Trap Pond State Park, DE I

Trap Pond State Park, DE
Monday, 26 March 2018

As I was driving away from the campground this morning, I'm sure I saw bluebirds.  The sun was on their backs as they flew away from me and they were absolutely gorgeous.  I know why they're called the bluebirds of happiness, because their beauty made me feel happy.

At one of the Quantico exits, I saw a sign directing people to the National Museum of the Marine Corps.  Not having heard of it, I looked it up and learned that it's not that old but is now one of the primary attractions in Virginia.

I saw an incredible number of plastic bags caught in trees and lining the roadway beginning in northern Virginia.  Really makes you appreciate Austin's ban on plastic bags when you remember that's what Austin used to look like, too.

I was caught off guard both by the toll I had to pay just before crossing the Bay Bridge ($4.00) and by the length of the bridge (4 1/3 miles I discovered later).  Since I refuse to pay tolls in Texas for roads we've already paid for, I'm not used to tolls.  But this part of the country's full of them so I'd better adjust.

As soon as I left the major freeways (so to speak) in Maryland, I started seeing what can only be described as bucolic farms.  Fields and fields of green from the new crops or of dead stalks from the last crops.  One field of solar panels.  One cattle feedlot - is that what they're called? - where a bunch of cows eat a lot and the smell lasts a long way down the road.

I saw quite a bit of snow in shaded places all along the highway once I left Virginia for Maryland.  I took a photo to demonstrate that nobody's been making up reports of snow.

This was one of many such piles in a WalMart parking lot where we stopped for a lunch break.  The air temp was certainly above freezing but the breeze brought down the apparent temp and those chunks of snow weren't melting very fast.  Still, I'm sure it used to be quite large.

Here at the park, the ranger said yesterday they suddenly had about 45 minutes of hail and rain and terrible winds, and then it all stopped.  No sign of it today.

I couldn't have been more wrong about this little park.  I've got several TV channels, and I've got a wi-fi signal, and I've got a phone signal.  All the comforts of home.  Although, when I checked in they suggested I move from the area I had reserved to another one because they hadn't turned on the water yet in the reserved area.  I figured water might be a good thing, so I switched.  Maybe it's because it's Monday or maybe it's the weather, but there's almost nobody in this park.  

Nice little park on a nice little lake they call a pond.  I'll get photos tomorrow.

I'm re-reading Steinbeck's Travels With Charlie for the first time in about 50 years.  Because of signs I've been seeing on the road, I was reminded of something in the book that I read yesterday: "Those states with the shortest histories and the least world-shaking events have the most historical markers."  I'll be interested to see how that plays out as I move westward, but in this part of the country, there's a lot of history.  History being defined as the story written by the winners.