Leaving the South

July 21-23, 2008
Pocomoke State Park, Maryland After a few weeks on the beach, both of us were ready to see something new (this sounds incredibly spoiled, but for a trip this long, too much time just relaxing can actually become old). After a short drive, we left the Outer Banks and reached Virginia. Negotiating through Virginia Beach-Norfolk traffic, we stopped off at the visitor's center just before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which connects Virginia's Eastern Shore with the mainland. Once of the seven engineering wonders of the world, the bridge was really cool to see. The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two approximately one-mile-long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels. The manmade islands, each approximately 5.25 acres in size, are located at each end of the two tunnels. As usual, Shaune did an incredible job driving in challenging situations, although we did have to take off the car at the visitor's center as there were no U-turns and we couldn't turn the RV around without removing the car. Anyway, as soon as you arrive on the Eastern Shore, life seems to slow instantly. This is probably one of the least "discovered" places I have seen. It's surprising, considering the Bay stretches the length of the land and the ocean on the other. We slowly drove north to Maryland via Hwy 13 through a few small towns, stopping off at produce stands for fresh tomatoes and corn.

We randomly chose Pocomoke River State Park in southern Maryland to spend a few days. In two days we never saw any one associated with the park, but it was well maintained and the river was a stones throw away from the site. The kayaking was great here, the river at times was so still it seemed like you were on a sheet of glass. The park itself was dense with evergreen forest and vibrant flowering trees. A short cycle ride away, we found someone selling free-range eggs from their chickens that roamed their yard. I nearly forgot how delicious eggs can be, we haven't had eggs this fresh since Thailand. We also had electric hookups, which makes life much easier for Shaune when he works on his computer.