All night long the east wind, directly off the Atlantic, made its presence known. It was always there: sometimes strong, sometimes moderate, but always there. There was a fair amount of sunshine, but this wind, along with temperatures in the 50’s made it a little challenging to sit outdoors.
So – what do you do when it’s too chilly to just sit? You head out on your bicycle, of course. This is the first camping trip on which I’ve been able to bring my bicycle, because it’s the first camping trip with the pickup truck. So, this was a new and very fun experience. I bicycled almost the whole network of paved roadways within the National Seashore area. I saw most of the campsites, and I located two of the three nature trails. All in all, I think I spent about an hour bicycling around the area.
With the right clothing it was also a good enough day for a long walk on the beach. The surf was impressive, and I watched as one lone surfer tried to take advantage of it. I was surprised that a person would try that alone. Wouldn’t it be recommended to surf with a buddy in case of trouble?
By afternoon I decided to light a fire and sit beside it and read a novel. The Assateague ponies thought it would be a good idea to wander by a few times. They didn’t approach; I guess Assateague beach grass makes a preferable snack to a book or firewood.
Late in the afternoon two neighboring campers stopped by and asked for advice about how to start a fire. They were camped in a tent, and they had been unable to light their fire to keep warm. I was able to provide them with some paper and tinder and kindling, and I showed them how to stack these together with plenty of air space in order to grow the fire to a size where it could ignite the bigger pieces that they had on hand. While I helped them get it going they introduced themselves. They were a mother (Blanca) and daughter (Tammy) from California. They were only going to be here for one night before heading back to Washington DC and other traveling destinations. When I looked over at their site at various times during the evening I noticed a nice roaring blaze.
By late evening the sky had clouded over completely, so there is no sunset photo to share.
continualsunsets 