In "THE FIRST STATE"

 "The First State" or Delaware is our current location. This morning we took off from Lakewood, NJ heading towards the coast. After only about 2hrs. we reached Cape May and the ferry point terminal for the Cape May - Lewes ferry. Our reservation was for 1pm, but we were early and they took us across on the 9:30 departure. 

               At ferry terminal, waiting for the ferry

Now, there has always been something special with being on a ship for me. A sense of excitement, anticipation and fun fills me, and so I went around "exploring" the ferry, though I have used it 2 times earlier. 

           "All aboard" Looking down to our rig

        Part of the ferry terminal buildings at Cape May

                 2 tug boats beside the ferry dock

                     Heading out

                Part of the Cape May coast line

                                                                                                      Bea looking for birds

                   Ferry leaving Lewes again

I had to buy a cup of coffee which I took with me back into the van where Dixie had fallen into a deep sleep, despite a considerable noise level from the ship's engines. Bea kept her camera directed towards seabirds, hoping to discover the rare species, she hasn't seen before. She has become a whole-hearted birder.

So when the ferry arrived at Lewes, DE it was only 11am. We had planned to make this a relaxing day by checking in at Henlopen State Park, but check-in was not before 1pm. Meanwhile, we parked in the ferry terminal parking lot, had lunch until it was 12 noon. A try to call the State Park went unsuccessful, so we just took a chance and went the 2miles up to the park entrance. Registration was at the Camp store where the friendly lady thought she could park us in a 35ft-long site. But that turned out to be impossible with the trailer being 32ft and the van another 20ft. At the end we got one of the biggest sites at over 120ft, even though we had to pay another 10bucks.

After setting up camp we left with Dixie for a walk - destination: beach. 

The trail leads through a beautiful forest area with pine trees, some of which are really huge. After crossing a road the trail goes down to a beautiful beach. Quite a big surf was crashing onto the shore, the whole scenery absolutely stunningly beautiful.

 

BUT it was hot. Even the water temps are amazingly high, around 66F, I guess. (I almost got my feet wet) In the distance we saw a bunch of surfers in the water. A lot of people were here too, all enjoying the beautiful unseasonably warm weather.

Getting back to camp we were soaked, and Dixie had her tongue out. After a change of clothes to a more summerly outfit, we recovered from the hot walk in the shade of the trees in front of our rig.

The stay at Henlopen State Park will be a lasting positive memory with us.