Camping!

A few weeks ago we embarked on our first camping trip of the year to Assateague National Park. The park is located on Assateague Island which is a barrier island off the coast of Maryland. One of the interesting aspects of the park it that it's home to a herd of wild horses, some of which we saw grazing through the campground.

As we all know, organized camping is happy camping, so I spent the day before departure packing and preparing meals. I recently acquired a food dehydrator and that baby was working around the clock to dehydrate delicious meals and snacks. I made kale chips, sweet potato chips, mango leather, and dehydrated veggies in peanut sauce to serve over noodles.

Dehydrated spinach, mushrooms, carrot and cauliflower

Kale chips in the making

As usual, our trusty CVT tent did not fail us. Karyn was travelling with us, so she stayed in the granny flat (the annex on the side of the car). This was the first time we had been camping since all our camping equipment arrived from Australia, so we had (almost) all the comforts of home.

Our humble abode for three nights of camping

It was a bit cold, so Brian and Betty spent much of their time cuddled up beneath sleeping bags and next to the fire.

It's not a tumor

Snug as a pug in a rug

We made a special version of 'eggs in jail' for breakfast.

Yum

Much more delicious than an industrial prison complex

Relaxing at the campsite

Brekky time

Grumpy Brian

Brian helping with food preparation

Vikings are important when camping

We saw a number of run down barns and houses. Man vs. nature. 

Nature wins

Can you guess what this is?

Colloquially known as a mermaid's purse or devil's purse

It's an empty egg case from a skate! I found it washed up on the beach. Some species of skates, sharks, and chimaeras are ovoparous, which means they lay their fertilized eggs in these cases. Some shark egg cases are corkscrew shaped. Yikes.

We also found a horseshoe crab washed up on the beach. Horseshoe crabs, who are more closely related to arachnids and ticks than crabs, are often called living fossils, because they so closely resemble the fossils of their ancestors from 450 million years ago. Did you know that they have nine eyes and their blood is blue? In fact, their blood is collected for use in medical applications. Unfortunately, their numbers are dwindling due to loss of habitat, which goes to show that as a society, we should protect wildlife habitat, not just for the sake of a healthier natural environment, but to help ourselves.

Horseshoe Crabs mating off the coast of Cape Cod. Image from "Under Cape Cod Waters" by Ethan Daniels.

We had a fantastic time and can't wait until the next trip!