Sand, Sand everywhere!
Greetings friends! Today is Friday and our last day in the Outer Banks. The past two days have been filled with very hot, very humid weather! Wednesday afternoon we were able to make it up to Duck and Corolla to check things out. It is a beautiful area. Very different from Rodanthe. Here it is just dunes and water. Up at the north end of OBX, there are more trees and different architecture.
We kept venturing north on following Rt. 12, where, unexpectedly, the road ended. I didn't realize that rt. 12 actually continues north but on the beach! So we aired down to 18 psi and started out onto the sand. Lexi enjoyed the bumping and bobbing that the Jeep did as we followed existing tire paths and make our own. We went up the beach about 7-8 miles. To our surprise, there are homes up that far on the beach. Being the inquisitive type that I am, I wondered how stuff was delivered and the infrastructure was serviced. As we were heading back, my questions were answered. It happens just like any other location but much slower. A flat bed hauler was making its way up the beach with a load of lumber to a construction site.
While we were out on the beach we hopped out a few times and found some nice shells for Lexi's collection that she has been amassing this week. We also got to see what happens when you venture out on to the sand in 2 wheel drive... you get stuck bad. A GMC Jimmy was down to its rear bumper in sand. Half of the wheels were under the sand. There were a bunch of people digging them out so we just motored by in our awesome Jeep!
I guess the big thing down here are big trucks! I have never seen so may lifted trucks and big tires as we did on the beach here. We saw one truck that was so lifted that there was NO WAY it was street legal. The bottom of its door was at the top of mine!
After our afternoon on the beach we headed back towards the campsite with a pitstop at the local Walmart to pick up a few essentials. We had dinner and called it an early night.
Thursday morning we had to move our campsite over one number. KOA told us we had to do this because there were new campers coming in that have that specific site reserved. So we reluctantly pulled up the stakes of the tent and attempted to move it over one site. Well, this was more easily said than done. With 15-20 mph winds which have been constant here, it turned the tent into a kite. Thankfully someone, came over and gave us a hand while I staked the tent down. Here we are Friday morning and no one has shown up yet at our old spot. Figures...
Thursday we ventured south to check out Hatteras and the lighthouse. It is amazing that they were able to move the lighthouse down the island that far without any damage. At the old lighthouse site close to the beach, they have granite blocks that had the names of all the lighthouse keeper that kept the light active. It was continually occupied by a keeper for 133years. Very cool.
After some time at the lighthouse, we ventured back out to the beach with the Jeep and to Hatteras point. The point is very cool. It is where Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It is a very violent location. The waves constantly crash together in a violet fury. We ventured back up the sound side of the island and picked out a somewhat isolated location where we had lunch and scoured the tide pools for some additional shells for the kiddos collection. While we were out there we checked out some of the sea turtle nest locations that were roped off. If it wasn't roped off, there is no way you could have told it was a nest.
We then headed back to camp to make dinner. During and after dinner we had a "little" disciplinary problem with Lexi. She has been so good on this trip so far that I guess it was due for a little breakdown. After that was over and she was back on an even keel, we walked over to the sound side of the island to watch the kiteboarders and ended the night with a DQ blizzard!
Today we are just going to bum around a little and do a little OBX shopping for the wife.
Well campers, that's all for today. As KOA says: It's not camping it's KAMPING!
We kept venturing north on following Rt. 12, where, unexpectedly, the road ended. I didn't realize that rt. 12 actually continues north but on the beach! So we aired down to 18 psi and started out onto the sand. Lexi enjoyed the bumping and bobbing that the Jeep did as we followed existing tire paths and make our own. We went up the beach about 7-8 miles. To our surprise, there are homes up that far on the beach. Being the inquisitive type that I am, I wondered how stuff was delivered and the infrastructure was serviced. As we were heading back, my questions were answered. It happens just like any other location but much slower. A flat bed hauler was making its way up the beach with a load of lumber to a construction site.
While we were out on the beach we hopped out a few times and found some nice shells for Lexi's collection that she has been amassing this week. We also got to see what happens when you venture out on to the sand in 2 wheel drive... you get stuck bad. A GMC Jimmy was down to its rear bumper in sand. Half of the wheels were under the sand. There were a bunch of people digging them out so we just motored by in our awesome Jeep!
I guess the big thing down here are big trucks! I have never seen so may lifted trucks and big tires as we did on the beach here. We saw one truck that was so lifted that there was NO WAY it was street legal. The bottom of its door was at the top of mine!
After our afternoon on the beach we headed back towards the campsite with a pitstop at the local Walmart to pick up a few essentials. We had dinner and called it an early night.
Thursday morning we had to move our campsite over one number. KOA told us we had to do this because there were new campers coming in that have that specific site reserved. So we reluctantly pulled up the stakes of the tent and attempted to move it over one site. Well, this was more easily said than done. With 15-20 mph winds which have been constant here, it turned the tent into a kite. Thankfully someone, came over and gave us a hand while I staked the tent down. Here we are Friday morning and no one has shown up yet at our old spot. Figures...
Thursday we ventured south to check out Hatteras and the lighthouse. It is amazing that they were able to move the lighthouse down the island that far without any damage. At the old lighthouse site close to the beach, they have granite blocks that had the names of all the lighthouse keeper that kept the light active. It was continually occupied by a keeper for 133years. Very cool.
After some time at the lighthouse, we ventured back out to the beach with the Jeep and to Hatteras point. The point is very cool. It is where Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It is a very violent location. The waves constantly crash together in a violet fury. We ventured back up the sound side of the island and picked out a somewhat isolated location where we had lunch and scoured the tide pools for some additional shells for the kiddos collection. While we were out there we checked out some of the sea turtle nest locations that were roped off. If it wasn't roped off, there is no way you could have told it was a nest.
We then headed back to camp to make dinner. During and after dinner we had a "little" disciplinary problem with Lexi. She has been so good on this trip so far that I guess it was due for a little breakdown. After that was over and she was back on an even keel, we walked over to the sound side of the island to watch the kiteboarders and ended the night with a DQ blizzard!
Today we are just going to bum around a little and do a little OBX shopping for the wife.
Well campers, that's all for today. As KOA says: It's not camping it's KAMPING!
I was wondering how you were doing! It sounds like your trip has been terrific so far. Have a good time traveling today and be safe. Looking forward to your next adventure.
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