Goose Point & Assateague Island

The next stop on this maiden voyage was Goose Point Campground on  Philpott Lake in the rugged foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s an Army Corps of Engineers campground. They have a lot of nice sites on the water but they were all reserved when we arrived so we were in another section by ourselves. Sometimes having no neighbors is a good thing.

 We were never able to put our awning out on this trip. It was too windy everywhere we went. Other than enjoying the lake, there isn’t much that we could find around this campsite. The nearest town seems to have some furniture manufacturing plants.

The last stop on our trip was Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland. There is a herd of Wild Horses on in the park, they roam everywhere including through the campground.

The park rangers say they are like bears without claws. The campers are warned to keep all food locked up and not to try to touch the horses. There is a rumor that the horses steak hamburgers off the grill, however I’m not sure that I believe that. They may look like a backyard pet but they are wild. Tourists regularly experience bites or kicks when they get too close.

There was a small band of a stallion and 2 mares who inhabited our area of the campground. I was at the water spigot with one of the dogs filling our water jugs when one of the mares came over and clearly wanted the fresh water. Their access to fresh water is very limited. I waved the dog leash at her and she backed off a little. Then the stallion came over to investigate what I was doing with his mare. More leash waving, and we got back to the trailer without incident.

 

Our campsite ( complete with Gnome )

Gnome at the Visitor Center

Life of the March Trail

Lear and I did the Life of the Marsh Trail backwards. After completing it, I saw the sign at the entrance to the trail stating that no pets are allowed – oops!

Lear on a hike. He’s not very happy. Can you see him saying “Mom, I’m not a hiking dog! My paws are all muddy. Why did Bianca and Louie get to stay in the nice dry trailer?”

The south end of the island is in Virginia. There is a wild life refuge there that is open from 3 PM until sunset. No dogs allowed even in cars. There wasn’t a lot of wildlife to see but the egrets were beautiful.

I’m really glad that we visited Assateague in April. The bugs come out in May along with the throngs of visitors.

We were sad to have to leave Delmarva and head home. I see another trip to the area in our future. There is more to do and see there.

One of the nuggets of wisdom that we’ve picked up from other RVer’s is the 330 rule: “Don’t drive more than 330 miles or after 3:30 PM”. So we had another first on the way home. We spent the night in a Walmart Parking lot in Monrow NY. We were able to forage in the wilderness of that area, finding dinner at Outback and breakfast at Panera across the parking lot. Here is a map of our trip: Camping 2016

We are planning our next trip and here is a hint: