The others in the van were quietly sleeping as I lay fully awake in the early morning calm. The forecast called for heavy rain so I wanted to get out and about for a while before it hit. I walked along the river down to the beach. The sidewalk lining the jetty rocks was lined with fisherman trying to hook some dinner before the weather turned too nasty. 

Out on the ocean, there were a smattering of local surfers getting in a Saturday morning session in the rough waters near the river mouth. The wind was strong and a few stray rain drops would spray the air from time to time. I walked north along the beach where a group of surf fishermen were having a fishing tournament. I counted maybe twenty or so participants. I spoke to a few of them and they seemed to be enjoying themselves regardless of the rain. They had their trucks all tricked out to hold their fishing gear and obviously took their fishing very seriously.

When walking on Delaware beaches, it pays to watch where you step. I hadn’t noticed the horseshoe crab skeletons camouflaged among the seaweed and got an eye opening poke in the foot. Despite the stormy weather, the beach had lots of people walking along, searching for buried treasures, playing with their dogs and catching the occasional wave.

I walked back to camp and we had breakfast and straightened out the crib. We walked the dogs as it started to rain. I thought they might like it under the bridge where it was dry but the car noise spooked Cali and she went running back for the RV. If a couple of young men hadn’t seen PJ chasing her and caught her for us, she would have gone all the way home.

The rain began in earnest around midday and continued to grow in volume and wind strength as the day wore on. We holed up in our little cocoon reading books and spending time on the internet. Cali got a little nervous, so we tried out her thunder shirt. It seemed to do the job. We all layed around taking advantage of the rain as an excuse to be idle. Many of our neighbors pulled out, but others seemed to be enjoying the down time as much as we are. It’s raining and blowing late into the night and should stay this way until early afternoon tomorrow. We’ll wake in the morning and see if we feel like moving on.