A** Kicking Adventure #7

To the land of Horses and Crabs

Day 1 It was the perfect weekend to head for the beach one last time before the end of the season. We arrived on a balmy Saturday afternoon at Assateague State Park on Maryland's Eastern Shore and erected our A** kicking tent city.	The elusive Eastern Red Box, shown in photo above, prefers a desert-like habitat and can be seen best during daylight hours. Note that it has a tendency to wander at night, and with a poor sense of direction and lack of sonar or other navigational sense, rarely finds its way back home.

While the boys played ball and flew kites, the tents were inspected by our revered leaders. The Martha Stewart camping award went to Patrick for best tent decoration and accesorization above and beyond the call. He was a Bedouin in his last life!

Note doormat, area rug, bedside table with table cloth and bedside lamp.
That's right Bob, the award for best design and most spacious new tent went to Stephanie. And the price was right!
After recreating at the tent city we headed over the dunes to the beach. Surfs up! A few brave souls got their swim on, while fainter-of-heart individuals strolled around or lounged in beach chairs. There was a free-for-all camp dinner (our 1st meal at the beach!) featuring Dutch-oven chili, crackers and cheese, and other scrumptious outdoor fare. We then retired to the campfire for smores before calling it a day.	Gratuitous foot shot for any with foot fetishes!

Day 2

Ahh, morning. (Stretch, yawn) Hmm, what's that I hear?! It's the ocean crashing against the shore. I think it's right outside my tent! What's that yelping sound? It must be a hapless tourist getting kicked by a wild horse! I hear seagulls screeching and feasting on bread we left out on the table last night! Mmm, breakfast is awaiting me -- seagull cutout bread bits! That will go nicely with our "sanded ham." Oops! We'll just rinse it off. An Aussie-style omelet will hit the spot! I'll take mine sans sand, thanks!

Jessica making her omelet a la Aussie. Note that the Eastern Red Box has gone walkabout.

Campers sit near the "roaring" fire warming themselves after a meal of sanded ham and aussie-style omelet.

After breakfast, campers split into 3 teams: the nature-hike team, the nap team and the stroll on the beach some more team.

Those on the beach stroll encountered various oceanic fauna and former fauna such as horseshoe crabs, sand fleas, shells, sika deer, seagulls, and sand pipers.

As people returned to camp, some even took hot showers to remind themselves of civilization. Then everyone mounted up and set out on a dinner field trip to an Ocean City crab house for a seafood extravaganza.

We returned to a frigid, blustery tent city and huddled around a truly blazing campfire and told ghost stories. Click here for Patrick's theory on Paranormal Economics: When World Bankers Go Camping. After the stories and economics lesson we decided to batten down the hatches for a long and sandy sleep.

Day 3

The next morning we were all very happy to have survived the sand tsunami that had seeped sand through the mesh of our tents and covered us with a fine Pompeii-esque layer. After degritting and fruitlessly searching for the Eastern Red Box, we gobbled a very hasty breakfast, bid farewell to Assateague Island, and retreated to the comfort and shelter of the big city. The lucky members of one car got to drive home with a surplus of fresh air due to a malfunctioning car window which got stuck in the down position. Never a dull moment!

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