Ep. 380: Assateague Island National Seashore | Maryland wild horses RV travel camping kayaking

[@lessworkmorecamping7912]

Great video Mark, I know the weather wasn't the Greatest but it looks like you made the most of it. Thanks for the shout out, Debbie and I had a great time hanging out with you guys. Take care my friend and until our paths cross again, be safe and happy camping and exploring!!!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you LWMC! We'll see you down the road, take care.

[@GardcoreLegend]

Assateague Island is very beautiful, having the wild horses roaming certainly brings a different element to visiting the island.

[@GrandAdventure]

It sure does, Dan. This was one of our most highly anticipated stops this season, at least for me.

[@gypsymountaineers3215]

Very nice! Showing me another place I want to go! You and Jim have me beat. We have just been so busy lately. We are taking the F250 Sunday and pulling an enclosed trailer with supplies to North Carolina in a caravan of 3-4 more trucks and box trailers. Jim’s knee is doing great. Miss you guys! Good video, Marc.

[@GrandAdventure]

That's FANTASTIC! 💖💖 On behalf of everyone in W NC, thank you for doing that. In two weeks we'll share our tale of being chased out of NC by Helene. We'll see you soon.

[@gina50gina]

This video has inspired me to want to explore this island seashore! There is something special about this place, and the way nature has created the island. I'm so glad you were able to get out in the kayak amongst the marshy parts and to see that gorgeous eagle! Suzane

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Suzane! It's an amazing place well worth your visit. It was a highlight of our entire season.

[@grillinandchillinwithdeb]

Very cool, till we meet again my friend. Safe travels❤

[@GrandAdventure]

Safe travels, and we'll see you down the road.

[@Thomas-sp1pp]

THANK YOU MARK,always enjoy your videos, you research on the areas you visit and you narrative, very enlightening and enjoyable, nice job. THANK YOU..THOMAS

[@GrandAdventure]

Thanks as always, Tom! Much appreciated.

[@snakemanmike]

Anytime you go to the coast in the eastern US in late summer or Fall, you have to watch the weather forecast. Tropical storms and hurricanes are always a threat.

[@GrandAdventure]

Indeed they are, Mike, and as East Coast natives and former Floridians, too, we know all too well. In this case, though, it was perhaps the most frustrating timing for me personally.

[@nationalparksprincess3216]

That was wonderful. I enjoyed all the history as well as the beautiful sights. I am glad you got to kayak 😊

[@GrandAdventure]

Thanks so very much, NPP! Me too.

[@dianabalto]

I love Horses !

[@GrandAdventure]

There's definitely something about wild horses that captures the imagination.

[@geraldsouthard7092]

Thanks for the great video Marc. It brought back many great memories of camping there about 7 years ago. Safe travels.

[@GrandAdventure]

Happy to be able to bring you back, Gerald. Thanks, and safe travels to you as well!

[@joyces3550]

Thanks Marc, great video! Beautiful States up there! Safe travels!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Joyce!

[@SevenBears1]

Great looking dunes and beaches . Too bad about the weather. Thanks GA

[@GrandAdventure]

It was certainly a bummer, J, but at least we caught a break at the end.

[@daviscrt]

Great video like always. Thanks again Marc. Don

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you as always, Don!

[@gcamarillo63]

Great

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you!

[@JerseyGypsy]

Looks so beautiful!!! It’s on my to do list! Thank you for showing me around!

[@GrandAdventure]

Happy to have you along, JG. This would be an easy drive for you, and well worth it. It's a true gem of the Mid-Atlantic, and unique to the region in so many ways, not the least of which is to be able to see one of the area's barrier islands still in its natural state.

[@timothyjohnson8036]

Glad you got the kayak out.. It was a great video you did a great job Marc..

[@GrandAdventure]

@@timothyjohnson8036 Thank you so very much!

[@Thesaltymedic36]

I’m from Maryland and we use to have a condo in Ocean City on 15th, I love OC and the boardwalk. My picture on my profile is in OC on 15th street beach 😂. I know you’re broadcasting this later as we just left and it’s Car show week. Place was PACKED (video on my channel) and Assateague island is great. The horses 🐎 will open coolers, bags, anything for food 😂. You can almost always get a dry campsite there but the hook ups are a challenge like you said. Glad you had a good time 👍🏼

[@GrandAdventure]

@@Thesaltymedic36 thanks! We'll check out your car show vid. When I was a kid, family friends had an OC condo at The Quay. We went a few times.

[@jonathanhart2976]

Love Assateague, we were there last week.

[@GrandAdventure]

Cool, Jonathan! Hope your visit was as enjoyable as ours was.

[@gorrdd]

Thanks Marc... really neat area that I had not heard of before. Glad you had some nice weather and were able to get out on the water and secure your footage for this week. Those salt marshes looked very interesting and scenic to explore. Those two horses looked very upset at each other for not getting into that hatchback. Horsing around dialogue: "Now see what you've done... we'll never get into the back of that hatch. I had my eyes on something and you just pushed your way in and they closed it up immediately... You really need to learn better finesse at this. I'm never going hunting with you again!" 😂 Gord

[@GrandAdventure]

Yep, I can hear the conversation now. 😆 This was one of our stops this season that I most highly anticipated, and we got so lucky when that forecast for Friday busted and the sun broke out. We had actually gotten a little footage the previous week when we drove down from our previous stop in Delaware for a sneak preview during gorgeous weather -- it was only about 25 miles away. We got a little more footage on Sunday afternoon when we arrived, but then things went south immediately thereafter. It was cloudy, windy and rainy all the way from Monday afternoon to Friday.

[@gorrdd]

@@GrandAdventure Wow... that's amazing you got all that in, in spite of the week long rain. Glad that all worked out. My friends in New Port Richey, Florida... just north of Tampa, made it through Milton with only the loss of power. They got the rain bands but not too much wind. Haven't see the reports on Sarasota or Siesta Key. I suspect SK may have gotten washed away... or at the least covered up in more sand. The whole area has been destroyed by these storms. After this it will be like Galveston Island... Stilt City! Gord

[@GrandAdventure]

@@gorrdd it's heartbreaking for sure. Now that the sun has come up I suspect we'll start to learn much more about Sarasota-area damage rather quickly.

[@dougbevell7153]

Another great video Marc...

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Doug!

[@laughingram7287]

Glad the weather cleared up for you enough to go kayaking at Assateague. Thanks for filming the Bald Eagles. What was under water that you focused on? Those were some big crab cakes!! Ram 👍🏼👍🏾

[@GrandAdventure]

Those items underwater were two massive horseshoe crabs, the size of helmets. The crab cakes were exceptional.

[@e-square9976]

Cool place even if weather didn’t cooperate 100%. Just got around to viewing this weeks episode. We were in Letchworth with limited internet for a week. Amazing place and history. This weeks episode is Classic GA excellence! Your research and documentation is outstanding! We so appreciate your hard work and your honesty.❤ Side note: I’m hoping one day you might create an update Vlog when you’re in ‘downtime’ RV travel mode, if there is such a thing for being full timers, on how you route plan, what systems (GPS or otherwise) you use when you do not have online service and the pitfalls. Realizing nothing is perfect, We’ve tried multiple systems, sometimes in combination, each with underwhelming performance at times. Anyway. Travel safe! Hope to see you on the road one day.

[@GrandAdventure]

Thanks so much! Letchworth is on our radar for a future visit. Interesting idea, and thanks for that as we're always struggling for content during the winter months. For a short answer now, though, we primarily use Google Maps, downloading offline maps from Google when we know we'll be traveling through areas with sparse cell service. We also use Sygic, albeit sparingly, for which we've already downloaded all of the US and Canada to our phones for offline use. At times, depending on the location, we'll supplement it with topo maps, NPS maps, and National Geographic Trails Illustrated all via Gaia GPS, kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGiodKCko81nl5o . All three software packages (Google, Sygic & Gaia) are compatible with Android Auto, so instead of our phones we're displaying them on the big 12" infotainment display in the F-350. Perfect example: we're about to pack up and head for the 446-mile Natchez Trace Parkway, which we'll be driving all of next week. With Gaia, we'll be able to display and follow our progress right on the National Park Service visitor map, to alert us to key points of interest ahead. We can run that concurrently with Google Maps displaying our route, and switch back and forth just by touching the app icons on Android Auto on the truck's screen. We too hope to cross paths someday.

[@e-square9976]

Thanks Marc. We use GAIA and google map as well but for whatever reason this trip we could not get turn by turn to work proper. Probably user error but don’t know what I did differently in route creation. Plus I was concerned about low bridge heights on the backroads when I made a wrong turn on some of those NY state roads. I also have the F350 big screen but run Apple CarPlay, when it worked it was great….not so much this past trip. I’ll look into Sygic as I’m not familiar. Thanks for reply and safe and fuel mileage be with you.

[@livingwithgracerv]

Nice video. We”ve not been to the Maryland side of the island. But we’ve been to the Virginia side twice. Beautiful area.

[@GrandAdventure]

The two sides are very different, and to be completely candid we much preferred the Maryland side. If you can score an Oceanside Drive-In Campground site, do it.

[@stephenmarechek2753]

Well I see you had the crab cakes and IPA!!😂

[@GrandAdventure]

What, that's not a requirement? 😁

[@stephenmarechek2753]

@@GrandAdventure That was an order!

[@sgtwrench69]

I hope you are well monetized on here your productions are beautiful

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you! "Well monetized" is a relative phrase. 😉It certainly helps to defray our travel expenses, but not enough to quit the day job.

[@Kayte...]

It's a mosquito haven so maybe the wind was a silver lining.

[@GrandAdventure]

They were plentiful and hungry on the bay side. We didn't really experience much of a problem on the ocean side, but perhaps because this was the third week of September?

[@Kayte...]

@@GrandAdventure good to know. Reports of their voracious appetite has kept me from visiting despite living only 5-6 hours away.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@Kayte... do go, but apparently pick the month carefully. It was truly spectacular.

[@Kayte...]

@@GrandAdventure yes, your vid has convinced me. Thanks and wishes for good weather.

[@timschultz8514]

I haven't noticed your front hitch kayak support in any of your recent videos. Are you still using it. I was thinking of doing the same thing to my rig.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@timschultz8514 with our F350, between the long bed and the crew cab I didn't need it with the new truck. If you have a truck that is shorter than our aircraft carrier, the T-rack works wonderfully well.