TRAVEL DAY: DENTON, MARYLAND TO NORTH EAST, MARYLAND.
Day 18 – We slept very well last night; woke up to sunny skies and 50 degrees. The girls thought we’d be leaving again for the day, but they were wrong – we ALL were leaving together. It must be confusing for them……
We departed Martinak State Park after dumping tanks at 10:30 a.m. We headed northwest, taking quite a few two-lane roads through farmlands, saw some fall colors, and as always, liked the Chesapeake City Bridge crossing. Luckily after a short distance on the always-busy Route 40, we turned south on Old Elk Neck Road towards Elk Neck State Park. At times the road was winding and very narrow, not recommended for larger vehicles, and even passing a UPS truck going the opposite way was difficult.(Note: next time we will take Route 272 south to the Park.)
On the way to our campground, we saw two full-grown Bald Eagles – one circling just overhead and one right by the side of the road – we won’t discuss what it was eating. We arrived at the entry station to Elk Neck State Park at 12:25 p.m. It was 61 degrees and sunny. Camper Registration was closed. Usually if registration is closed, a note is left on the window which says that campers with reservations should go ahead and proceed to their campsite. There was no note. The gates were closed and we couldn’t have gone in anyway. Oh well. Check-in time wasn’t until 3 p.m. We parked at the entrance and had our lunch, leftovers from last night’s create-your-own pasta. Yum. The kitties got dry food. Ick.
At a little after 1 p.m. several park trucks drove in and immediately opened up the gates and we were able to check in. They must’ve all gone to lunch. Everyone has to eat some time! We proceeded to our campsite, #150 in Elk Loop, and began setting up.
Rob had set up the tent and we spent some of the afternoon there. The Loop was full down by the water sites but no one was camping near us, closer to the beginning of the Loop. We’d wanted a water site but those were reserved already, this almost being the weekend. We liked our site very much, especially since there was a large, beautiful German Shepard with a deep, very loud bark and growl, at a campsite by the water. This dog barked almost continuously every time someone drove or walked by, and in particular if someone was walking a dog (who was probably scared shit-less, please pardon the language). The dog also barked when geese flew in for the night and when the wind blew some leaves off the trees. A couple of campers left – either because of the dog or because they were leaving anyway, who knows. Two women were walking their little dog by our campsite and saw us. Waving, they said, “that’s not our dog barking!” But because we were a distance away from the water, it wasn’t as noisy where we were.
Once inside, since it was getting colder, we shut the windows and the barking wasn’t so bad. We made Shrimp and Scallops, which had marinated in a Rosemary Garlic Citrus Sauce, over brown rice. It started to rain. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain all day and continue being rainy. Look out New York if this storm is headed your way – more flooding!