We went to Mongaup Pond for the weekend again.  For me, I must admit the highlight was testing the new antenna.  Without it, we get no signal.  With the new antenna, I get three bars.  Victory!

We had S’mores Saturday night:

The usual Sunday fun, though for the first time we caught nothing:

We went down to Assateague Island for Thanksgiving, like we did last year.  This was our second trip with the new RV.  We arrived at Assateague around midnight on Wednesday night.

Thursday morning was like the whole weekend, sunny and in the 60s.  The campground was pretty empty on Thursday, but it did fill up a bit over the weekend.

Not many people on the beach.  We spent the whole day wandering the beach and collecting shells:

Friday morning:

We went to the visitor center on the way back from going into town to buy a hatchet and firewood:

Low tide:

B in the distance:

I taught M to split wood:

I taught M a stance that maximized the likelihood of having the same number of legs at the end of the exercise.  Safety first!

We had a great campfire on the beach Saturday night.  I won’t forget B’s wide eyes as I recited Jabberwocky, which we used to do at Hancock.  We also sang Ghost Riders and Paradise.  Of course, we had s’mores as well.

Sunday started with a beautiful sunrise:

M’s mining operation:

We left Sunday morning and drove the hour or so to the southern end of Assateague, in Virginia.  The Virginia side of the island is a wildlife refuge.

There’s an old lighthouse there, which is still operational, albeit with modern optics:

We collected quite a few shells, and I flew my kite for a bit.  It’s quite a birder’s destination; we saw many people with ridiculously large lenses photographing far-off birds.

Next to Assateague is Wallops Island, home of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.  They have a great little visitor center which we enjoyed. 

Here’s a Little Joe, used at Wallops to test the Mercury capsule’s LES (launch escape system):

This past summer we saw its successor, Little Joe II, which was launched at White Sands.

We were home by Sunday evening.  The new RV is great!  It’s very nice to be able to pull over and have a meal or use the bathroom without having to fold up or down the RV.  Crosswinds were an issue at times, especially coming over the Delaware bridge, but we managed.

As always, we are looking forward to our next trip!

We managed to get the same campsite as last time.  Here’s Trish practicing her cast:

The new RV at Mongaup:

We didn’t bring bicycles this time, but we did get in some kayaking:

The fishing wasn’t as good this time, but I did catch an 18” Chain Pickerel.

A little hike:

I think they’re trying to trick us:

It’s always fun at Mongaup!

Shabbos (Day 18) was wonderful.  It was odd to be back in civilization again.

Sunday (Day 19) we left Denver and spent the night at the Walmart of Warrenton, MO.  We stopped at the Sternberg Museum in Hays, KS.  I slept in the car while Trish and the kids poked around.  We drove 790 miles, and managed to pick up kosher sandwiches at a supermarket in Kansas City:

Here we are in the parking lot on Monday morning:

Monday (Day 20) we drove 765 miles, and stayed at the Walmart in Clearfield, PA.  We were supposed to get all the way home, but the truck blew a tire due to road debris on the Interstate in Indianapolis.  The shoulder was narrow, so changing the tire was a little scary.  We picked up a new spare at a local Pep Boys.

Early morning at the Clearfield Walmart:

Tuesday (Day 21) we drove 270 miles from Clearfield, PA to home:

So ends our second summer mega road trip.  Can’t wait to see what 2012 brings!