Pictoral and Prose Review of Spring Break 2008

Erica was very excited to see the wild horses of Assateague in the daytime. Once night fell, though, she became quite petrified of running into them, not quite being sure how to handle them in order to avoid being bitten and kicked, as many signs warned. This one heard us eating pretzels and desperately wanted some, pressing his large nostrils against our car window that had been put up just in time. It was more fun than a Six Flags safari.

We discussed various responses one could take upon encountering a wild horse. Play dead? Back away slowly? Make loud noises? After dark on our first night, we had the opportunity to put our theories to the test. We exited the bathroom facilities and ran into a lone horse slowly walking down the paved driveway of the camping sites. He looked quite eerie in the moonlight. We stopped; he stopped. We started walking, and he started walking towards us. Without hesitating to give it any further thought, this resulted in us sprinting through vacant campsites, running over mounds of sand and through shrubs, giggling frantically most of the way, and diving hurriedly into the safety of our tent.

Our entire trip down was very cloudy and dreary, but the minute we pulled onto Assateague, the sun came out and things warmed up a tiny bit. It was very exciting and made putting up the tent and the outlook of the entire trip a bit more pleasant.

Our humble campsite was just a sand dune away from the beach. It was nice to fall asleep at night listening to the ocean.

We were deceiving ourselves a bit in this trip. Traveling south, hanging out by a beach, and emphasizing the SPRING in spring break made us think that 40 degree weather couldn't possibly be that cold. In fact, I had even packed a pair of shorts just in case they'd be needed. Well, especially with the 20+ mph wind factored in, it was pretty unbearably cold. We had plenty of layers, but no essentials like a coat that breaks the wind or gloves or, for me, a hat.

But hanging out on the beach, fully dressed and completely alone, was quite a bit therapeutic. I've been concerned lately as I feel like I don't always see the world with as much beauty as I did a few years back, but this trip seemed to give me a little bit of a jump start in that regard. I had never had a campfire on the beach before, and that was pretty much one of the most lovely things I've ever done. What a privilege.

The forecast for our final day was supposed to be a bit warmer and nicer. We had our hopes set on staying a bit to enjoy it, but when we woke up to find our tent stakes blown out of the ground and our tent collapsing, we made a pretty quick getaway. The temperature did indeed go up, but with no sun and super high winds, there was no need to stick around and it was time to head home.

This little adventurous trip did our hearts good, I think, with plenty of teamwork and giggles and time off from the rest of the world.