Friday, Dillon had a day off so he was in charge of TCB (taking care of business). He made arrangements for a U-Haul pickup truck for Sunday and went grocery shopping for camping. Late that afternoon he left town to go to a dirt track race. After work, I ran by our new apartment complex to sign the lease and get the keys. Then, I drove into DC and picked up Dillon's cousin, Melissa and I just so happened to see this gorgeous landmark and snap a picture!
Melissa stayed the night with us on Friday night so that we could get on the road early Saturday morning for camping. Before we left the DC area, we had to swing by and pick up some guy who needed a ride to the campsite.
I had no idea what to expect for this trip. Melissa invited us to go because the roommate of one of her friends works with the guy who arranged this whole extravaganza for his birthday (a lot of degrees of separation). I think around 120 attended.
We got on the road around nine and traveled the three hours to Assateague Island. You can read a little bit about the Island here: http://www.assateagueisland.com/
We arrived to the campsite and were warned by rangers to not bother the wild ponies that lived on the island. Yes, wild ponies. We found the group campsite and began unloading our gear. Our tent was staked into the sand. Yes, the sand. We were one sand dune away from the ocean.
From the moment we set foot on the site everyone was so nice and welcoming. Everyone approached us and introduced themselves and did a great job of remembering our name all day. As we approached the main camp, a guy was spreading boiled crabs and corn on a picnic table and giving an impromptu crab anatomy lesson. There must have been 40 crabs!
We were starving so Dillon started lunch, steak and mushrooms. Yummy! Dillon was pretty pleased with himself as he handed out samples to everyone around. He was pretty popular with those meat and mushroom samples. Here is a picture of the master chef himself...
After a few hours, a lot more people began showing up. This was the "main" camp site.
Dillon and I walked over the sand dune to take a stroll on the beach. The water was freezing, freezing, freezing and there were still guys surfing! Crazies!
While the sun was out, everyone just mingled and had some drinks. There was a sound system set up so we pretty much just grooved to some beats and had a grand ole time. The park has a no noise policy after ten so the stereo was turned off and everyone headed to the beach. Four "arenas" about 10 feet in diameter were dug in the sand with a sand bench/seat around the edge. In the middle was a sand platform stacked with firewood. Everyone walked out to the "arenas" and piled in around the bonfires. At each fire there was at least one person with a guitar. For the rest of the night, we laughed and sang and listened to music.
The next morning everyone woke up early because really, sleeping in a tent on the sand is just as uncomfortable as sleeping in the woods on dirt. As everyone was packing up their gear, six wild ponies traipsed into our camp. I was ten feet from them. They were walking right in the middle of everything and getting into everyone's food. They nearly crushed an unlucky couple's tent! Everyone kept a safe distance, but a few brave souls were lucky in shooing them away by banging pots and pans. Off they ran onto the beach. Here they are being mischevious...
While the sun was out, everyone just mingled and had some drinks. There was a sound system set up so we pretty much just grooved to some beats and had a grand ole time. The park has a no noise policy after ten so the stereo was turned off and everyone headed to the beach. Four "arenas" about 10 feet in diameter were dug in the sand with a sand bench/seat around the edge. In the middle was a sand platform stacked with firewood. Everyone walked out to the "arenas" and piled in around the bonfires. At each fire there was at least one person with a guitar. For the rest of the night, we laughed and sang and listened to music. 
The next morning everyone woke up early because really, sleeping in a tent on the sand is just as uncomfortable as sleeping in the woods on dirt. As everyone was packing up their gear, six wild ponies traipsed into our camp. I was ten feet from them. They were walking right in the middle of everything and getting into everyone's food. They nearly crushed an unlucky couple's tent! Everyone kept a safe distance, but a few brave souls were lucky in shooing them away by banging pots and pans. Off they ran onto the beach. Here they are being mischevious...
When we got back from camping, Dillon and I immediately started moving stuff to our new apartment. Mark and Erika helped us. I don't know what we would have done without them! We did not get everything, but all of the big furniture that we needed the truck for. Around nine, we decided to call it a day. Dillon and I ordered pizza and wings and had our first dinner in the apartment. Because we have no moved our kitchen table to the new place yet, we sat on the floor and devoured that meal.
Last night, we took Mark and Erika out to eat at the National Harbor to thank them for all their help! I will write it about it a bit later, because this post is a novel!
This weekend Dillon and I are going to a BBQ in DC and hope to see some sites beforehand.
Hugs from the East coast,
V
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