Adrian and I headed out to Assateague and Chincoteague for the first of our annual Earth Day camping trips. We stayed off site at a private camp site since all the camping spaces in the national sea shore were full and the national wildlife refuse doesn’t allow over night stays. The camping was still fun even if it did rain our first night.

Reading in the tent on a rainy night.

Our first day was overcast, windy and cool and we visited Assateague National Sea Shore where we hung out on the beach, saw some wild ponies and chased some birds.

Sanderlings run along the beach.

Wind and rain on Assateague beach.

By the first evening, the weather had cleared and we were able to spend some quality time around the campfire waiting for dutch-oven apple cobbler to finish.

Camp Fire

Stars over the Assateague Light House. This shot was only about 15 minutes because clouds started to roll in.

Our second day was warm and sunny and we spent a good bit of the morning on the side of the road, sitting in lawn chairs, sipping tea and eating breakfast while watching a small herd of ponies in a field. Throughout the morning people stopped and went on, but we stayed and got to see a small pony drama unfold. More images from that in another post.

Stallion and Mother

Pony Shooters

There was more to see than just the wild ponies. The beach was nice and there is a functional light house in the wild life refuge. The town looks like it would be real beach-tourist-trap-fun during high season.

Nice vertical extension! About 1 inch....

This isn't drift wood. This is the stump of an actual tree. The islands move around a lot as maps in the visitors' center explain. This shifting of the beach happens on the order of a few years usually, but can happen over night during storms.