SAND! & sand
Slowly each child struggled to consciousness, crawled out of a sleeping bag and stumbled out the tent flap. "Sand" my eldest grumbled as she poured little dunes out of her trainers before putting them on. "Sand" my second sighed lovingly and she ran to climb the small dune across the path from out tent. "Sand?" my third questioned with a grimace before she brushed off her bare legs to get rid of the sand she'd inadvertently taken to bed with her (then she joined her sister on the dune). "Sand!" my youngest cheered after he poked his head out the tent flap, as if he couldn't believe his luck that all that gloriousness was still here. He dove out of the tent on all fours and promptly began making 'sand angels'. ew.
was a rousing success. Intrigued by a glowing review in the Washington Post this summer, we stayed overnight at Assateague Island National Park to see how good it really was. The article didn't do it justice.
This rural Indiana girl, daughter of underpaid school teachers, spent a decent portion of each childhood summer in a tent camping with my family at a State Park or at a Girl Scout or Church Girls' Camp. I enjoy forest camping; it's relaxing, exhausting and generally lovely.
Camping by the beach, however, is nirvana. Mm. Sorry, - drooled a bit there.
Yes, you develop a love/hate relationship with the sand. But the beach and the autumn weather are intoxicating. I'd forgotten how much there is to do on an empty beach. We spent hours foraging for shells, running from the surf, following bird tracks, smirking at crabs, playing with other patrons' dogs, showing off our (my youngest's) driftwood 'surfboard' to long-suffering patrons without dogs, and the ultimate in wonderfulness - watching DOLPHINS ride and jump the waves just off-shore. I've never been as ridiculous as I was over that school of dolphins. The English language doesn't contain enough superlative adjectives to adequately describe that sight. When we'd had as much fun as we could stand at the ocean, we explored the island and coo'd over the wild horses, deer and birds. The children all developed sudden and simultaneous cases of 'narcolepsy' at 8:17 p.m.(to my utter delight). LH and I were left alone to have an actual conversation while we gazed into the vastness of space. I snuggled into my cozy sleeping bag in our tent among the dunes while chirping crickets and crashing waves lulled me to sleep. What complete heaven.
You can bet your sweet bippy we'll be back there next spring. Soon as we get some wheels for our boxes of gear. My biceps, shoulders and back ache.
.
was a rousing success. Intrigued by a glowing review in the Washington Post this summer, we stayed overnight at Assateague Island National Park to see how good it really was. The article didn't do it justice.
This rural Indiana girl, daughter of underpaid school teachers, spent a decent portion of each childhood summer in a tent camping with my family at a State Park or at a Girl Scout or Church Girls' Camp. I enjoy forest camping; it's relaxing, exhausting and generally lovely.
Camping by the beach, however, is nirvana. Mm. Sorry, - drooled a bit there.
Yes, you develop a love/hate relationship with the sand. But the beach and the autumn weather are intoxicating. I'd forgotten how much there is to do on an empty beach. We spent hours foraging for shells, running from the surf, following bird tracks, smirking at crabs, playing with other patrons' dogs, showing off our (my youngest's) driftwood 'surfboard' to long-suffering patrons without dogs, and the ultimate in wonderfulness - watching DOLPHINS ride and jump the waves just off-shore. I've never been as ridiculous as I was over that school of dolphins. The English language doesn't contain enough superlative adjectives to adequately describe that sight. When we'd had as much fun as we could stand at the ocean, we explored the island and coo'd over the wild horses, deer and birds. The children all developed sudden and simultaneous cases of 'narcolepsy' at 8:17 p.m.(to my utter delight). LH and I were left alone to have an actual conversation while we gazed into the vastness of space. I snuggled into my cozy sleeping bag in our tent among the dunes while chirping crickets and crashing waves lulled me to sleep. What complete heaven.
You can bet your sweet bippy we'll be back there next spring. Soon as we get some wheels for our boxes of gear. My biceps, shoulders and back ache.
.