Finally made it on another trip. I felt I was really in need of a mental health break. I have been attempting to work off some of the Honey Do list Mimi has been increasing the size of continually and while have some of it done it is an unending task. I think it grows by increments of two for every one that I complete. The list I had when I returned from the Southwest was one page; now it is almost two full pages.

The retaining wall has been rebuilt so the old and rotten wood has been replaced and I have extended and heightened the rock wall on the south side so it looks a little more attractive from the street. It might go a little higher yet and then backfilled with topsoil for planting. It has rained a few times now and packed down the topsoil so now I can level it. The work I spent last summer on the lawn paid off, the grass looks quite full with just a few bare spots to work on. There is still much to do on the side and rear however.

Mimi decided that she wanted more of a formal garden in the middle of the back yard and since that is mostly clay I had five cubic yards of topsoil dropped in the driveway and I humped to the top via wheelbarrow. This took far more effort than anticipated but I finished on Friday. It is spread around so as to have two or more inches on top of the clay so hopefully what ever is planted will grow this time.

It appears the design of the garden will be circular with a bird bath in the center, a ring of white stone and then a circular walkway of brick. There will be a flagstone walk from the deck to the brick and on the other side to the steps leading up the slope to the deer feeding station which is what Mimi calls the upper garden. I have some of the brick; I laid out a partial pattern to see what Mimi wanted and of course it was changed in location and size. When I return from this boondoggle I will relay the pattern and embed the brick in the topsoil. The following week I have scheduled a load of brick;two pallets of field stone so I can do the small retaining wall and complete this project. Then I fear the project will be to refurbish the gazebo on the back of the house. I haven't the faintest idea how do to this but I guess I will learn.

I am at Assateague Island National Seashore right on the Atlantic Ocean. The park is in two states, Maryland and Virginia, and I am in the Maryland portion. It is quite close to Ocean City but is very rustic and natural. Assateague is known for its wild horses and Sika deer. I left home at 0830 and arrived here four hours later with very little traffic. Much to my surprise the price of gasoline is ten cents less that at home, although I noticed while driving past Annapolis the gas was twenty cents more expensive. There doesn't seem to be any rational to gasoline prices. Each town seemed to have a large swing in prices, sometimes as much as thirty cents. I have seen twenty cents differential in he same town. I expected the prices to get higher as we reached the beach area but this was not the case.

It started drizzling shortly after leaving home and stayed that way even after I arrived here. The wind has died down now and it is pleasant but the temperature is under 50. I hope that it increases tomorrow and that the sun is out at least part of the time. I saw the horses and deer and even rabbits in my camp site but it has been rotten for taking pictures. I will probably call it quits soon and get a good nights sleep and start walking in the morning. There are some interesting trails near by and I am only 50 meters from the bay. I am about a half mile from the ocean and less than that to the camping center. The visitor center is across the bay prior to entering the national seashore.

I did stop the way down to check on the fishing and get some advice about what bait to use. Skip's Bait and Tackle on the road leading from directly from Route 50 to the park. The gal running the shop sounded as if she knew about what they were doing and prices seemed reasonable. I didn't seen anybody fishing around the park but I noticed while crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge there were hundreds of boats out despite the lousy weather. I guess the stripers are running now. I didn't see anybody surf fishing which is just as well as I did not bring any of my surf rods,just much lighter equipment usable in fresh water as well. There is good crabbing in that area but it may be too early for it yet, I think the peak is during the month of July. Clamming is quite popular but the water is just too cold for me and I didn't bring my waders.

2002-04-22

What a night! A string of thunder storms started coming through at 0200 and continued to 0600. With the wind being so strong I moved Tiny so it was almost resting against a power pole in the event the wind got much stronger it could rest against the pole and not turn over. Lighting hit close by and rattled me but it didn't hit the pole or Tiny. There is nothing very high on this sand bar or barrier reef and I would think lighting would hit anything that stuck out.

In a way however it was strikingly attractive, it was mostly sheet lighting and the entire sky would light up. The rain was very heavy - I hope we received some of this in Virginia but I doubt it. These storms were running from the Northeast to the Southwest and probably dropped out after reaching the mainland. It is only about one hundred thirty miles as the crow flies to home but weather wise that is a long distance.

I finally got back to sleep by 0600 and stayed in bed until a sinful 0900. Then at 1100 I felt the strongest desire to sleep some more and I slept two more hours. I am a woeful sinner and glad of it. It has been raining most of the day, ranging from a drizzle to a flat out gully washer but no more thunderstorms for which I am delighted. The radio forecast is for better weather tomorrow; I hope they are correct. Much to my delight there is a classical music public radio station within range and I have been soaking that in big time. I would like to do some photography while I am hiking and some fishing if it appears to be at all productive but I just might sit around and read some of the books that I brought along. I really feel lazy right about now. The camp ground is empty so not much opportunity to talk with anybody. I found a leak in Tiny's roof that requires fixing but I do not have a way to scramble up there. I also found that the water pipe to the "John" was loose and I have a wet floor. I fixed the leak but have a wet floor to show for it. I will have to pull out the mattress and bedding when I get home to make sure that under the bed is completely dry, I would not want mildew to form.

3:54 PM

The wind changed 90 degrees and the sky is mostly blue; the temperature has jumped 10 degrees as well. Hope this continues tomorrow. Might even try some fishing and the day after may even attempt to put bait on the hook. I will have to be be careful about that however as I do not want to get stressed out. I did take pictures; I was fascinated by the number of clam shells to be found on the boardwalk. I suspect this is done by the seagulls who drop the live shells on the hard surface to break them. But I will probably take more. None of the horses have come through the campground yet but I am sure they will. I did see the Ranger "Pony Patrol" go by a few times attempting to keep the horses out of the campground but I know they will wander by when they get hungry. I will probably eat a light dinner and then read until I get sleepy. It is a rough life but I guess somebody has to do it.

2002-04-23

I work up at 0330 with the wind whistling along through the window and it was chilly so closed it and read for a while hoping to get up for sunrise and some picture taking but I fell back to sleep and didn't get up until 0730. After several cups of coffee and some more reading I managed to struggle out of bed, get dressed and put up the mosquito tent just to see how to do it and to stretch it and make it a bit easier next time around. Putting a tent up for the first time can be a humiliating experience and I prefer not to do it when there are spectators. The breeze made it a little interesting but did get it up and will use it for reading if it warms up a little bit more. This place, as is everywhere else, is heavy with ticks I fear; the very mild winter didn't kill them off. There are both varieties` dog and deer, making the use of DEET almost mandatory..

I spent about two hours cleaning the outside of Tiny attempting to get some of the road grime off I didn't bring any polish or cleaner with me but I am getting the worst off. If it isn't raining I will try to do a little bit each day and should have a good portion of it completed anyway. When I come down here in July I will bring the polisher and do a complete polish job, it needs it. Maybe by that time I will have the front end where the steer bashed it repaired as well.

I went hiking most of the afternoon and early evening not returning back to Tiny until almost dark. There are deer all over the place and one can get very close to them for taking pictures. I walked over to the Oceanside campground to see what the camp host site was like and I think I prefer Bayside. It looks like Oceanside has far more standing water to grow mosquitos in and I can remember how they were the last time we were here; they would carry you off and take you home except they were fearful of there larger and older sisters would steal you away.

I attempted to take some sunset shots but had very poor results. I will try again tomorrow. There is no breeze right now but the temperature will go down to the high 30s by the morning. These changes are getting to me, One week it is almost to the century mark and the next one is freezing his buns off.

2002-04-24

The weather was very good all day with sufficient breeze to keep the temperature down and the bugs away. I went for a four hour hike along the beach and sand dunes and my legs are aching right about now. Sand is not the greatest surface to tap dance on however. I must be careful this evening how I move my legs or I will have a miserable cramp again and it would be hours before I can return to sleep.

Deer are very plentiful in the area; most of the animals and even birds one can get very close before they spook. I have been within a yard of a rabbit and he never stopped eating. I do wish that I could have gotten closer to one of the horses however. I am quite sure I will have that opportunity in July when the grass in the campground is much greener than the swamp grass.

After the hike and the resulting practice nap, I went back to cleaning Tiny. I spent several more hours and I still did not finish even the bottom half. I also discovered a leak that I must fix before another serious rain and the weather stripping around the door requires replacing. I think I have enough to keep busy for a while.

As many times as I have been here I hadn't spotted the unnamed wreck, interesting.

I did have the opportunity to speak with people from California and New Hampshire. It is always pleasant to speak with foreigners. I regret the fishing wasn't worth a darn but one cannot have everything. I will try again in July. At sunset I was watching bait fish splashing around very close to shore with some much larger fish attacking them. I wish it would have been just a little bit lighter. I think this would have provided some interesting pictures.

It was virtually full moon out and I was able to take pictures of that, I do enjoy this new camera and its 300mm lens. While the Nikon 900 series was good the ability to take extreme telephoto and wide angle really curtailed some of the photography. While it was possible fake the longer shots one ran out of pixels after a while and definition suffered.

I am looking forward to returning for the month of July and the full duties of being camp host. I do not fully understand what these are yet but I do know that I will be patrolling the camp ground to check out deadbeats and that sort of thing. It will be nice to have a full hookup but it wasn't bad this time of year cold camping. There was one morning that I used the heater but generally I was comfortable. I suspect that in July the air conditioner will be a major concern.

It has been so long since I have done a travelog I have forgotten how to do it and how the software works. I still haven't figured out Dreammaker, and why it will not allow me to change views. Senility just may be working overtime.