It's Friday April 29th, 2022 and still no word from the carrier that the ship currently home to Skoolie has arrived. In this respect, it seems clear that we will still have to spend the weekend in a hotel.
Actually, the plan was to take Skoolie to the Abilities Expo (Handicap Fair) in New Jersey, where the Kempf company is represented as an exhibitor. Without Martine (the boss) and her super committed team, it would not have been possible for me to drive my bus on my own - but thanks to hand throttle, I can! Well, even if the Skoolie can't come along, at least we have enough time and nothing better to do. So let's go to New Jersey. About 1.5 hours from Baltimore, we reach the "fairgrounds" and realize that it is probably a very small fair. No comparison to Rehacare or similar.
Lennox is probably glad it's not 10 packed halls, but I was hoping for a bit more. So we stroll through the hall and see if there is anything interesting to discover, but to be honest without success. At least we can find Martine (at the Kempf booth) and are happy to meet again, chat a bit and are repeatedly asked about Lennox, what a great and handsome dog he is. And yes, I have to say, I'm very proud, he doesn't have to hide behind an assistance dog, he behaves splendidly. In the afternoon, we received the long-awaited message from the forwarding agent that we can come pick up the bus on Monday. Finally!!! But now we have to get through the weekend.
We spend the evening again in a very outdated 4-star hotel. For dinner, the Indian across from the hotel was recommended to us. We were forewarned that the place is not very attractive but the food is said to be very good. And I can confirm that, it was the best meal since arriving in the USA. The next day we paid Martine another little visit to the fair and I treated myself to a couple of new swivel castors, of course based on the color of Skoolie.
After that we made our way to Ocean City. There we stayed for a change in a very small but fine and quite new 4 star hotel, which was located on an offshore island. And so the last evening round with Lennox led us directly to the beach. I was enthusiastic about the 3-minute walk, but not that there was no jetty on site and Seb had to pull me through the sand so that I too could see the sea. At the latest on the way back he cursed me... sorryyyy! But a nice view was badly needed and Lennox enjoyed sprinting through the sand. So 2 out of 3 happy, that wasn't so bad after all...
After a light breakfast we headed to the first national park, the Assategue Island National Seashore, which lures with great beaches and wild horses. Thanks to our "Annual Pass - America, the beautiful" we didn't pay admission. First, we drove around the site by car to get an overview and to see where wheelchair users have access. There was very little going on in the park itself, which is great in itself, but everything (bar, shop, etc.) was closed due to the "off-season". Overall, the area was not very large and we saw very few wild horses and not galloping through the sand on a white beach as we had hoped, but grazing quite unromantically in the parking lot at the roadside.
At least the jetty to the beach rewarded with a beautiful view and a few of my favorite photos were taken.
In addition, today was already Sunday and so we hoped to have our last night in the hotel. So, back to "beloved" Baltimore in another 4 star hotel that has gotten old with at least a new bathroom that is actually wheelchair accessible. I had gotten into the habit of only booking "normal" rooms via the platforms and asking for a barrier-free one on site, because we actually got away cheaper that way. Doesn't always work, but more and more often. It should be the last night in a hotel for the time being!
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