MyCOLORADOLife.net
Delmarva weekend started after yesterday’s run in Rehoboth Beach, my last marathon of 20-14.
Delmarva is a large peninsula occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia.
After my post-race shower at Quality Inn, headed south on Coastal Highway (Delaware 1). Spent Saturday night in a no-frills Ocean City MD hotel located in town harbor. Like many beach towns, most store fronts & hotels were closed during winter.
Grabbed an early diner breakfast, then south 30 minutes further to Assateague Island. Windy winter day but saw sunshine – not the norm for Nov-March on the East Coast…so counted myself lucky 🙂
Assateague Island?
Wild ponies have inhabited Assateague Island for hundreds of years. While some have suggested that the wild ponies on Assateague Island trace their origin to horses released to forage on the Island by early settlers, the circumstantial evidence suggests that they are indeed the descendants of the survivors of a Spanish galleon which wrecked off the coast of Assateague. A fence along the Virginia/Maryland State line separates Assateague Island’s ponies into two herds. The Maryland herd is owned by the National Park Service. The Virginia herd is owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. The US Fish & Wildlife Service allows the Fire Company to maintain a herd of approximately 150 adult ponies on Assateague Island.
Called ahead to secure a pony tour – closed. Kayaks – closed. Nothing open & available ‘til next April. UGH!
Oh well…still great to see the ocean – even in winter. Would start off on Assateague, then an extra hour to Chincoteague to visit the lighthouse & NASA Visitors Center. (NASA Visitors Center: closed on Sunday – bad luck, huh?)
Crossed the bridge to Assateague & near swerved off road in excitement – PONY!
Took a tens of pics of the lone pony, thinking this my one opportunity. Nope. Not only had the park to ourselves (not a lotta December beachcombers – HA!), but saw several wild ponies grazing near the tree line. WOW, what luck!
Not sure how wild the ponies are – one came to the car window. I did not feed but guessing tourists past have broken this rule. Beautiful animals. Took rural roads to Chincoteague, short hike to the Lighthouse, more ponies & a beach walk.
Whatta year – grizzly bears in Montana & the wild ponies of Assateague Island. Crazy blessed life; life is good.
Autobahn’d back to BWI in under 3 hours, crossing the [Chesapeake] Bay Bridge into Baltimore. Thought I had overcome my fear of high bridges – NOT – spanning almost 5 miles over water, felt white-knuckled near the end.
5 weeks off ‘til marathon season picks up next year in Mississippi. Fingers crossed — snow on Christmas 🙂
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- wild ponies of Assateague
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- sizing up the situation
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- getting curious
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- up close & personal
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- salt & snow
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- winter beach day
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- had the beach to myself – surprise, surprise 🙂
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- last pass at the ponies before Chincoteague
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- big fan of lighthouses
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- 10 degrees warmer on Chincoteague
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- held pose — seemingly still in the gusting wind
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- sea foam sudsing, rolling on the surf
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- love the ocean – even in December!
Last marathon of 2014 – in America’s 1st state, Delaware.
Denver to Baltimore, rental [car] pick-up, White Marsh MD where I picked up Stephen travelling for work (awesome timing, huh). Lunch, an hour to Delaware, another hour half to Rehoboth, bib pickup, (must have) crab cakes, then early to bed.
Race in the a.m. – BAM that’s how I roll 🙂
Chilly Saturday start, arrived early on the boardwalk. Watched the pink surf sunrise – STUNNING.
Woke sluggish – time change related, me thinks. Have reined in most race variables – diet, when/what/how much…shows you can’t control everything. Sometimes it is, what it is…just gotta roll with the punches.
Another jumbled race beginning – halfers split off near mile 3 so synched into a rhythm early on. Beautiful scenic course, fairly flat too. Wish I had woke more rested, this course had all elements for a PR. Twice we broke thru state forests for long stretches on trail & wood planked pathways, built above the marshy wetlands below. Saw ocean waves break hard – the Atlantic seems more violent in December, possibly protesting the end of summer season.
Overcast day but forecasted rain held off for 5 hours.
Notta a huge fan of courses which loop (show us 26 unique miles please) – that said, Delaware’s marshy coastal habitat was eye catching & without a lotta wind. Can’t control the weather…but appreciative when it rolls my way.
Tomorrow’s adventure, Assateague Island & Marguerite Henry‘s must-see ponies of Chincoteague.
K R HAGA crossed the Finish
Course time: 04:30:42
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- crab cakes – a Delaware must
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- pre-race smiles
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- Atlantic surf sunrise
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- finish in sight
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- 2014 year-end — 17 states COMPLETED!
Thursday night many of us gathered at PS Audio (my Boulder-based employer) & in lieu of a holiday dinner, gave back to local families in need – an initiative endorsed by our CEO Paul McGowan.
I’m really not a shopper – even for my own family – but when it was all said & done…gifts gathered, wrapped & stacked on the conference room table, felt a sense of pride being involved.
Easy to get caught up in the day-to-day.
Many thanks to PS’ General Manager, Jim who organized this year’s event.
An idea worth spreading by Paul McGowan
Christmas is fast approaching and we are reminded this is a time of giving. There are many in our community that haven’t as much as we do. There are families that struggle to make ends meet, to heat their homes, to put healthy food on the table. For some in our community Christmas doesn’t mean opening presents under the tree. Each year we try and fix that for as many as we can. It’s an idea worth spreading.
My wife Terri came up with a plan that puts smiles on family’s faces and builds teamwork at the company. That’s a winning combination by anyone’s standards.
There are 25 employees at PS Audio and they, along with their family members, gather one evening after work. The group is divided into four teams and each team is assigned a family in need. Armed with a list of the family’s ages, their wishes for gifts and an envelope filled with cash, each team is sent out for one hour to buy everything on the list. As we scatter through the stores of Boulder, it’s a bit of a frenzy but fun. We meet back with bags of goods and set them up on four tables piled high with the presents. The best sales person on the team has to then present the lot of presents to everyone else and we vote for who did the best job. After the winning team is selected we share pizza, cider and cookies and wrap all the presents.
What we do is simple and can be repeated in your community. We’ve found the families in a number of different ways over the years such as community food bank programs or the local church. The first year PS Audio contributed $50 cash for each family member. This year we upped it to $100 per person. It’s not a lot of money but it brings a lot of joy to families in the community and, perhaps as important, to our team. It’s an event we look forward to each year.
It’s an idea worth spreading in your company, your community, or even your family. It’s an idea that needs to be considered this year, not put off to next.
Send us a picture when you do. And thank you. It matters.
