Something begins to gel

As critical as I have been of the restoration of the beach area, it is now (finally) beginning to take recognizable shape. The circle (front and center below) is in place, and the P-2 lot now has packed sand base. It is waiting for whatever fences, etc., that the team will put in place. The sand they are using for the roadways and parking seems to have some glop in it. I'm sure it's detailed somewhere, but I'm too lazy to find it. One year los federales talked about putting some kind of pine residue in the sand to augment stability.

This area is a large part of the tourism lifeblood of Chincoteague Island.  It is good to see it shaping up. With the advent of Wallops Island rocket shots to the space station (next year), our tiny island community might take off, too. Let's hope so.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

Today's walk was breezy and cool, but sunny in a springish sort of way. Evidence for spring was all around us, from the first snake we saw (slithered away too fast for a pic) to our posing heron (doing Pilates according to E).

The beach/parking lot restoration seems to be moving, though nothing is yet open. There is plenty of equipment in use, but not much usable progress.

The ponies are out and about. This is the first time this year we have seen them on the road to the beach.

On the way back we ran into (not literally) this guy. This common snapping turtle was about 1 1/2 feet long, including his tail. The tail looked kind of dinosaurish, with its jagged top.

This is not a pretty face, but it is kind of interesting to see out crossing the road.

Been a few days

Came back from the den of iniquity (Atlantic City) a couple of days ago. Personally I hate that place. To me it's empty, soulless, one row of palaces backed by slums and whores. But that's just me. We went there to see Heather and Dan enjoy an afternoon with their friends. And they did; a whole bunch of young and older people came to see them. It was great to see Heather and Dan enjoying themselves. We met quite a few people we hadn't met before.

Dad came, too, with his friend, and my sister. Dad's take on the casinos was that they were populated by a lot of wheelchair, walker, and electric scooter users (old farts). It almost looked like a very glamorous Walmart, there were so many scooters amongst the glitter.

Apparently there was a beer convention in town. Around midnight a big group came back and gabbed in the halls for about 15 minutes. Wanted to scream, but didn't. Then, at 2:03AM, the fire alarm went off. Some of the idiots had lit candles in their room, the smoke eventually waking the entire hotel (except for Dad). He is 88 and deaf as a post without his hearing aids in his head. My sister had to pound on the door for a while to get him up. Apparently he was awake but didn't hear the alarm. Anyway, as soon we all got downstairs it was time to get back upstairs and try to sleep again.

Love to rant. Sorry. Today was great! Sunny and warm, t-shirt and shorts on the beach...

Off the island

Today's journey to Atlantic City was interrupted in Lewes, Delaware. While we waited for the ferry to Cape May, we took a look at the Zwaanendael museum (Dutch heritage). Lewes was apparently the first city in the first state (to join the US of A). The museum recounts a bit of the history of this early port.

Right across (kitty-corner) is this monstrosity. Built in the spirit of the early Victorian homes along the shore, this one is a gawd-awful shade of purple. Ouch!

We waited for the ferry in this modern, bright terminal.

The cheese wagon (white minivan on the right) occupied what looked to be a promising place for a quick exit. Unfortunately, everyone in the lines to the left left the boat first. My bet centered on the center, but in no way did I guess the rights of the right would be left behind.

The "Coasties" accompanied us on a training mission, zipping around, blowing horns, and generally wasting fuel.

It's always nice to have a machine gun around when you need one. Fortunately, no one attacked.

Attention Walmart Shoppers

Your back steps and spare tire have been located on the Assateague Island beach. That is all.

If you experience an erection lasting more than 4 hours...

Let My People Go Department
If you experience an erection lasting more than 4 hours... Go down under the bridge, turn the little hydraulic valve, and LET US OFF THE ISLAND! The new bridge is almost ready to go. It is supposed to open in early April (not April 1st says the DOT).

Soup on the Hoof Department
Today's walk was on the beach. My legs ached, so I didn't want to go more than a couple miles. The beach has been really devastated. It appears to have lost about 50 yards in some places! At any rate, imagine our surprise, quite a distance from the water...

to find "soup on the hoof". I was idly turning shells over, looking for good ones, when I noticed a large foot! This shell was about 6 inches long. It was alive, so we could have made soup, but returned it to the water.

Make a Wish Department
We also found a genie bottle, though E opined that it was full of piss! I drained it and took it home, since it had a nice shape and had a "B" on the bottom.

Spring has Sprung Department
Yesterday we were over on the loop (yep, it's getting a bit boring to us, too). Anyway, Esther spotted the wad of turtles below. I didn't make this up; follow the link and you'll find a group of turtles can be called a bale, a dule, a bevy, or a turn, as well.

A rare calm day on the Refuge

The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, located as it is on Assateague Island, is usually fairly breezy. Today was a rare, calm day, even though yesterday was a blustery, rainy mess. Looking at the weather map this morning, we noticed that we were right in the middle of yesterday's storm (the eye of the low). We needed our daily walk, so off we went to Assateague yet again.

The wildlife loop was kind of magical. It was almost bare of waterfowl, but those in residence were unusually cooperative. They were also calm and lingered longer as we approached. The water remained unruffled the entire time we were there. The reflections were compelling.

On the way around we met some bicyclists, who stopped to talk. They asked if we were interested in birds, then mentioned that a Bald Eagle was in the area. We knew the eagles were around, but had never seen one. This one was far enough away that I could not get a good shot. But any day you can see America's symbol is a good one.

There was still a lot of humidity in the air, so things far away became beautifully indistinct. These lines of trees reminded me of the way mountain ranges look.

Around the loop, this Great Blue Heron posed for us for minutes on end. He stood, he walked,  he balanced, then finally flew off to a distant pond.

One more sighting of a Bald Eagle in flight and we were done with our walk. Then we drove off to inspect the beach. It is becoming easier to see how the Assateague Island National Seashore is spending "millions" of dollars each year to maintain the beach. All winter long an articulated truck and two huge loaders have been pushing, digging, carting, and piling sand. They have made holes, filled holes, distributed sand and piled up sand. Last week the parking lots looked like this, large holes with large piles in them.

Today that has all changed. The holes were filled by yesterday's storm. The piles were reduced significantly by the storm. It looks like the team has to start all over. A park truck was out on the beach, surveying the edges of the filled roads, etc.

The sand was so newly deposited that it was still quite "quick". A person with substantial mass and fairly small foot area sank inches into the sand, while sandy water drained into his sneakers. That person was lucky to get away with his shoes.