At launch time, I called Jerry to see if the launch had taken place and it had! I shared the news with a family on the beach, and we all waited the five minutes to see how much of the shuttle flight we could see. It was still light out, and the horizon was very hazy. We did manage to glimpse a flash here and there at the right time, but I can't be sure we really saw it. I came back to the campsite and found a deer grazing just behind the RV.

The beach here is very lovely and perfect for long walks. Not a lot seems to wash up, though. A small shell here and there, but so far nothing of note. And no pelicans! Guess I need to go a bit further south for to see them.

Dunes, Forest, and Marsh

Assateague is such a diverse place! The dune area is, obviously, very sandy and beachy. It is hot, desolate, and scrubby. When you get away from the crowds, it feels like you are treking alone across the desert. Even the ponies don't seem to stop here very often -- they use it as a "highway" on the way to somewhere else.

The forest area is just that -- typical forest with pine and deciduous trees and a bit of poison ivy growing almost everywhere. Oddly, there are Prickly Pear cactus just at the edge of the forest area, and the cactus is now in bloom. Each bloom comes with its own contingent of ants for some reason. Maybe cacti are like peonies?

Lastly is the marsh area. There are lots of birds, fish, and grasses here. Very lovely, and my favorite spot. A great bird watching spot. I met some people who were crabbing yesterday, but they said all the crabs were too small to keep. You can sometimes see some crab claws left on the walks by birds who don't need to throw the small ones back.

On the downside, I have fed some fauna -- no, not deer or ponies. Mosquitos! Ticks are also quite bad here, but I do several tick checks a day (and have found some before they began their dinner). Regular old house flies are also a nuisance -- for the first time in years, I bought a fly swatter. I now have little fly corpses littering my floor. But it feels really good to whack 'em!

On The Road Again

I decided to take a deep breath and brave the Bay Bridge while pulling the RV. The weather was cooperating nicely -- rain earlier, but totally dry as I pulled up to the toll booth.

By the time I hit mid-span, the rain was coming down so hard I could barely see the vehicle in front of me. Fortunately, there wasn't much wind because that would have really freaked me out. It was nerve wracking enough with the rain! I just watched the road in front of me, went slowly, and tried not to look at the malestrom around me. Pretty soon I was on the other side and, predictably, the rain had almost stopped. (Murphy must also love RVs)

I am now in Assateague. About five minutes after I got to my campsite, the ponies came! They spent a couple minutes making hot pony love, but then wandered off to find their campsites. I'm in Loop A -- apparently the ponies camp in Loop B (at least these guys seemed interested in the Loop B sites)!

So far, the Undesirable Insect count has been mosquitos, one; ticks, three. Plus a few flies of the house variety. Tomorrow I'll go hunting -- with the camera, of course. In the meantime, I'm worn out and ready for a hot shower and an early bedtime.