After waking up rested, the girls immediately needed to go to the playground. I took them there while Cara hung back and made some breakfast.
Once fueled up, we had ourselves a little bit of a game plan.
The first stop on our day took us to an L.L. Bean outlet store where Aspen got herself the hydration pack that she craved while we were back in the Delaware Water Gap. She wouldn't need it today, but that didn't matter to her. Cara also returned from browsing with two new pairs of shoes, explained that she shouldn't be left alone in an L.L. Bean outlet store while also assuring me that she doesn't need a birthday gift now.
After getting some discounted gear, we headed to the North Hampton shore. There is a state park that has plenty of parking and a wild and rocky coast that was perfect for the girls to explore and collect. It's a long shoreline with significantly more residential buildings than small town shops.
We hung out at this spot for an hour while Cara and I took turns keeping Molly off of the beach and on the sidewalk. She would get her turn to dip her paws in the cold Atlantic later on today.
Once our hour of parking was up, we drove a little bit further south to the Hampton Beaches that is much more built up and touristy. We had ourselves another hour of parking that was used to play in a huge sandy playground, walk the boardwalk, and hit up a candy store. But by the end of this round, we were past lunchtime and rest to hit the rest button.
Enter Smuttynose Brewing. Dog friendly. Delicious sandwiches. Huge chicken tenders. Good beer. It's just what was needed to get us through the afternoon.
The late afternoon was filled a mix of resting and campground playground playing. Still full from a late lunch, we decided to head back to the North Hampton State Park. Now that it was after 5 PM, dogs were allowed on the beach. It was low tide, which meant that tide pools had formed, more massive rocks that are great for climbing were exposed, and beach area was huge. The water, however, was still quite cold. Nobody went in further than past their knees.
A return to camp was around 6:30. It was a blur of showers, dinner, more playground (this time with a pair of independent children with walkie talkies), laundry, and another night of s'mores. The girls seemed to have made a friend here, which was great to see. It really seems like they growing up - maybe a little too fast for our liking.
Tomorrow is Maine and Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. We will also see some familiar faces as my parents are on the island, and have been for a couple of days now. The drive should take less than 4 hours, and we really hope that's the case. I'm sure we'll be on the road enough for a check-in that is right on target, if not sooner.
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