Atlantic Coast Tour
May 5th - Milburn Landing State Park,MD to Frontier Town Campground Berlin, Maryland

Wild turkeys, wild deer, wild horses and wild Berries, that is what today is all about. On the way to drop of our custom made 2007 Ford E-450 EL, a flock of wild turkeys cross the road in front of us. They are huge. We are wishing we could catch some and have them for dinner, but turkeys are cranky birds. We have had experience with them, but that is a whole other story. Louie can tell you about his experience with a turkey on the 2005 Tandem Rally.

The folks at the Family Service Center in Snow Hill, Maryland are wonderful. They even help us find a short cut to the Assateague State Park. Highway 113 is a pleasant change from some of the roads we have ridden. It has a nice wide shoulder. The only odd thing about it is that huge trucks filled with hundreds of chickens barrel down the road. The chickens have all their feathers, well those feathers that have not blown away anyhow, so they must still be alive. What place can have so many chickens? Big fluffy feathers line the roadway.

At the turn that leads to Assateague State Park, Becky spies - Frontier Town Theme Park and Campground. "I just want to check it out. They may have WiFi, hot showers, laundry, and nice bathrooms," she says. At the desk they tell us that they have it all and it is $3.00 less than the State Park. That is good enough for us.

After unloading all our gear, we head out for the State Park that is five miles down the road. There is a wonderful bike trail all through the park starting at the visitor's center. The bike bridge onto the island separates us from the traffic. Once there, we can ride the bike trail to the end of the State Park and the National Park area. At the end of the road, there is a nature trail that we walk. The part of the island that we are on is in Maryland. There is another part that is in Virginia and it is a wildlife refuge. We are hoping to see some wild horses that make Assateague Island their home. The National Park Service manages the Maryland heard and the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company manages the Virginia heard. The wild horses are descended from domesticated stock that grazed on the island as early as the 17th century. These horses are slightly smaller than other horses and are sturdy and well adapted to the harsh seashore environment. They get water from natural freshwater ponds or human-made impoundments.

The nature trail takes us past the remains of a development that could have changed the whole island. Roads were laid down, land was sold, and houses began to go up. But then in the 1960's a huge storm hit the island and ruined it all. That storm was responsible for getting the island designated as both a State and National Park. Nature put things right.

On our way out of the park, a few deer graze by the road. Thinking they will spook, we come up quietly beside them. They just turn their backs on us in disgust and continue to eat. Becky spies some horses on our right. Louie whips he tandem around so we can go investigate. Sure enough a group is busy eating marsh grass beside the campground. We watch and take pictures and then move on. Soon we come upon another group. They just ignore us and continue to eat.

We head back to Frontierland for laundry, Internet, hot showers, and dinner. There is one question that deserves an answer. What is a western town doing on the east coast?

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