Coastal Adventure

With the weekend suddenly freed up by a canceled class, we loaded up the rig and set our sites on points east, hoping to find some beaches to walk and a place to swim in some saltier water. We crossed the epic Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, saw lots of nesting osprey on the other side, and decided to check in at Kiptopeke State Park before venturing forth up the DelMarVa peninsula to explore various off-the-beaten path towns. With overcast skies and temperatures in the low 70s, there didn't seem to be a lot of pressure on the park--add to that the astronomical bridge/tunnel toll and the even more astronomical campsite fee (what ever happened to the 10 bucks to pitch a tent...and no, I don't need cable TV?) and we probably could have flown back to Seattle...okay, that's an exaggeration, but one night on the Eastern Shore quickly became spendy, even with the spartan accommodations of the aging (and leaking) EMS Isolation Hut!

After choosing out campsite (least of the evils: fewest full sized pick-ups and blue tarps next door), we ate some Farmer's Market grub acquired before leaving 'Billsburg while sitting on the beach and telling the pup she wasn't allowed to run free. After attracting every no-see-um on the beach, adding to my already pock-marked feet and ankles, we called it quits and got on with our adventure. We hit Cape Charles, Exmore, Wachapreague, and Onancock before getting out to Chincoteague. 

Well, not so fast. As it turns out, the DelMarVa Peninsula is about the most dog-unfriendly spot we've ever been to! Our four-legged buddy was not pleased--promises of long walks on the beach and salty furs, were quickly turning into too much time in the cargo-hold trying not to step in her water bowl or overheat. It seemed, as we approached Chincoteague (after passing the NASA alien-listening devices), that the island was much more God-friendly than Dog-friendly, judging by the numerous Jesus-oriented billboards on the way over the marsh (perhaps it should have been a sign?). But we wandered through town and made our way to the Chincoteague/Assateague gateway. 

So, you see, not only are dogs not allowed on the beach at Chincoteague, they aren't even allowed in cars in the parking lot on the USFWS Refuge! Good thing we drove all the way there! They can take their stinkin' ponies (there's more than a little irony there, as the ponies the US Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to protect are no more native than the grazing cows destroying the refuge I used to use as a field site--or our car-bound canine, for that matter!). Certainly I understand the need to protect wildlife, which would be fine, if the Refuge system actually focused on native species. But it just seems a bit contrived, this whole "protecting the ponies" thing and all. Good grief. Anyway, there was a whole heckuva lot of very nice salt marsh...so we'll remember that and go back to bird watch another time. 

And we did find a great beach closer to home with no tent site or expensive toll needed, so we'll be returning there to turn ourselves into lobsters once again.  The water is warm enough to swim--and had it been warmer and sunnier (well, okay the sun obviously was strong enough to do some damage), it would have been very refreshing! G did not like her 'peeps frolicking about in the water--she would try to swim to us and then get freaked out and go back to shore anxiously awaiting our return. She did like rolling in the sand and then brushing her soaking, sandy body on me and my beach towel to dry off--it resulted in a big mess and a lot of laughs. In the end, we all had fun, even the furry beast, who consumed more than her share of sea water....ooopsies.