Weekly Mileage #68 and a Trip to the Beach

When we bought our RV last spring, a year’s membership with Thousand Trails was included, but we didn’t activate it until we went to Gettysburg last October. We were determined to get our money’s worth (even if we didn’t spend money on it), and scheduled some trips this summer that we’d been wanting to take that had TT campsites nearby.

picturesque road to our middle of nowhere campground

Monday we drove to the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the RV, towing the car on the dolly. Mr M had a business trip, so he wasn’t able to come, and this was the only week we could fit this trip in, so the kids and I went without him. We’d have liked it if he could come, but it was empowering for me to do it all myself and realize it’s not quite as scary as I’d made it out to be. Though following my track record with discovering problems when Mr M’s not available to help, I found some damage on one interior wall. I initially thought it was carpenter ant damage, but after researching once we got home, it might be water damage. We'll have to peel the wallpaper off to find out for sure. Sooo frustrating.

those spiky bumps aren't natural....

The campground was older, but on the water, at the end of narrow road in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't a sandy beach, but there was a fishing pier and a swimming pool right next to the fishing pier. There was also a playground and a putt putt course, and grass everywhere. At one point in the past there were a lot more camping sites (you could see the old concrete picnic table pads in a couple of fields), but I don't think most of them are used these days.

old concrete pads in a field, with the ocean in the distance

view of the ocean from our campsite

Since we arrived on a Monday, we had our pick of sites, and opted for a shaded site with water and electric. We could have gotten full hookups, but it would have been in full sun with neighbors right next to us. There was a trailer next to us in the shade, but we never saw the owner's the whole time we were there- most likely they just stay on the weekends. The next closest were 3 sites down and also deserted for the week. Despite the age of the park, we loved how scenic it was and having so many empty sites around us was super nice.

view in the other direction from our campsite

private road through the campground- perfect for walking and bike riding

I’d checked our cell phone provider’s service map before we left, and they claimed we’d have 3G coverage, but that was a lie. I was roaming most of the time, and the signal was just strong enough for me to send and receive texts, but that was it. So no using my cell as a hotspot to get work done. Getting a cell signal booster or other provider is looking more and more attractive all the time.

After we set everything up, we explored the campground and went swimming before dinner, then another walk after dinner. We brought the kids' bikes and I walked, and this was the perfect campground for letting kids ride around on their bikes. It was very peaceful and quiet, with lots of birds in the trees, and the weather was nice and cool.

Assateague lighthouse and the view from the top: the causeway between Assateague and Chincoteague

Tuesday we drove an hour and 15 minutes north to Assateague Island National Seashore. After River begged to stop at the lighthouse, we climbed Assateague lighthouse, which River didn’t enjoy. His favorite part was getting back to the ground :) but he climbed all the way to the top and back. Ocean didn't have a problem with the height, though he did try to convince me to carry him part of the way because he was "too heavy" ie, didn't want to walk anymore. 

band of wild ponies on Assateague

We started the kids' Junior Ranger packets and went on a ranger program through a salt marsh, then hiked a trail through the trees, where we saw some wild ponies way off in the distance. We stopped for ice cream in the town of Chincoteague, then headed back to the RV. We stopped at the lone Walmart we saw and picked up a couple lighters (I’d discovered the one in the RV was empty when I tried to light the oven pilot light the night before for dinner- thanks renters for leaving an empty lighter in the cupboard) and a boogie board. We went swimming again before dinner to cool off from the heat and humidity of the day, but the biting horse flies were a <literal> pain.

River, ready to take on the ocean. Well, until the first wave came :)

Wednesday we got a much earlier start and went to the beach first for about 2.5 hours, but took another hour to get stuff to the car, walk to the rinse station, try to clean up, and walk back to the car. It was way too hot for all that nonsense. We did have fun in the water though. We collected shells, played in the sand (giant sand box!), and boogie boarded. 

another junior ranger pin to add to her collection

Sunshine had the boogie board most of the time, but I grabbed it to give it a go, and Ocean begged to come with me. So I laid him on the board and we floated around and caught some waves, and he loved it. River wanted a chance after that, but he wasn't sure about the whole thing. He did enjoy the waves, but he was also happy to get back to the shore. This was the first time I’ve really played in the ocean, doing more than just standing or sitting in the water, and it was a lot of fun.

After we finally made it back to the car after attempting to rinse off, we turned in the Junior Ranger packets, got a better view of the wild ponies, and then stopped by the Misty of Chincoteague statue in downtown Chincoteague. Unfortunately, we were about two weeks too early for the annual wild pony swim. A bummer, but pictures of the crowds tell me I wouldn’t enjoy it, so it’s ok.

we caught the tail end of a wind tunnel activity they were hosting for kiddos

Then we went to NASA’s Wallops Island Visitor Center. Rockets are regularly launched from the Wallops Island facility, but none were on the schedule while we were there. We stopped by a railroad museum that was supposed to have cars we could walk through, but most of them were locked up (boo).

one of the locked railroad cars

Thursday we went to the Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge, where we went on a Butterfly hike to a WWII bunker, complete with de-commissioned gun barrel. After that, we went on to Cape Charles. Sunshine and I fangirled over Young House Love’s beach house and duplex that they’ve been restoring. In a non-creepy way, though- we just drove by once or twice, didn't even take pictures :)

running on the shady part of the trail

(l-r, clockwise) the bunker, the stairs to the top of the outside of the bunker, a shell, and the <huge> gun

love the materials used

We did take pictures at the LOVE sign on the beach though, and then walked the on the white sand beach. The tide was out, which was a new experience for us. The rippled sand was super cool, and the shallow water was warmer than we expected after the cold water at Assateague beach. We collected some shells, though nothing as large as the day before. 

Ocean wanted to pick up ALL the rocks and ALL the shells

We headed back to the car to get ice cream, but this happened, which I shared yesterday:

Almost-3-year-olds cannot be reasoned with.

We ended up stopping at an old fashioned candy store, where the kiddos behaved well enough for me to give the ice cream store a second chance. I thought they had better ice cream than the place in Chincoteague, though Sunshine disagreed.

We stopped at a real, old fashioned hardware store that’s been around for more than a hundred years and literally has a little bit of everything- it was so crowded. The linoleum on the floor was worn through on the main aisles. It also had the coolest old stamped tin ceiling tiles with peeling paint. Those tiles probably haven’t been touched since they were originally installed.

We got back to the RV earlier than the last few days, so we had quiet time, which was much needed by all. Since the cell signal was so bad, I couldn’t get online to work, but I did get my desktop cleaned up and worked on writing various posts that I'll publish in the future.

the boys loved having a flat area to ride their bikes, and I liked that I could still see them

my view while working at the picnic table

Friday we got up early and made breakfast, then started putting everything away so we could break camp. Since we didn’t have sewer hookups I had to empty the tanks on our way out. It went better than the last time I dumped, so that was a win. We got home in the afternoon, unloaded the RV, and started laundry, then it was time for quiet time.

This trip was different than when the kids and I went to help my sister move because I was towing the car on the dolly for the first time. I was a little nervous about getting the car on the dolly by myself, but I helped get it on enough times last summer, that it wasn't too hard. Driving with the car behind me wasn't too bad either- I mostly didn't know it was there.

The worst part of the trip was the 20 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel that stretches from Hampton Roads to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. It's made up of three bridges and two tunnels, and while the bridges are 2 lanes each way, the tunnels are only one lane each way. The tight quarters with semi trucks barreling towards me in the other lane was a bit nerve-wracking, but I survived.

There are some things we need to do still and we'd like to bring Mr M back with us, so we'll definitely go back. One thing we didn't get a chance to do was camp right by the beach on the Maryland portion of Assateague Island. Doesn't that sound cool?

I didn’t manage to stick to my half marathon training schedule, but I knew it would be very difficult without Mr M along to watch the kiddos while I went for a run every day. Despite that, I did get some workouts in, and my mileage was close to where it should be. I even managed my 6 mile long run/walk Saturday on the treadmill. I haven't enjoyed running on the treadmill lately, but this time I actually felt good, which was a nice change.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.69 miles walked and run around the campground
.70 miles walked around the campground
Tuesday- 2.42 miles hiked
.44 miles walked during the ranger program
.75 miles walked while at the lighthouse
Thursday- 1.25 miles hiked
1.10 mile beach walk
Saturday- 6.00 miles walked and run on the treadmill
    total- 14.35 miles

12 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

130.11 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
195.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
327.25 miles total

Sunday Funny

Sometimes life is just too much and you have to collapse on the hot pavement and not move.
I'll say this for Ocean- he was committed and stayed in this position for close to 5 minutes, when I picked him up and carried him the last little bit to the car.

Weekly Mileage #67 and Fourth of July 5k

Tuesday I got my hair cut! Chopped off and thinned is a better description. My head feels so much lighter, and no more migraines! Yay! My curl is settling into being shorter and it’s bouncier than I expected. Last time it was this short it just did this weird uneven wavy thing. But in the years since then I’ve been encouraging the curls and they’ve gotten stronger and they’re doing better than anticipated. Still straighter on the left side than I’d like, but I think that’s because I sleep on that side, and even pulling my hair up into a topknot isn’t enough to counteract the flattening action going on. Curly hair problems :)

Sunshine had nature camp all week- it was the fort themed week, so even though it straddled the holiday, we went with it. It's nice to be done with all her camp stuff this early in the summer.  She won't be doing Irish music camp this year since she wants to do nature class in the fall and we can’t afford to do both. 

Wednesday I ran the 4^thof July 5k while Mr M took Sunshine to camp with the boys. We were out of town last year on the 4^th, and there was a baby sitter snafu the year before, but this is the race I ran in 2015 to kick off my 40 by 40. Ok, I didn’t run it, I walked it, since I was 38 weeks pregnant with Ocean. 

It’s a different race now, because it’s grown and they had to move it to a different location that could handle the larger numbers of people and cars. So it was a whole new race for me- still hilly, since it's in the same neighborhood as before, though parts of it are run on some trails through the woods, which was nice. It was a hot and sweaty day- I checked my phone at the beginning of the race and it said 96% humidity, with only a 10% chance of rain. So gross.

after just a week, the water was a lot lower and River was able to jump from rock to rock on the first crossing

Thursday after dropping Sunshine off at camp, the boys and I repeated our hike from the previous week, deteremined to reach the waterfall. Spoiler: we totally did. 

the steep, final portion of the trail after that cement marker

the falls!

I carried Ocean all the way up, and most of the way down. I’d like to let him walk more, but there’s two things holding me back right now. One, he’s really, really slow. He stops to pick up ALL the rocks and ALL the sticks. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now, and I just don’t have time to let him stop every five seconds on a hike that's already three hours long without his added delays. Two, he’s an impulsive two year old (almost 3!), and he isn’t always as good at minding as he should be. In the case of this hike, there were parts were he needed to hold my hand so he didn’t hurt himself, and he didn’t want to do that. So back on my back he went, where he could be safe.

 

love Ocean's face here- he's ridiculously excited about that rock he found, just like he is with all rocks and sticks

River trying to negotiate for "this many" more minutes playing in the water at the base of the falls

Friday we tried to go on a hike before picking Sunshine up from camp at noon, but it started pouring rain right before we got to the parking lot. Since there was no sign that it would let up, we ran some errands, and then picked up Sunshine. When we got home, I started working after lunch and completely forgot to hop on my bike until 9:15pm, when I was starting to get ready for bed. It was too late to be exercising, so that was a wash.

Saturday I went for an early morning run with C, and the weather was perfect. It’s been so hot and muggy lately, but it was cool, a bit breezy, and not humid. It felt wonderful. We were both creaking a bit- she’d just gotten back from a week in Germany visiting friends, and I was coming off two days of hilling running and hiking. But we did it and were glad we did. It’ll be a few more weeks before our shedules align again, so it was good to squeeze this run in.

 

running on back roads give you some scenic picture opportunities

The rest of the day was spent doggedly working our way through our to-do list. We managed most of the items, including kayaking on the reservoir as a family. We’d wanted to do it the week before, but stump grinding and mulch moving took too long and we were too wiped out. This time we made it happen, and we had a good time. River even tried out Sunshine’s kayak, and we’ll need to get one for him soon.

Ocean is getting too brave- several times I had to tell him to sit on his bum and keep his hands out of the water

River helped daddy paddle their kayak

then he took a turn in Sunshine's kayak

Weekly Mileage
Tuesday- 5.00 miles on the bike
1.00 miles walked on the treadmill
Wednesday- 4.13 miles walked and run- 4th of July 5k + cool down
Thursday- 4.65 miles hiked with boys
Saturday- 3.10 miles walked and run outside with C
1.04 miles kayaked
    total- 18.92 miles

10 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.14 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

115.76 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
195.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
312.90 miles total

Sunday Funny

The neighbor boys were over, and everyone was playing in the newly-refilled sand box. But apparently they weren't content keeping the sand in the box. Yes, that is sand being poured on River's back. Because isn't that what you do with sand?

June Mileage

part of the trail on our hike last Thursday

June was my best mileage month yet of the year- I more than doubled my mileage from my previous high mileage month in May. We finally managed to do 4 hikes in one month, which is the most we've managed so far this year. Now we need to start doubling up our hikes so we can still hit 52 by the end of the year.

After taking a two month hiatus from races, I ran a 5k at the beginning of June, which I think helped me get off to a good start with the rest of my workouts. I'm still not getting enough running in, but I am building up my mileage in general, so I'm heading in the right direction.

I'm especially happy that we were able to go on our first kayak expedition. The very wet spring we've had delayed us more than I'd have liked, but we did finally manage it. We have more trips planned and are looking forward to exploring new places in the kayaks.

June mileage:

4 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 2 outside run/walks + 1 race + 7 bike workouts + 1 kayak outing = 102.12 miles

52 hike challenge: 9 hikes

365 mile challenge:  190.0 bike miles + 102.88 foot miles + 1.1 kayak miles

total miles: 293.98 miles

May mileage:            

4 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 1 outside walk + 4 bike workouts = 49.95 miles

52 hike challenge: 5 hikes

365 mile challenge: 120.00 bike miles + 71.86 foot miles
total miles: 191.86 miles

April mileage:

1 treadmill workout + 1 hike + 1 outside walk + 6 bike workouts = 45.31 miles

52 hike challenge: 4 hikes

365 mile challenge: 85.0 bike miles + 56.91 foot miles
total miles: 141.91 miles

March mileage:

1 treadmill workout + 2 hikes + 1 outside walk + 1 race + 4 bike workouts = 33.43 miles

52 hike challenge: 3 hikes

365 mile challenge: 45.0 bike miles + 51.60 foot miles
total miles: 96.60 miles

February mileage:

0 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 3 outside run/walk + 1 race + 0 bike workouts = 15.56 miles

52 hike challenge: 1 hike

365 mile challenge: 25.0 bike miles + 38.17 foot miles
total miles: 63.17 miles

January mileage: 

2 treadmill workouts + 0 hikes + 4 outside run/walk + 1 race + 3 bike workouts = 47.61 miles

52 hike challenge: 0 hikes

365 mile challenge: 25.0 bike miles + 22.61 foot miles
total miles: 47.61 miles

Weekly Mileage #66: Trying to Find a Waterfall

Last week was the 11th week until my half marathon, so it was past time to buckle down and get training. I pulled out last year's training schedule since it worked pretty well, and adjusted it to fit this year's timeline. I'm doing a lot more cross training this year as I'm keeping my two days of biking each week- it's been helping my foot, and it's a nice change for my joints and muscles.


Monday I walked on the treadmill and Tuesday I rode my bike. Wednesday I walked on the treadmill and even ran for a bit. I don't love running on the treadmill, but it didn't feel too bad, all things considered.

Thursday we went for a hike, trying to find a waterfall that the boys and I set out to find last year. Last year we didn't get very close at all, due to lack of preparation on my part. This time I read up on the hikes in that area and I thought I knew how far we needed to go. I thought we found the waterfall, though Sunshine and I thought it a bit odd that we couldn't get a good view of it. We hiked back down almost to the trailhead, where the map was, and looked at it a little closer. Turns out we needed to go another .2 miles to actually get to the waterfall. I'd taken a picture of the map, but not the description below it that mentioned the .2 mile spur trail that you needed to take. Just a bit disgusting.

River crossing the stepping stones all by himself during last year's attempt

That same crossing, this year. River was standing on one of the rocks about half way across in the pic from last year.

It wasn't a complete loss though- we got to cross the river four times, which meant wading in the water each time. On the way down the kiddos splashed in the water a bit as well. So we missed out on our waterfall, but we got to play in nice, cool water on a hot day. We'll repeat this hike again soon, and finally find the waterfall.

Friday I was supposed to ride my bike, but I had another migraine, so it didn't happen. I've been getting a lot of migraines lately, and I'm really hoping it's just because of my hair. I think it's the longest it's ever been, or very close, and every time it gets close to this length I start getting headaches because of the weight. I've got a hair cut scheduled for this week, so we'll see if that makes a difference.


Saturday I was supposed to go for a run, but we got sucked into one of those yard projects that take way more time and energy than you think it will. Though it was actually two projects. We rented a stump grinder to grind down the four stumps in our parking area/future carport site. Two of the stumps were quite large in diameter, and one in particular was deep and had an extensive root system that had grown around large rocks. Add in about 4 hours of the grinder not working, and Mr M was working until dark to get the stumps taken care of.

the little boys were so excited that we got a new tractor :) we kept reminding them that we were just borrowing it

the tree in the center of the driveway was the most stubborn and had rocks all through its root system.
now it looks like a volcano of sawdust went off in our driveway. 

large rock we couldn't dig out of the root system- the grinder started grinding it down, which I'm sure wasn't good for it.
we're hoping the Bobcat we'll rent next month sometime will be able to handle it.

the other two tree stumps from the trees we took down this spring.
the fourth stump was to the side of the parking area, leftover from the first tree we took down in our driveway, years ago.

While he was working on the stumps, the kids and I decided to tackle the wood chip pile next to the RV. A year and a half ago I signed up at Chipdrop.com for tree companies to drop loads of wood chips at our house. It's free for home owners and tree companies pay to access the info. The previous Saturday was the first time we got a load delivered, and it was larger than I'd expected. And smellier. 

the original mulch pile

still a lot of mulch left at the end of the day

So we shoveled chips from the pile into the trailer, then hauled them down to the treehouse area, where we unloaded them and spread them. We managed 8 loads before calling it quits. It was hot and humid and physically demanding work- my shoulder blades haven't been this sore in I don't know how long. I did 95% of the shoveling and some of the spreading, Sunshine did about 60% of the spreading and a little shoveling, with the boys helping here and there with shoveling and spreading, and Mr M jumping in for some spreading while waiting on the grinder to start working again. An excellent upper body workout, and there's still a lot more mulch to move, but we'll take a break for a few weeks before tackling it again. In the meantime, the treehouse area looks so much better- less weedy and bare dirt-y.

the boys helped unload one trailer load :)

Sunshine helped spread all the mulch 

before we started spreading mulch

after spreading 8 loads of mulch

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2.10 miles walked on the treadmill
Tuesday- 10.00 miles on the bike
Wednesday- 2.25 miles walked and run on the treadmill
Thursday- 4.50 miles hiked
    total- 18.85 miles

9 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
1.10 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

102.88 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
190.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
293.98 miles total

Sunday Funny

super excited about that rock he's holding

I think there won't be too many more of these, and I'm going to miss them. Ocean is speaking more clearly and articulately every day.

neemp of water, deemp of water = drink of water

r dee dooo do do= r2d2

cutie hi baby = cutie pie baby

abby irtday, abby dirtday = happy birthday

haynow = candles

bye min = vitamins

whoo’in? = what are you doing?

hooper reader = super reader (from Super Why)

huppies = puppies

huggle = snuggle

unnel, nunnel = uncle

ow had = ipad

pepper noni = pepperoni 

choose the right way anna happy = choose the right way, and be happy: a line from one of his favorite primary songs. He'll go around repeating this phrase, frequently while also doing something he shouldn't :)