Maryland – Wild Ponies, Surf, and Crabs

Camping with Wild Ponies

When we were leaving Waverly, PA, I called a college friend, Mark, to see if we could stop by and see he and his family in Philadelphia, but he said he was leaving for vacation the day we were heading to Delaware. I was sorry to have missed him and asked where he was going on vacation. When he said they were spending a week camping on Assateague Island, I laughed and told him we would see them in a few days! A few years ago, we read “Misty of Chincoteague” by Marguerite Henry, a wonderful story of one of the wild horses and her foal from Assateague Island. When we started planning this trip, Assateague and Chincoteague Islands were “tops” on our list of places we wanted to go.
Assateague Island turned out to be an amazing place we all fell in love with. The wild ponies literally eat around you while you are in camp. I actually had to fend one off so I could get our lunch in the car, before it became pony food! We had a great time laughing, body surfing the ocean waves, crabbing and flying kites. We even took the kayaks for a spin on the ocean. Each day the kids would beg to go play with their new friends Rilynn, Kim, and Liam. Jodi and I enjoyed spending time with Mark, Kim, Troy, and Misha. In college Mark always had the ability to make me laugh, and we use to have such a great time together. I was so thankful to get some time with him, his family, and friends. We also had great neighbors in camp and had some good conversation while we were there. We love to connect with others, so it is a joy to meet new people and share a moment of each others life.

Kendall Surfing

When planning our trip, we were told we would never be able to get a campsite on Assateague Island as they fill up a year in advance. We decided to still try and go there as we feel God will take us where he wants us to and if we are not supposed to go there, then the opportunity will not present itself. We showed up and prayed that a spot would open, then when I went into the ranger’s station they just had a cancelation, so we were able to stay. God did the same thing for us in Acadia National Park and it has been such a living changing experience for our kids to pray and watch how God answers our prayer. He often answers in a way different than we ask or expect, but in either case we give Him the glory and are thankful. God also has a unique way of getting us to move on when the time comes. He has both used bugs and weather on more than one occasion during our trip. We got to enjoy two nights on Assateague and we just had to smile when we heard that a hurricane was coming and there was a mandatory evacuation (time to move on).

Rilynn & Sydney - All Smiles

Tirzah's 1st Sand Experience

Group Fun

Funhogs in Training