A Little of Everything

 Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020

Today turned out to be a lovely day, although with an unexpected beginning and ending. In the end, we did a little bit of everything-- town, beach, parks, and repairs.

We woke up before dawn, when one of our “detectors” went off-- I think propane. It was not because of a propane problem per se, it was because the “house” battery which operates the detector died completely, setting off the alarm. Joey was quite perturbed, and insisted on running the engine of the RV for about 10-15 minutes (at 4 a.m.) in order to give the batteries SOME charge. But both of us were disturbed, and I could not go back to sleep for quite a while. Joe, meanwhile, got up at his usual 5or 6 a.m., and as soon as the 7 a.m. “quiet time” ended, he turned on the engine again. I just felt so sorry for the folks in the tent right next to us!

As a result, we were both tired in the morning, and he even took a nap. So other than walking Cassie on the beach, and noting that it was again a beautiful day, we did not do much. After lunch, however, we headed into Berlin, the town nearest the campground. I wanted to just look around (it was supposed to be “the coolest small town in Maryland” according to some kind of survey), and also we planned a stop at an auto parts store to get a battery replacement. It was clear that the battery we had was just not functioning anymore.

We stopped first at the same National Park Visitor’s Center that we stopped at yesterday-- today it was open, and I was able to buy a book for Juniper (“Ponies”), and a national park pin for my collection. Then we went to downtown Berlin. It was, indeed, very charming, with lots of red brick buildings. There were a number of gift stores, eating places, a historic hotel, and a large antique store. But all in all, although we browsed a little, we left empty handed. Then we stopped at the NAPA store and got the exact battery Joe wanted, before heading back to the island.

We turned down the road to the national park, and stopped at the first nature trail we came to, after passing several horses by the side of the road (they totally ignored us.)  The walk was simple, and really pretty--the “Marsh Life” loop (there are also the “Woods Life” and “Dunes Life” loops, which we did not go to.)  I love the green grasses and blue waters on the marsh side of the barrier islands, which are so beautiful. And again, we were lucky enough to see a few horses making their way through the grassland (they know where the solid ground is). It was all very mellow, and I wish we’d spent more time in the park than in Berlin. After that short hike, Joe was ready to go back to the RV, so we headed home.

Joe replaced the battery, while I read a book (not sure I will ever finish it, it is not very good!) and then we had some dinner. And then, we simply hung out while waiting for time to go onto the beach for the rocket launch at 9:38. Joey even just lay down and went to sleep for a while. At around 9pm, we put on some warm clothes and sweatshirts, picked up a blanket, and walked up and over the dunes to wait on the beach. I’d kind of thought it would be quiet and pretty, but we were closely followed by a crowd of 4-5 younger people who conversed VERY LOUDLY only about 20 feet away from us, sort of ruining the “quiet” aspect. Of course, very soon there were other folks coming onto the beach as well, until there were 30 or so of us (all plenty socially distanced.)  

The moon was 98.8% full, according to Joe’s app, and Mars was right beside it. We could also see Jupiter and Saturn, which were in conjunction directly to the south. But the moon was SO bright that we actually saw very few stars. It was comfortable and not too cool, though--a beautiful night. Unfortunately, beauty is not everything. 9:38 came and went, with no pyrotechniques toward the southern sky. Soon enough someone managed to find a radio connection to Wallops Island, and heard the disappointing news that once again, the flight was scrubbed. Slowly, we all trudged back over to the campsites, and disappeared into our campers for the night.

Joey went right to bed, but I was feeling sticky, so I decided to make use of the bath house before bed. It was as well maintained as Joe had said-- tiled, and the water pressure was hot and hard. Really excellent. So that turned out to be a good way to end the night.