One final post for this “50 Year Sojourn”. I want to thank all of the folks who joined me, helped me, followed along, and donated money to the causes. Thanks so much for your generosity and friendship, it is greatly appreciated.
In response to the question, what was my favorite part (which I have been asked often), the best for me was that it morphed from “my trip” to “our trip”. It was great to see friends and family getting truly excited for the trip and their parts of it. I spoke with many folks on my return who told me of waking up and first going to their computer to check in on the blog from the night before (OK, not before their coffee but the second thing anyway) to see how we did. The blog comments from friends and folks I did not know were tremendous and helped to spur us on. I am truly honored that so many of you spent time with me on the journey through being there or on the blog. I can’t say thank you enough.
Regarding the Bay, it did not disappoint. It was as beautiful as I had hoped. We saw more underwater grasses than I could have expected and other than a short stretch crossing Fishing Bay/Tangier Sound the water was a luxurious green color, the color known to bay regulars that you usually only see in the main stem of the Bay during the summer months. The wildlife was abundant; our final count of eagles was near 70. Blue crabs and fish were spotted breaking the surface or just below on every stretch of the trip. We encountered beautiful white sand beaches in the lower section and long stretches of stone strewn ones in the northern reaches.
The weather, as always played a pivotal role in this adventure and in most any that you might undertake. It was interesting when I mentioned making this trek in mid August as many folks gave a sideways glance stating concerns from thunderstorms, hurricanes, heat, etc. As I was researching this trip every indicator; tide, wind, temperatures pointed me to this timeframe. Winds during this time average 8 mph out of the NE, early enough to avoid most hurricanes, and temperatures steadily drop throughout the month. If there are thunderstorms they generally occur in the evening while I am off the water. As we set sail on that Monday morning in Havre de Grace the 10 day forecast was for light winds out of the NE the entire time. As I mentioned in the blog the entire first week was idyllic, it wasn’t until the middle weekend that we started to see some unstable weather which I believe was caused by the hurricane in the gulf and which lasted through the end of the trip.
All this being said, it was great to again be in tune with Mother Nature and her daily burps and farts. Sitting at a desk you lose touch with the natural rhythms of nature, the twice daily tides, the slight change in angle or velocity of the wind as a harbinger of things to come, and the rising and setting of the sun as bookends to the day. This is what I had been missing and wanted to reconnect with. Well done Mother Nature.
My optimism in people was reaffirmed as well. All of the heated rhetoric coming out of DC would lead one to believe that one is either for us or against us. I hold to my optimistic belief that folks are generally decent and that our similarities aree much greater than our differences. Along the way, so many people who I had just met helped us along to a successful trip. From the friends at Echo Hill and Rock Hall to family at Kilby Point to the couple on Hooper’s that lent us their car and the fellow who rented us his house for the night to the man in the community of Cedar View who drove me 45 minutes to Cape Charles and the many in between, thank you. The trip would not have been a success without your help.
The lasting impression that I take away from the trip is that my spirit needs these types of adventures on a more regular basis. I encourage you to follow suit with your own adventure and know that I am already planning my next.
Thanks again to all who have been a part of this trip. I hope I get to follow along and help you on your next adventure.
Lou
