2002-09-29 - Sunday The trip down here was very easy, being Sunday most of the traffic was west bound toward the population centers of Washington and Baltimore. By the time I arrived at Salisbury, MD the traffic was bumper to bumper and this was just after lunch. I hate to think what it would be like later in the day. Tiny behaved herself all the way with a little temperature fluctuation but nothing serious. I admit that I was concerned when I first took off but settled down after I cleared the outer loop of the beltway and went on US 50 headed east.

The weather could not have been any prettier, deep blue skies until just before dusk in the evening with the temperature in the high 70s. The park was easy to find, it is just before one reaches the town of Crisfield on fairly decent road. The campground was fuller than I expected but I was able to move into a slot on the waterfront after I had been there less than two hours. The canal that cuts off the island from the peninsula has a lot of boat traffic but nothing truly heavy. There are kayakers all over the place but they tend to use the canal only to get back out into the marsh land. I am a tad bit leery about bringing the camera along with me as I would not want to roll the kayak and risk ruining the camera.

There is a mariner with rental boats which I do not know if I will use or not. The boat ramp was very active and I saw people bring in fairly good catches. Crabbing also seem to be good, the people next to me stated they brought in four dozen in little over an hour. They had more than they needed but as I do not want to impose I didn't accept any.

Apparently there was some form of fishing tournament in the area causing the boat population to be way up. I didn't even bring my gear with me quite surprisingly. Fishing just sounds like too much like a chore this trip.

I took a practice nap just before dusk for an hour and when I woke up it appears half the camp had left. Apparently many people pay for the extra day so they can stay the full day rather than at the 1500 checkout time. I wonder just how many more will leave even later in the evening. 2002-09-30 - Monday When I woke this morning I found myself almost deserted, not that I am bothered by this at all. Another very quiet morning with only raucous seabirds making all sorts of racket. I know that crows are extremely territorial but I didn't know that they would compete so viciously with another species. Apparently there is very much of a pecking order (no pun intended)

I went out hiking for a few hours, the mosquitoes are just as bad here as they are at Assateague which is not too surprising as Assateague is probably less than twenty miles from here. According to the park ranger I talked to the fire that occurred about twenty miles north of hear that burned close to a thousand acres forced many of the bugs down here. There is still a burn ban in the state of Maryland which hasn't bothered me as I didn't plan on cooking outside anyway. Virginia has not had a burn ban this year that I know of despite not having that much rain. Sometimes it doesn't make any sense. The excess of mosquitoes indicates there is plenty of moisture in the area.

I completed quite a bit of computer work for the park today but still have months to go. I am wearing a carpal brace which seems to help significantly while working intensely with a mouse which of course graphics is all about. I started off with some two thousand images to edit and color correct and paint over the mold that had started to form on some of the older slides. The editing is accomplished as best as I can without redrawing that image so now the work comes creating an organizational scheme and figuring out how to retrieve them on demand. It has be be setup so that even the least knowledgeable user can find what they want or the system will not be maintained.

2002-10-01 - I hiked most of the trails in the park today after bathing heavily in bug spray. The mosquitoes here are fierce and will fly up the sleeve of ones T-shirt just to get a drop of blood. They are very sneaky, they never bite where you can see them. Fortunately the bite doesn't itch very long. The weather has been simply great with temperatures in the high 70s. I would be a little happier if there was a decent breeze to keep the bugs away but I guess I cannot have everything. I have not had to use the air conditioner so far, even in the evening when the entire side of Tiny is exposed to direct sunlight. I didn't pull down the awning which would probably cure that problem as well.

I found time to do a little repair work on Tiny, nothing serious and completely within my limited capabilities. The tray on the console came loose last summer for some reason and this time I dosed it heavily with epoxy so I do not think it will come loose again.

I have found that the power here at the park is not steady at all and it drops to where the battery system on Tiny wants to kick in. The flickering will drive me nuts. I checked what connections I could reach to make sure it was not within Tiny but I couldn't feel anything.

Just before sunset I went down to the marina area to talk with some of the fishermen, and fisher women, I do not want to be politically incorrect, just to see what was going on. I was invited to go out on a head boat tomorrow but I still have a full days work and then some on this project for Prince William Forest Park. I hope that by tomorrow night I will have reached a point of no return and not be able to do more until I get back home and do some research. I sure do appreciate the Internet and Google for the easy in accomplishing what used to take days. I can recall taking hours just to find one small speck of information and that was only if one found a skilled librarian that was willing to help.

Finding a decent radio station here is difficult, the only station that I can find consistently is pure main stream jazz which gets old after a while. Of course I could listen to country and western or gospel but that doesn't interest me either.

2002-10-02 - I finally reached the point about an hour ago; now I can do some reading and otherwise take it easy. It took me much longer than I expected and I found two circumstances where I screwed something up and will have to look for two files when I get back home. Not really all that bad considering the thousand files I have been playing with.

This is turning out to be one of the most relaxing trips I have ever taken and I suspect there will be few in the future. I suspect I could have done much more as far as working in Tiny regarding cleaning and minor repairs and of course I could have always drowned bait either in the river by the camp ground or have gone out on a head boat. I still might go out to Tangier Island tomorrow weather permitting but I just haven't felt like doing much of anything and it feels great not to have any scheduled or feel that I have to do. The teenage daughter of friends of mine hates this area as there is nothing to do, no mall to go shopping at - or look for hunky guys. I think it is great just to do nothing.

I haven't a clue what people in this area do for a living. I do not see any light or heavy industry and not much in the line of any service industry It is least an hour toward any major town in any direction. There is both agriculture and forestry but that nowadays is not overly labor intensive. There is some commercial fishing and of course during the tourist season I would suspect activity picks up but that would appear to be sufficient. I can not help but wonder what do they do during the winter?

Again a beautiful day, just a little bit warmer but with a breeze until the sun went down. I had thought that I had misplaced two other files but I had put them in the wrong state subdiretory. I checked the top of the console and it doesn't appear to move so I guess the epoxy is doing the job. I will probably vacuum tomorrow and clean a few pounds of dirt off the floor. I also have to shampoo the carpet again. I do not know what I spilled but it left a mark  I also spotted some weather stripping that was loose and probably allowing bugs to get in. One thing about having a RV, there is always something that needs to be done.

2002-10-03 - Another beautiful day, little it warmer but just delightful for sitting outside and sipping bubbly. I read most of Clavell’s book Gai-jin which is great, he has a pretty good understanding of the Japanese psyche. I have had this book several years but I do not remember ever reading it. I do not know if this is simply a “senior” moment or if I purchased this along with other books and forgot about. I also finished ready Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" which should be required reading (frequently) by just about everybody. It is fantastic strategy for just about any endeavor whether it be business, military or government,

More people have departed the park so it is even quieter. The street I am on has twenty lots, only two are currently occupied. Once in a while a vehicle will drive by or a boat will go by and there is gravel or engine noise. I think I will have to acquire a better radio as it just gets too quiet and I need something more intellectual to sink my teeth into.

I did get stopped by a three year old who was bored and wanted to know if I had any children he could play with. I was sorry to disappoint him. I did walk the nature trail which took several hours but didn't seen anything worth taking pictures off. I did shoot a few sunset shots of course.

I had planned to take the ferry to Tangier Island in the early afternoon but heard reports of strong thunderstorms in the area and opted not to go. This will give me a reason for coming back again.

I think that half or more of the people who are staying here are from outside of Maryland. Virginia is well represented as is Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is generally 30s - 40s age group but there is a fair percentage of old geezers like myself. I guess because there aren't any full hookups the larger and more expensive rigs do not come here but prefer to go where they can show off just how much money they have spent.

Seniors such as myself only pay half price ($11.00)making this quite affordable. I do not know just what the limit is on how long one can stay but some rigs look as if they have been here longer than the customary two weeks. There are more trailers than there are RVs with the majority of them not 5th wheelers. The RVs that are here tend to be older.

2002-10-04 - I woke up to find the ground fog so thick visibility was down to less than fifty feet. This is not conducive to driving but I wanted to return home before the rush hour and I needed to stop off at Assateague National Seashore on the way which I figured would take an additional hour or two. I needed to pick up some brochures for Mimi to distribute around the office. The fog lifted before I reached Assateague and it was smooth sailing the rest f the way home except for the normal traffic jam at the intersection of 95, 395 and 695.

Tiny behaved herself relatively well considering what has happened the last few times with her temperamental oil readings pressure and water temperature although she did cause my blood pressure to go off the scale several times. It is apparent that as well as having a minor crack in the block that there is some electrical problem as well. I am going back to my second home on Monday to have her checked out again. I think this time alternative gauges will be installed to determine if the gauges are wrong or is there is actually major problems in the cooling system requiring the replacement of the entire engine

I guess that once Tiny has undergone her tests for viable signals that I can start my plans for a few more local trips. I have resedrvations at Kiptopeke State Park in Virginia, located within sight of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel which is also a freebee for me for my volunteer work at Sky Meadows State Park which I have been neglecting for fear of having more serious problems with Tiny.

In all it was a great trip and were peaceful but it is also great to be back home.