Before leaving Assateague this morning, we spent an hour in the canoe paddling around tidal marshes and a small island out in the bay. By the time we came back and drove out of the park we had seen three bands of horses. Funny, an ordinary horse in a pasture would keep my attention for a few seconds, if that. But these little wild ones are something else. They don't do anything spectacular; they mostly graze on marsh grass or grass along the roads or campgrounds. What seems to make them different is that they take no notice of people at all. I'm sure they'd react if they were threatened in some way, but as far as I can see they show no fear of or interest in people. They just amble around in groups and mind their own business.
We have been having trouble with a slow leak in the right rear tire of the Suburban. We thought we'd gotten it fixed on Cape Cod but whatever they did had no effect. Today we found a tire shop in the little town of Berlin, Md. (BER lin, if you please). They found a crack in the wheel which was allowing air to seep out along the rim. I was ready to buy a new wheel, or at least have them mount the tire on the spare's rim. But they put a sealant around the leak and at least for the rest of the day it seems to be holding air. So far, so good. They recommend we get a new wheel when we get home, but in the meantime it is safe to drive on.
A couple of hours of driving took us down to near the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, in Virginia now. We stopped at a large campground which is winding down for the end of the season. We got a campsite directly on the Chesapeake Bay. The view is beautiful. We can just barely see across the bay to the western shore. Some large ships are moving up and down the bay, and others are anchored in the distance. This evening I launched the canoe and paddled around the calm shallow water for a while by myself, and when the sun went down we got one of the most spectacular sunsets we've ever seen, blazing red.
Tomorrow we'll be at Richmond, where we'll stay for two weeks (except for a side trip to Williamsburg) while we see the cycling world championships and join in a tandem bike rally. So this is the last night of our "Seacoast Tour", which has taken us out the St. Lawrence and the Gaspe, along the coast of New Brunswick, over to Prince Edward Island, to Cape Breton, Newfoundland, and Labrador, finally reaching the easternmost point in mainland North America, back down to Southern Nova Scotia, along New Brunswick's southern coast, down the coast of New England, and along the shore all the way to the Virginia Capes. It has been a great tour, and we aren't tired of it. But we are tired. It will be good to stay in one place for a while and shift gears on our activities.
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