Pok-o-moke

I’m procrastinating doing homework. I’m really good at procrastinating; not so good at doing homework. However, I’m happy to report that I’m getting 97%! (yes, I have obsessively calculated my grade after every assignment). Grades matter little (to me anyways) nonetheless it makes me supremely satisfied to get an A. Because for me it comes from plain old hard work. I have never (ever!) been an A student and what doesn’t come naturally requires effort, so I guess my efforts are paying off. Now, if only I had chosen a lucrative career…heh heh. So, yes I’m procrastinating and Lance is away which means the house is pin-drop quiet and noone trying to get me to play Speedminton or drink beer or both. Even Bob is relishing the quiet, resting this evening on the back porch awaiting the appearance of his nemesis, aka The Cricket II. Cricket I’s fate befell him a few weeks ago when he unfortunately became a delicious (and nutritious!) appetizer to “someone’s” nightly dinner of Iam’s.

Lance and I are taking a long weekend in Anaheim/San Diego before I start a new job on July 7th. My 32 year old boy finally will ride the manufactured splendor that is Space Mountain. Feeling so-so re: the job. Freelancing was really, really, really nice. Not the most challenging work I’ve ever done but I’ll take the flexibility and independence that comes with working for yourself over that any day. Hope that someday I can find a way back to working for MB Inc. So now I’ll get a regular paycheck (no more invoicing – yea!) and benefits, lots o’ time off, blah blah blah, but I’m finding myself feeling sad as I return to regular work. I think it’s the control thing; I feel like I am ceding all that power I had over my schedule to someone/something else. It’s tough to give up. But march on little soldier. It’s a good opportunity, good title, mostly all good, a way to kill some time and make a bit o money for the next year.

Well, onto our camping trip. We were all set to head to the White Mountains in New Hampshire but forecasts called for rain, rain, rain. Being no fans of soggy camping, we scoped out where we could avoid the rain. Our search led us to 2 possible places, Janes Island on the southeastern tip of Maryland and nearby Pokomoke River, a cypress swamp-y river.

I drove us out on Thursday through NY and onto the NJ Turnpike, sharing the road with a million semis. Ran into some bad traffic due to awful accidents Large Marge style; totally crunched cars; a semi trying to come to a stop with a sedan smoking and crunched under its bed. Scary stuff the legendary Turnpike is known for. We made it through that and went all the way through Delaware, straight down the middle of the state. DE is surprisingly flat, rural, and vacant. A lot of land without a lot of people or much of anything going on (except a casino and speedway). We came upon the city of Delmar which was named as such because:

The Town of Delmar was founded in October 1859 with the extension of the Delaware Railroad to the southern boundary of Delaware. The Transpeninsular Line was responsible for the founding of this unique bi-state town because the Charter of the Delaware Railroad Company permitted only the building of a railroad within the State of Delaware and the charter of the corresponding railroad company in Maryland permitted only the laying of railroad track within the State of Maryland. Thus, in 1859, the two respective railroads met and the Town of Delmar was born. The name of Delmar was derived for this railroad center from the states whose line it straddles -DELaware and MARyland.

Cute, eh? So in Delmar, the rural/small townscape became increasingly, how to say, run down, 1960’s strip malls, odd shops, a GOLDEN CORRAL. It felt eerie. L & I started to discuss how Sou’than our destination might be, and a quick stop for groceries and gas revealed much. I believe it took the Valero gas pump 20 minutes to pump one tank of gas (I’m not kidding) and we got some sideways looks from the locals…picture us young White folks in city street wear with our bright orange Honda loaded up with more brightly colored kayaks and CT license plates. My how America changes from state to state. At several points, we had people point to car roof while they discussed these new fangled boats sitting atop our car. These people live in a prime kayaking area! OK, I don’t want to give into the typical southern stereotype (but it is fun, isn’t it?). The Food Lion grocery store (L reminded me they are the chain well-known for carrying expired meat and dairy) didn’t have maps because “they just kept getting stolen so we don’t carry ‘em no more”.

We made it to Jane’s Island to discover 1) it was a perfect kayaking destination – with special kayak routes mapped and signed in the tidal marsh, and 2) the campground was awful – no private sites whatsoever, just a few cute cabins that weren’t available. We headed onto Pokomoke River State Park and found a thickly wooded and mostly empty campground right along the river. Success! The river was great for kayaking, slow current but wide and swampy with some cool streams to explore….the only way I can describe it is DELIVERANCE. You know what I mean…..

Southern Maryland is also very rural, lots of poultry farms, the Perdue family is from this area and subsequently has a huge presence. Chicken coops everywhere! The landscape reminded me of southern Minnesota & northern Iowa, ton of farms, pretty depressed little towns, friendly but wary folks, and muddy lakes & rivers. We popped into a flea market and were accosted as got out of the car by a guy with a healthy southern accent wondering what we were doing in Pokomoke City “all the way from Connecticut”. We pointed to the kayaks and he excitedly told us some good places to put in and the better parts of the river to kayak, then gave us coupons for free coffee at the local coffee shop. About 20 minutes later at said coffee shop, he found us again bearing maps and brochures of other nearby kayaking spots. The coffee shop was the most perfect small town coffee shop I’ve ever seen, right off the set of Gilmore Girls……

Oh, and we stopped at the Golden Corral on the way home. Not what it used to be....they didn't even have fatty steak or Texas toast anymore. A huge disappointment :)

Very fun trip to the “south”, confederate flags and all. Happy 4th everyone!