The J6 Journey: Year 4, July 26th-27th, 2019: Rest and Winding Down

26th
Well, I've asked Aaron and Shauna what we did on vacation the Friday in between Washington, D.C. and them leaving on Saturday, but I didn't get a response. The photos I took only detail part of the day, and since it's 11 days since that day, I'm at a loss. I'm pretty sure I would have opted to stay close the houses and chill. Maybe there was shopping involved for some. Packing up for others. Pool time and video gaming for some others. Maybe I took a nap! Who knows, it was vacation! And that's ok that we don't remember. This blog isn't a perfect blog and I'm way ok with that. Enjoy what I can share about Saturday!

27th
Saying goodbye to Aaron and Shauna and Assateague Day, plus our 18th wedding anniversary!
Well, the morning didn't go quite as expected. The men were all outside helping Jim with his tiling project. Shauna wanted to go to shopping and thought Aaron and Leah had agreed to go with her the night before. Benaiah had rehearsal at church, and then helped Jim when he got back. We wanted to be kind to our hosts and help them out, but communication doesn't always go well and sometimes we do things out of guilt. I was spent the morning puttering (as far as I can recall) because we weren't going to leave for Assateague until after we said good bye to Aaron and Shauna and made sure the girls did, too. They left for the airport with Gary around 2 or 2:30pm. I think we left to see the horses around the same time. I was a bit frustrated that it was later in the day, but it all worked out in the end.

Aaron and Shauna made it to the Baltimore airport with plenty of time. It's a two hour drive from Lewes, Delaware plus they didn't know if the traffic on the bridge over the Chesapeake Bay was going to be bad going and coming back for Gary. It's an interesting small piece of the world that we learned how to navigate with Baltimore, MD sitting just north of Washington, D.C. and although it's a 2 hr drive with no traffic from either place to the coast of Delaware, if there is traffic, it could take up to 4 hrs! I guess NYC or Boston or Chicago can be the same way. Not so for Indianapolis. Yes, our rush hour can look ugly, but it's never at a standstill unless the highway is completely blocked. And it's only some stretches that get the crush. It's pretty easy to navigate our Crossroads of America city.

We didn't do too bad driving the hour down to Assateague Island either. It was a gorgeous drive through the state roads and small farm towns. We took a state/back road rather than Highway 1 for part of it at least, but the road did parallel Highway 1 at some points, too. Jared didn't seem to mind escorted me, the three girls and Abishai. Benaiah stayed back to help Jim and Justin wasn't interested in seeing horses, so he played video games and had alone time. Michelle knew that Benaiah was there, but about 2 hrs after we had left, she said to Jim, "I think the TV is on upstairs." She had no clue Justin was even there! And I guess we didn't communicate that to her because we know both boys can be left alone for hours now with no issues. But out of courtesy to them, we should have told our hosts. Whoops!

Anyway, going to see the wild horses on Assateague was a bonus trip that none of us had known about before we went. Someone from church took Gary and Leah there the previous week or so, I had no clue of the geography in the area and didn't know MD and VA were so close and how the Island of Assateague/Chincoteauge was situated between the two states and was such a long, long island! I grew up reading Misty of Chincoteauge by Marguarite Henry and read her horse books multiple times (it's rare for me to read something multiple times). And bonus: Keturah had JUST read those books in the last two weeks! So of course we wanted to try and engage and indulge something like Keturah and I do bond over. Everly and Nora aren't into horses like we are, but do like them somewhat, like a lot of girls do. Although Jared isn't into horses either, he knows it was a big chunk of my growing up years and he can't resist taking the kids national and state parks! And that's what makes this place fascinating! You drive onto the northern portion of the Island, Assateague, which is the Maryland piece of the Island. Then you have to choose to go right or left. If you go right, you pay one fee and go onto the state park, but if you go right, you pay a different fee and you're into the national park! I believe there are public beaches in both, but most of the horses/campgrounds, etc are in the national park.

And in order to get to the Virginia/Chincoteague/Southern part of the Island, you have to drive further down on the mainland about another hour to a different bridge. This is where they do their annual round up of the southern herd of horses and sell off some of them so the population doesn't get too big. The volunteer fire department does this and keeps the proceeds. We were a few days too late for it! Oh well, it's in the neat picture book I got that shows all about the horses and the island. The "ponies" are actually horses in size. They were just mislabeled when they were first found. No one knows how they got there, maybe from a shipwreck or a lost colony. Oh, and the northern herd's population is actually controlled by this "vaccine" they give the mares to prevent pregnancy. It's not sterilization or birth control like women take, but it's a shot and it can be reversed. It's experimental, but seems to be working so far. There are about 50-60 horses in the northern herd and 120 in the southern herd.

It was close to suppertime when we left the island, so the girls napped a bit on the drive home and then we stopped at Chick Fil A for dinner. I was not impressed by this particular store. Yes, it was a Saturday night, but it was fairly empty and dirty and ordering food was slow. The trash bins were overflowing. Maybe they were understaffed or the staff wasn't trained well. But even on the busiest days at the Southport store, I have never seen overflowing trash bins or dirty booths or slow service. We are blessed with our Southport store, that's for sure. We got "home" in time to wind down and go to bed at a decent time because we were going to try and make the the second service at church the next day. I remember we were going back and forth as to when we were going to leave to go home to Indiana, so I had done some packing up of stuff and started the cleaning process. (Which I would finish when we had some downtime between church and lunch). Yup, that's all I can remember, that the day started out frustrating but ended very well indeed.

Delaware Playlist 7/26-27/2019

iPhone pics

We definitely had some exhausted kiddos after our two days in D.C. I'm glad Abishai is small enough to fit in this space.

Sisters.

Sleeping beauty in her natural habitat.

We Johnsons are sometimes known for our flexibility and ability to sleep on anything anywhere at anytime, lol. What a trooper for being the only one sleeping on the floor.

Nora was up earlier than the other girls and played with Abishai.

They made their own jail cell!

I think they are already ready to get in the pool. We are going to miss this pool! Keturah still loves her hodie!

Always Minecraft, always.

Beautiful stone turtle Benaiah bought for Ava. I think part of the proceeds from sales are donated to wildlife somehow, too.

I love the aqua blue and nautical themes in Michelle's house. Even their wifi is called "The Beach House" vs their apartment in Baltimore. The screen in porched is an awesome place to sit and stay away from the bug, but it's still a bit too warm and muggy to stay there long. It did finally cool down for a couple of days though.

I need you, Mommy! We usually miss each other a lot after Daddy's been home with us for a long time. I just don't get my Abishai time.

Always on the move.

Shauna making pesto with fresh herbs from Michell's garden.

Aaron making salad for our spaghetti dinner.

Grandpa bought Abishai a present.

Skittles! And Abishai kept calling them his present the whole time!

Finally! Time to swim!

Let's throw each other in!

Ooga booga, biggest child of them all.

Let's all attack Benaiah and see what he does.

And boom! Justin is dropped into the water.

Sack of potatoes Justin is.

Water cannon.

All the cousins love the water and none of them have had officially swimming lessons.

We watched Grandpa open his anniversary gifts from Grandma.

Books about a famous lighthouse he uses as a sermon illustration that they thought they'd get to see on their cruise but weren't quite close enough.

A stack of mugs and mug rack that makes a picture of a lighthouse.

Best way to watch the gift reveal.

Chatty adults.

Yeah for huge dragonflies who eat the greenhead flies!

Lots of beyond exhausted adults playing Phase 10 and laughing hard as I try to load up photos and videos.

More screen time, but it keeps him quiet and away from the pool for a little bit.

Well, good morning, I'm glad you are ready for your rehearsal in your new hoodie.

Breakfast and/or lunch?

Watching Home Improvement with Tim Allan from the 1990's.

Aaron helping out with Jim's outdoor kitchen tiling project.

Men working, women "supervising."

Gotta love the boys' headgear and gymshorts, lol.

It's early afternoon and he already needs a nap BEFORE we get to our destination!

Almost there to Assateague!

Tree "tunnel."

Native plants on the sand dunes.

Selfie looking over the dunes to the Atlantic Ocean.

Girlies looking to the east over the Atlantic.

Jared had to get out to get a photo that is great as a background for Instagram or Bible verses to quote on. So this is why we take photos now? Not just because there's a pretty sun on some calm water? Sheesh!

We turned the corner in the parking lot and BOOM! There was a wild horse near the bathrooms! Strange that it was near the bathroom. I just wanted to get out and walk up to it but we'd been warned 1,000x not to. Someone had gotten kicked last week because they had gone too close.

We saw a total of 6 or 7. Again, it's strange to see them loose like this and realize that they are wild. They are in gorgeous shape and health though!

Our pit stop on the way home, CFA!

Another day, another playplace.

I don't know why our CFA doesn't have a car to sit in. I like the white!

We've passed this several times this week near our home away from home in Delaware. It's located on a tiny grass airfield used by crop and prop planes. It's actually a dive bar or something. Who knows what it has been used for years ago and now. The blue building is the airplane hangar. That evening we did see some folks hanging out and "parrying" hopefully without alcohol and/or flying. What an interesting little building though.

DSLR

Before we went over the bridge into Assateague, there was an excellent free nature center. They had an awesome 3D map of the area. This part shows how this part of the Island has changed after storms after the years.

Storms always hit the ocean and bay sides differently, especially when it's a long strip of land. We saw that even on PEI with how the cliffs were worn away differently and the sands to the north were whiter than the beaches to the south which were more red.

I'm guessing you can look out here and see some wildlife at times other than horses. Because we were on the mainland, I doubt the horses would be here in view.

A little touch tank.

On the bridge from mainland Maryland to the Island of Assateague/Chincoteague.

I don't think I've ever seen a highway sign like this before.

This one either! So cool!

Just a few minutes onto the island and we spot our first horse! Yeah!

We learend at the nature center that because the dunes change so much, they don't pave the parking lot. And the small outbuildings they have are movable.

They use crushed seashells as gravel!

Island foliage!

We took the hardest trail that was all squishy sand on the dunes. It was hard work, but we made it!

Baltomore Boulevard. People tried to settle the island back in the early 1900's but the weather was too harsh. They did end up building a 15 miles paved road though. But the island has reclaimed the area. These broken up pieces here and below are the only remants left. You can find more information about the settlements in the natural center.

Walking down the broken road.

Huge chunks of the road.

The Atlantic Ocean is out there somewhere.

We were grateful for the road because it kept us out of the sand and prevented us from getting lost.

In the middle of the 3/4 mile trail on the top of the lookout,

Not sure what the fencing was for but maybe just to keep us on the trail.

A little bit of the "forest."

Well, we didn't see any horses on the trail, but we did see their poop! They tend to hang out on the beaches in the breeze in the middle of the day to keep away the flies. There are a few public beach areas, but most of it is inaccessible to humans.

Jared wondered how old this oak tree was and how it grew branched out like that. We also noticed many dead trees, but that's probably because of bad storms.

I forget which kid found them, but we found some tracks! We think they could have been bunny, fox, and deer tracks. They weren't big enough for horse tracks.

I should have thought a little bit more before letting the girls get in the water. We didn't bring towels, so they had to wait a long time to try to wash off their legs and even then they weren't clean. Oh well, we'll just have to vacuum the van we borrowed when we get home. I don't think the owners would mind much. They put their dog in their van all the time.

It was around 4 pm when we were on the beach so most people were packing it up for the day. But here's the public beach on the Atlantic side.

This horse was so close and so gorgeous! I wanted to reach out and pet it. But we stayed in the van and just watched him/her eat. The horses are not afraid of humans and cars any more than domesticated horses are. But the public is warned to stay 40 ft or more away from them at all times. Again, we were in the car, but less than 20 feet and we were really quiet.