Wildlife Refuge

Holly and I had a fun w-e adventure at the Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge. I wanted to take her somewhere fun for her birthday, which is October 21st. However, I didn't know how mobile I'd be then due to my next chemo treatment. It is so nice to see wildlife this time of year when the leaves are changing, birds are migrating, and the autumn weather is so pleasant. We did get to see plenty of birds including some bald eagles and falcons. We had a terrific sea kayaking trip led by one of the Park Rangers who knew everything about the area and its wildlife. We spent 2 hours sea kayaking the marsh at high tide, a bargain at only $10 each. We also did a bit of hiking and running, saw their lighthouse, the wild ponies, and walked the beach area. Our hotel was very close to the park entrance and even had its own little balcony overlooking the ponies. We ate lots of seafood, too, of course, and did our part to help the local economy.

Despite getting a bit turned around in the megalopolis of Virginia Beach-Hampton-Newport News on the drive back Sunday, we made it to Merchants Mill Pond in time to do a few hours of canoeing in the swamp. We saw a few pileated woodpeckers and some nutria hiding out on a tree island. We saw lots of lillypads and cypress trees with their knees sticking up from the water and few other people. The light was amazing because we started around 5 pm when the shadows were so stunning. It was great, too, that we could just show up, rent boats, and get on the water right away with all the gear we needed. Beautiful area. Holly had been there before, and she showed me where you can camp. It wasn't crowded at all-just a few other canoers and sea kayakers enjoying the bottomland swamp like us.

Well I'm off to my doctors appt. Tomorrow, its back to the hospital for another 5 days of chemo. This will be Round 3 of 4. Inching closer to being done, done.