Sunday, July 30, 2006
Okracoke Ferry
Here we are leaving Ocracoke harbor on Monday morning enroute to Cedar Island. Due to the fact that our truck and trailer are 45 ft. total length, we paid $40.00 for the 2-1/4 hour ride.
Now, obviously, this is not our ferry but one that arrived simultaneously with our departure. As we departed, we saw the Ocracoke Light house standing guard over the harbor. Maybe not as spectacular as the taller spiral Hatteras Light, but attractive in it's own unique way.
On the cruise south at about 13 m.p.h. ( I tracked our location with my G.P.S. ) we passed another northbound ferry.
More about Cape Point N.P.S. Campground
Here are a couple more shots taken around the Cape Point N.P.S. Campground. The one on the left is obviously the building where all campers meet for serious matters. It is handicapped accessable and has a bulletin board for listing rules and announcements, etc. It also has seats for serious contemplation. It is not the place where you wash dishes!
On the right some morning glories that grow wild. I thought that the dead tree made a good focal point for the picture. There were a lot of morning glories growing there. This particular shot was taken adjacent to the entrance station at the campground.
Unique Camper
Here's a picture that I took early in the morning at Cape Point N.P.S. Campground. I wanted to get it while the residents were sleeping because I didn't know if they would object to my photographing them. No, that's not a double casket up there! It reminds me of some of the upstairs apartments that Angie & I rented during the early days of our marriage. There were actually two people and a dog sleeping up there! Note the ladder leaning against the side. It is possible that they heard that the Outer Banks are hurricane prone and wanted to be protected from the tidal surge. Anybody else ever see one like this? Let me know .................Saturday, July 29, 2006
Cape Hatteras
After three nights at Oregon Inlet, we headed south and had planned to camp at Frisco N.P.S. Campground. We had a site all picked out and then found out that to fill our water tank and dump waste water we had to go to Cape Point N.P.S. Campground about 6-8 miles north at Buxton. So........ we decided to stay at Cape Point were we have camped several times before. The campground is within spittin' distance of the Hatteras Lighthouse which you can see in the pictures.
The ocean was as beautiful as ever here. This view was taken near the point looking east at Diamond Shoal. For those who are not familiar with Diamond Shoal, this is where the warm Gulf Stream from the south meets the cold Labrador Current from the north. This has created shallow shoals extending out 8-10 miles from shore. Consequently, there have been numerous ship wrecks over the centuries. Fog is common here with the warm moist air from the south clashing with the colder air from the north. It also creates beautiful cumulus clouds on summer afternoons.
We "hung out" here for three days since there were no fish. On Sunday, we went to the Buxton United Methodist Church. The first evening that we were here, I saw a little commotion on the other side of the campsite next door which looked like someone was encountering some kind of critter. Since I am basically nosey and fascinated with critters, I went over to investigate. There is was, along the side of the road, about a 10" Cottonmouth with his snow white mouth wide open. No mistaking who he was. I discouraged killing it so one of the campers picked it up on a stick and threw it across the street into the bushes. ( Why didn't I get it's picture? )
More to come about Cedar Island ..............
North Carolina's Outer Banks
Our first 3 days were spent in the shadow of the Herbert C Bonner Bridge at Oregon Inlet N.P.S. Campground. This is one of my favorite stretches of beach for fishing and just "hanging out". No fish this time so we just "hung out". We took a nice hike for about 3-4 miles in the Nag's Head Nature Preserve. This was a nice maritime forest amongst the sand dunes and with the high temps, it was nice to walk in the shade since the flies and mosquitoes were sparse. We saw and identified a Wood Nymph butterfly with which we were not familiar. ( Why didn't I get it's picture? ). We had dinner at Sam & Omie's in Nag's Head - good shrimp! After dinner, we walked around the waterfront at Manteo since we had a little time to kill before going to see "The Lost Colony" outdoor drama. It was excellent!
Here you see our campsite at Oregon Inlet and Bob "hangin out". More to come......
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Summer Beauty
Mid summer is the time for Crepe Myrtles in this part of North Carolina. I took the picture of these at about 6:30 this evening. They are just behind the gatehouse to Seven Lakes North. The best part of this is that we get to see them everytime that we go somewhere.Click on the blog title and you can take a cyber-tour of Seven Lakes
Leave your comment and let me know what you think of them :-)Friday, July 07, 2006
Fourth of July Week
We did the Food Pantry thing on Wednesday and since Frank was at the beach with his family, I was the boss for the day. Everything operated like well oiled machinery! Only had about 160 families show up for food instead of our usual 180-200. I guess the holiday had something to do with it.
I left there and went to a dump truck wreck. The truck was lying on it's side in the ditch and the driver had gotten himself out. I was his "attendant" for the trip to the hospital. He had minor shoulder pain and was lucky to get off so easily.
We got moderately heavy rain on Thursday as a cold front moved through and our temp/humidity has gone down from 95 deg. high to 80 deg high. Much nicer with windows open at night.
I haven't taken any pictures this week except the one that Angie took of me modeling my new chaps ( birthday present ) that arrived today. So here it is............
Thanks for stopping by and say "Hello" so that I know that you were here.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Back Home Again!
We spent a week in NY and it rained every day. But the fellowship was excellent and the food was fantastic. After Nathan's graduation which we talked about in a previous blog, we did a whole bunch of stuff. On Monday, Beth, Angie and I took Nahan to Northern Frontier Camp in the Adirondaks. On Tuesday, we went to NJ and stuck our head in at Control Associates (where I worked when I had to work for a living). We saw Gary, Susan, Nicoletta, Carl, Dan, Bill, and Mark. From there, we saw Don and Evelyn and had an excellent lunch prepared by Evelyn. We gabbed a lot and solved a lot of problems. We always have a good time talking with them because we cover a lot of topics, agree on some, disagree on others, and make the world a better place in which to live........ We
took Beth & Steve out for dinner on Tuesday evening.On Wednesday, we went to the N.Y. Fireman's Museum in Hudson, N.Y. It was a great exhibit with lots of fire engines including hand pumpers & steamers from the 18th & 19th centuries. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't know where to begin. On the way back, we stopped at Clermont, the home of the Livingston family. Trivia: Robert Livingston administered the oath of office to George Washington.
Pics of the Livingston house and a view of the Hudson River from their front yard.
We took Emily out for Dinner on Wednesday evening because she had to work on Tuesday at dinner time.
We left for home on Thursday but stopped to see our former neighbors, Thad & Mildred. We had a good visit with them and this gave me an opportunity to take some pics around our Fishkill home.
On the left is our house the first winter after it was built in 1969. Shiver me timbers, it was cold there without any trees to break the wind! On the right is a picture taken on June 29, 2006 from the same angle. It was tough to get a picture that wasn't all trees! The people who live there now that were not in the original pioneers that built the neighborhood have no idea of how hardy a person had to be to live atop "Windy Watch Hill"!
