Maintenance & Restoration

jen b · 04-26-2011, 05:42 AM

I have a long trip west with Rucio the burro coming up at the end of this week, so a short local-ish practice trip seemed like just the thing. I packed up the the husband, our friend Sabrina, and the camera gear to do an overnight at Assateague just this past weekend.

I'd originally not been able to nab a reservation (busy holiday weekend I guess) but checking back a couple of times netted me somebody's cancellation, bingo!

The weather gave us nice lighting for some wildlife photography, and Sabrina cooked up a tasty pasta carbonara. We managed to make a meal for three and squeeze three adults to sleep in the trailer, which I thought was kind of impressive. There was a bit of an hilarious clown-car aspect to it, I think. We were definitely the cutest rig in the place.

My only complaint was that the wild ponies were scarce, way off grazing a bayside marsh someplace, and did not come to visit us at the campsite.

jen b · 04-26-2011, 05:47 AM

I do have to say that with three people and a significant amount of food, drinks, camera stuff...order turned to chaos almost instantly! I already have some ideas for adding some overhead storage when Rucio gets a total strip-down and paint job over the winter ahead.

Raz · 04-26-2011, 09:17 AM

Three tries. Only got in once. It was in October. We camped on the sound side. The camp ground had lots of vacancies. Lots of ponies, birds, and really cold showers. Thanks for sharing. Raz

Francesca Knowles · 04-27-2011, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jen b

I do have to say that with three people and a significant amount of food, drinks, camera stuff...order turned to chaos almost instantly! I already have some ideas for adding some overhead storage when Rucio gets a total strip-down and paint job over the winter ahead.

Beautiful pictures!
Is Assateague near Chincoteague, as in "Misty of ...", the M. Henry book?

Francesca

jen b · 04-27-2011, 08:13 PM

Thanks Francesca! Yes, Chincoteague is a small island at the southern tip of Assateague, the barrier island off the Delmarva peninsula.

As a horse-crazy kid of course I read ALL the Marguerite Henry books about a dozen times each, so I love going there.

Francesca Knowles · 04-27-2011, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jen b

Thanks Francesca! Yes, Chincoteague is a small island at the southern tip of Assateague, the barrier island off the Delmarva peninsula.

As a horse-crazy kid of course I read ALL the Marguerite Henry books about a dozen times each, so I love going there.

Jen,

Does that ever take me back!

I'm a ten-year-old girl right now who's absolutely GREEN with envy!
I always wanted to see the places in the books, and who knows?
Maybe I will yet

Thanks for sharing the pictures, and for bringing back memories of some wonderful reading afternoons!

Francesca

Lizbeth · 04-28-2011, 09:04 AM

Looks like a great trip. We've done the clown car thing too and it made for wonderful memories.

Oh and what Francesca said ^!

Piscator · 05-05-2011, 12:52 AM

The one time we visited Assateague/Chincoteague we were nearly carried off by mosquitos--We obviously picked the wrong time of year. Definitely a beautiful place.

honda03842 · 05-05-2011, 05:19 PM

We go most years on our way out and/or way back. Invariably it's in October or April, both periods that must be too early or late for mosquitos. We generally don't have a problem getting in at these times of the year, particularly if we stay away from weekends.

We have seen horses running on the beach and had them rubbing their butts on our rig. Nothing beats waking up and having three or four horses 'camped out' beside your rig.

Than there's the issue of virtually 40 miles of deserted beach.

You have to love it.

Norm

DeniseinMaine · 05-12-2011, 06:27 AM

Thanks for posting about this. I thought I might make it there last summer, we have lots of horse crazy people in my family..lol..most particularly a 11 year old girl.

LOL, we've also done the clown car thing with my little fiberglass camper! It's always fun though!

Great pics! Denise

mcbrew · 05-12-2011, 08:59 AM

I live about 3 hours from Assateague, and have camped there many times. I have camped there in a tent, popup, class C, and class A motorhome. I haven't been there in the Scamp yet, but hope to this summer.

For those who haven't been there, there are two parks: the National Seashore and the State park. The state park has better amenities (more sites with power, and hot showers). The national park is cheaper and larger. At the national park, you can hike for miles and pitch a tent far from any other campers.

I have spent most of my time at the state park. The camp sites are concrete pads in the sand. You can hear the waves crashing just over the dunes all night. The wild horses (called "ponies" for some reason) can be very curious. I have also had a few opportunities to pet the Sitka deer who live in the park.

If you stay on the ocean side, the Mosquitos won't be as bad.

Francesca Knowles · 05-12-2011, 09:18 AM

Hello, it's ten-year-old-me again!

I'm getting greener with envy with every new post from those of you who've been there...

Of course, I think I've imagined the setting pretty well from the books. It's hard to be sure, though....It'd sure be nice if somebody posted some pictures of the actual horses...and some more landscape pics...I'm 3,000 miles away and probably won't be getting Back East anytime soon to see for myself...here's me being really sad about that:

HINT...HINT...HINT

Francesca

honda03842 · 05-12-2011, 02:42 PM

Francesca,

It's one of the best and largest pieces of 'no one there' seashore in the USA, more so if you don't go in the summer when the mosquitos are also less bothersome.

When we first started RVing for most of the year some 10 years ago we thought we would have seen it all in 3 years. Now we know we're not going to live long enough to see it all plus there are places like Asseteauge on the Delmar penisula, or Klaune Lake in the Yukon or......

What a wonderful life RVing is.....

Norm

DeniseinMaine · 05-12-2011, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcbrew

I live about 3 hours from Assateague, and have camped there many times. I have camped there in a tent, popup, class C, and class A motorhome. I haven't been there in the Scamp yet, but hope to this summer.

For those who haven't been there, there are two parks: the National Seashore and the State park. The state park has better amenities (more sites with power, and hot showers). The national park is cheaper and larger. At the national park, you can hike for miles and pitch a tent far from any other campers.

I have spent most of my time at the state park. The camp sites are concrete pads in the sand. You can hear the waves crashing just over the dunes all night. The wild horses (called "ponies" for some reason) can be very curious. I have also had a few opportunities to pet the Sitka deer who live in the park.

If you stay on the ocean side, the Mosquitos won't be as bad.

Thanks for the information McBrew! This is good to know. LOL..I live in Maine..the mosquito's would have to be REALLY bad to bother me very much. If we get there this summer I'll remember the "ocean" side of the park! I'll also post pics. I've always wanted to go there. I've read all of the Margarite Henry books too, as well as being a life long horse owner. I can't wait to see it!
Thanks Again! Denise

honda03842 · 05-12-2011, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeniseinMaine

Thanks for the information McBrew! This is good to know. LOL..I live in Maine..the mosquito's would have to be REALLY bad to bother me very much. If we get there this summer I'll remember the "ocean" side of the park! I'll also post pics. I've always wanted to go there. I've read all of the Margarite Henry books too, as well as being a life long horse owner. I can't wait to see it!
Thanks Again! Denise

Definitely a summer time reservation place. There are not a lot of ocean side sits in the national seashore.

Norm

Maggie R. · 05-17-2011, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Hello, it's ten-year-old-me again!

I'm getting greener with envy with every new post from those of you who've been there...

Of course, I think I've imagined the setting pretty well from the books. It's hard to be sure, though....It'd sure be nice if somebody posted some pictures of the actual horses...and some more landscape pics...I'm 3,000 miles away and probably won't be getting Back East anytime soon to see for myself...here's me being really sad about that:

HINT...HINT...HINT

Francesca

Hi Francesca,

With luck you should be seeing a couple of pix of the wild ponies. We had the whole campground practically to ourselves in October of '07. So good!

Now we're just a-waiting for planting to be done so we can head on down the road with the Trillium trailing happily behind

Maggie

jen b · 05-17-2011, 10:50 AM

Now, in addition to the facilities at the northern/Maryland end of Assateague Island - the national seashore and the state park, there is camping available on the southern/Virginia end. There are some campgrounds in the town of Chincoteague, the companion island to Assateague, and next door to the town is the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, which is an outstanding place for viewing wildlife of all types thanks to a nice combination of freshwater impoundment, forest, and saltwater stuff.

About the ponies v horses question, I stick with the letter of the law on horse size. Under 14.2 hands = pony, over = horse, no matter the breed. So I always argue with signage that refers to these little things as horses. The signs never fight back, though.

Photos you say?

From the north end:

A white-tailed fawn

From the wildlife refuge:

the endangered (due to deforestation) Delmarva fox squirrel

river otter in the freshwater impoundment

willets on the beach

The sika are pretty cute. They ended up there because an irresponsible boy scout troop at the turn of the 20th century turned their petting zoo occupants loose on the island. Now they're a managed herd, but subject to some hunting unlike the ponies.