Vacation Photos

Oystercatcher  in the surf

The schooner Yorktown in the Chesapeake Bay

Riptide and mares on Assateague

Wallops Island

Ponies resting after the 2015 Pony Swim

Lighthouse and sandcastles on Assateague National Seashore

Saltwater cowboy Thurman Moore during the Dawn Beach Walk

Boulder and Chincoteague

'Tis a beautiful, sunny day in Colorado.  I slept well with Rosie last night, and she has been eating like a little piglet for me.  I mention that, because she frequently acts disdainful of the food her owners give her, but not food from me.  I can't figure that out.
   After I went back to Tamarack Court last night, Beatrice informed me that Nedi decided that she was safe to get some loving from...  He stropped her ankles and purred quite a bit for her while she was using my computer.  I guess that someone sitting at the keyboard is considered "safe."
   Have had a wonderful time talking with Lynn about Chincoteague and the ponies.  She wants to see Pony Penning next year.  I have already reserved the place I stayed at this summer for next year - I am hoping and praying that my friends Carolyn and Greg can make it to the island, as well as Rabbitt, a man Carolyn and I went to school with...  Then Lynn hopes to come, also.  Luckily the house sleeps 10, and if everyone can attend, there will be one couple and three singles...
   I was able to go out with Captain Barry for a Sea Exploration cruise, as well as an after-hours trip up the neck with him, his wife Aleda, Jimmy, and Jimmy's parents. (Jimmy works with Aleda at Right Up Your Alley, a food truck behind the Village Mall on Main Street.)  Captain Barry's trips leave from a mooring spot between The Jackspot and the Fairfield Inn & Suites - and they are delightful.  If the band is playing at the Jackspot, they break for a few seconds to wish Captain Barry a "Bon Voyage," and Barry blows his conch shell horn at them...
   The new visitor centers on Assateague are fantastic - I was very impressed by them.  I also fell in love with my cousin, Karen Quillen, all over again.  I looked up to Karen as a child, and desperately wanted to please her.  I found that I still do.  Karen was, and still is, "Miss Karen" to most of the children riding the school bus on Chincoteague Island. She is full of common sense, and speaks her mind.  She gave me gifts to share with the rest of the family when I left - and I have yet to spread them around.  I also got to talk with my cousin Maureen Beebe, and with her two daughters.  It was sheer heaven.
   Back here in Boulder, I was a little nasty yesterday.  Each and every apartment in the new complex we moved into has one, and only one, assigned parking space.  Beatrice and I have number 50.  In my first three weeks here, I left four notes on four different windshields noting that 50 was my space,  I pulled in yesterday evening, and found an SUV from Oregon parked in my spot.  I sat and tooted my horn until several neighbors looked out over their balconies.  The visitor was staying (and doing a party hardy) at the apartment above mine.  He took his time in moving the car...  but I was feeling a bit cranky and wanted MY spot.  Think I was out of line?  The designated spot for that apartment was empty - so I didn't, and don't, feel badly about it.
 

Chincoteague and Assateague Photos

Scenes From the 2015 Pony Penning

In the Southern Holding Pens on Assateague

Saltwater Cowboys lead the Dawn Beach Walk

Almost there...

Chincoteague, we have arrived.

Pony Parade north on Main Street, Chincoteague

$25,000 filly, sired by Surfer Dude, out of Got Milk

The folks who bought this foal will come back in October to pick him up and take him home

Foals awaiting their new homes

The swim back to freedom on Assateague begins

Vacation - And a Surprising Sight

I saw something yesterday that I hadn't seen before...  I was waiting at a bus stop just past a major intersection in Boulder.  The lane is defined by a raised concrete and brick divider and there is a sign that reads "Buses Only" at the beginning of the lane.  There are two large shopping centers on either side of the six lane (eight with the bus lane on each side) highway, and there is a pedestrian crosswalk that travels from one side of the street to the other.  Where the crosswalk encounters concrete curbs, there is a small slope, so there are no bumps for people in wheelchairs.  In a space of five minutes, I saw three different drivers pull into the bus lane, and then turn into the shopping center parking lot on the pedestrian crossing openings.  It was surreal - the openings barely accommodate a compact car, but I watched a Toyota Prius, a Jeep Patriot, and a full size Ford pick-up truck (all with female drivers, I hate to say) use the crosswalk as a turn lane.  I know Boulder is weird, but this was crazy...
   I had a fantastic time while on vacation; but a stressful and worried time while moving.   I hadn't planned on moving, and those expenses wiped out my vacation savings.  Thanks to two very good friends (who are also house-sitting clients) I was able to survive the move and have some spending money while in Virginia.  When I was not staying with 8 other family members in our rental for a week, I was staying with my cousin, Karen Quillen.  I cried when I returned to the mainland, driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - I did not want to return to the madness of the mainland.  I only returned because of my promise to my sister, my two cats, Rosie, and my newly signed one year lease.  If any, and/or all of the above were not in Colorado, I would not be here, either.
   I was able to see the Chincoteague ponies.  I saw parts of the roundup.  I saw the Dawn Beach Walk.  I did not see the actual swim from Assateague to Chincoteague, but I saw the parade on Main Street to the Carnival Grounds.  I saw, and participated in, the Pony Auction.  I saw the swim back to Assateague.  I saw many cousins and friends.  I relaxed and had a wonderful time.
   But, now, back in Colorado, I can again avow: You can shake the sand of Chincoteague and Assateague from your shoes, but you cannot sweep it from your soul.

Pony Penning 2015 - A Few Photos

A dolphin surprised the crowd that was waiting for the Pony Swim Wednesday morning - it swam almost the entire swim route the ponies follow...

Chincoteague pony mare swimming from Assateague to Chincoteague

The Saltwater Cowboys herd the ponies to the Pony Pens at the Carnival Grounds

This filly was a "buy back" foal that received a bid of $25,000.  She is a daughter of the late Surfer Dude, and the mare Got Milk.  She was born a silver grey, shed her baby coat to become black, and now has red highlights due to the summer sun.  Will she fade to a sorrel like her sire, is the big question.

Ponies enter the Channel to swim back to Assateague on Friday

Sunset over the mainland

Captain Barry is BEST on Chincoteague Island

While moving, my internet access was down.  Then I left for two weeks on Chincoteague Island  -  and I have to admit that I cried as I crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, leaving the Eastern Shore, and headed for the mainland.  Back in the mid-1980s, there was an extremely popular bumper sticker (on the Shore) that read, "There is no life and no intelligence west of the Chesapeake Bay."  I completely agreed with that sentiment as I was crossing the Bay itself.
  But I'm back in Boulder, Colorado now.  I see the Flatirons of Boulder, the eastern outpost of the Rocky Mountains, from my current seat.  They are gorgeous.  They are awe inspiring.  But I miss the rhythms of the sea, the call of sea birds, and the scent of marsh mud.  Had it not been for my two cats, my new year-long lease, my sister, and Rosie, I would not be here.  I'd be getting more sand in my shoes and in my soul....
   I went on several cruises and tour boat outings while I was on the island, and I spoke to a lot of tourists who had also taken the tours.  Most tours are 90 minutes to 2 hours long.  Younger children (and, me, too, at age 59) can get very bored just sitting in a boat and looking in the direction someone points while talking.  Some of the information is excellent, and some is a bunch of hogwash, depending on the Captain, or "guide," you have. If you are there for ponies only, Captain Dan's tours are the best available.  However, if you want a fun, exciting learning experience that just might encourage your youngster to do some research on his/her own, then Captain Barry is the man with the magic.
   I have to admit that I wasn't too sure that I would enjoy a two hour cruise with a 2 year-old (just turned) on board.  I guess I had forgotten how Captain Barry's charisma and charm works.  First, small children adore Captain Barry - I think they can sense his enjoyment of their company and his high spirits and true love of the water.  Barry's trips are interactive cruises, unless you take the Champagne Sunset Cruise, for adults.  The Sea Exploration cruises that Captain Barry delivers are the best to be found on the Eastern Shore - and probably on the entire East Coast of the United States.  "An incredible learning experience for the whole family," was the response I heard most often from the adults I spoke with.  The majority of the kids said that it was "lots of fun" and that they were eager and ready to go out with Captain Barry, again, immediately.
  I'll admit that it was relaxing, occasionally, to clamber aboard a boat and just sit and listen to someone else spout information.  All I had to do was tune out the other folks' conversation, and look at the birds, a few dolphins, and the ponies, as we came upon them.  Captain Barry, however had me climbing on and off the boat, going into the water, handling clams, shrimp, oysters, crabs, jellyfish, and all the creatures and things that appeared in the trawl net.  I had a wonderful time!  And Evelyn, the two year-old, was always entertained, had things to do to "help" Captain Barry and, even though it was well past her nap time, she stayed smiling and bright.  And it was Captain Barry that made it happen.  He is simply the best when it comes to cruises with kids.  Period.
  And, yes, I'll give him more free advertising!   Check out Captain Barry's Back Bay Cruises on Chincoteague Island, Virginia.  The phone number for reservations is:  (757) 336-6508.  You can e-mail him at captainchincoteague@gmail.com   If you don't believe my reviews, you can always ask the folks as they disembark from a trip with Captain Barry at the dock at old Marlin Street (west of Main Street) - where the Chincoteague Inn used to stand, and where the Jackspot is now open.  Captain Barry helped make our vacation dreams come true.  He's a wonderful man.