FTJ, Entry 122: Of Castaways and Ponies

(Still blogging, folks. I am sure this will slow down once we reach places we are staying for a month.)

We loved our RV resort in Berlin, MD -- the Castaway. Right on Sinepuxent Bay, with Assateague Island in the distance.

Ah, the tiki bar. Reggae music, tropical drinks on the beach. The good life, baby!

Pony Up

We were in a great location -- Ocean City one direction, Assateague Island the other. I was most excited to get to the island, just down the road and over the bridge. For years I have wanted to see the wild Assateague ponies, and now I have.

Wait a minute! Thought this was the bridge to Assateague Island. Did we make a wrong turn again?

We took a short hike just to scope out the island a bit (and I was hoping to meet up with a pony). In this photo, the tiny curved object above the land on the left is just one of many kite surfers off the island's beach. Man, it was windy.

The tide and wind conditions resulted in the flooding of some parts of the island, which is uninhabited -- although we did see a few park buildings. Note the yellow traffic-marking stripe under the water. The bay is very shallow, so any southerly breeze pushes the water up to the north, where it narrows considerably, and therefore the bay floods frequently. See the photo a few shots below, of the roaring current exiting the bay.

It was so windy the sand from the beach felt like little razors hitting your skin. You can't tell from this photo, but I was in pain.

Buddy cleaned Beau up after our picnic lunch by the shore.

Our first pony sighting.

The wild Assateague ponies were pretty much everywhere on the island. You have to walk around horse poop on roads, parking lots, sidewalks, the beach -- the animals have the run of the place and it's great.

A mare and her youngster in a parking lot.

We drove right up alongside this guy, and he never stopped munching on the grass.

A fellow has to find something to scratch an itch.

Love this shot of a pony near the beach.

The Assateague boat launch area was pretty much unusable the day we visited, the result of the wind pushing the water through the bay.

On the Ocean City Boardwalk

A quick pictorial of Ocean City, which is a charming honky-tonk like area on the shore in Maryland. Beau would want me to note that the water was really churned up by the wind the day we visited (a front was passing through), and he enjoyed watching the shoreline wave action.

The boardwalk seems to go forever, in both directions....

Cool clouds behind the Ocean City Life Saving Station.

This is the roaring current shooting out of the Sinepuxnet Bay inlet. The waves are probably 6 ft.

On to Virginia Beach. To get there we had to go over and under the Chesapeake Bay. Two bridges, two tunnels. I was a bit nervous, but then found it was no big deal.

I'm an old hand at this traveling thing now. Wonder when we will settle down -- don't you?

Tanks, Panky.