Wednesday, September 26, 2012

       We took it easy yesterday and did a little sight seeing in the area. We had been through the area many times but never stopped to see anything. Had briefly stopped at the Hatteras lighthouse long ago but didn't stay. We explored the NPS site at Hatteras and found they also have a nice RV park, although it is already closed for the season but in the process we discovered another small British Cemetery out by the Lighthouse. Who knew and the sign said there are 500 such small cemeteries from WW2 along the coast. Maybe another search project for the future.                        G
Looking out at the ocean at Ocracoke

Ocracoke Ponies

Sunset in Frisco over the Sound

It's going down

The bright reds are from the ash from the western fires

It's never the same

and gone

This was just before sunset, see the red sky

From the dunes in Ocracoke , NPS site

Monday, September 24, 2012

                Today we left the NPS site at Ocracoke and headed just a little north on the island to Frisco. Have been wanting to try a new RV park there for awhile. Frisco woods is a nice place to stay. There are many Sound side sites and they also have a number of canal front spots. We didn't have a reservation and there is a wind surfing circuit here so we have one of the inland sites and they are huge. No problem with parking both vehicles in the same spot. On the ferry ride off the Island I once again got to talk to one of the ferry operators and he said that the service to Ocracoke may be suspended from Hatteris soon. The channel has really closed up due to the sand bar shifting and that they had actually stopped the ferry service on Friday for awhile because a charter boat had run aground in the middle of the channel and all traffic stopped for 6 hours. I started the talk with him when I noticed him holding a long pole with numbers on it. He said that when it hits 8 feet that's all the water the ferry can draw as the channel is only 9 feet deep now. I feel for the residents of Ocracoke as their life blood are the tourists that go there every day. When we were getting of the ferry at 11:30 the wait to go to the island was over 3 hours. We will be here for four days and then up to Kitty Hawk for 2 weeks.                                                                              G

Saturday, September 22, 2012

     Well we had another good day Of fishing. Not a lot of fish but they sure were bigger. Took almost fifteen minutes to bring in the sting ray and he almost took all I had to fight him. He was a little over 18 inches across and I figure he was about 6 pounds. Like dragging in and old tire. The day was really warm and very sunny in the AM but we picked up some light clouds in the afternoon. As I write this it is still 78 degrees with a stiff wind from the south. Will give it another go at fishing tomorrow and then another ferry ride on Monday up to I think to Frisco. But who knows, that's two days away. Anyhow that's Monday and who can say what will be by then.                                  G
Some of our morning neighbors

Just another beautiful day at the beach

Small flounder

All the fish are not small

I thought I had caugh a whale, Just an 18 inch sting ray

The ferry ride over, theonly unhappy people had NJ tags, I took up 6 car spaces
T

Friday, September 21, 2012

      Hi Every One,
We had a great day of fishing today. We caught over two dozen fish today and only stopped when we ran out of bait. The water here is still warm and there were hardly no waves to speak of. The air here is still in the 80's with a nice breeze. The beaches are still pretty empty and the NPS campground is also pretty quiet. Meet some nice people from Indiana and Minnesota  while here. Everyone we meet here is just Happy to be alive and only want to be that way. No frowns at all just smiles, what a great way to live. Haven't taken many pictures as of late, maybe some soon.                                     G

Thursday, September 20, 2012

     Spent most of the day yesterday waiting for the ferry to Ocracoke. It seems that there has been a lot of changes in the depth of the channel and there are no Army Corp Dredges available . No one knows why, just another goverment oh shit I guess. A normal ride from Waves to here should have taken about 2 hours not almost 5. OH well who can say what is normal anymore. It seems that most of the drivers are either on the phone here or are just brain dead. The last few trips we have made has me wondering why most drivers are doing well under the speed limit. This of course does not include the Northeast corridor. There 20 over is the norm. We arrived at the NPS campground and of course there are no services at the campsites. But for 11 dollars a night we can manage just fine. When the sun is out we do not need to run the generator and with our experence of all the years doing our Living History managing our water use is no problem. We are about 100 yards from the Ocean and the sound of the waves is really nice. Made for a good nights sleep. Don't know what we will do today but it doesn't really matter, it is just beautiful here.                                                G

Monday, September 17, 2012

    Yea, two days of fishing and didn't catch anything. There are no bad days of fishing only bad days doing something else. We were on the beach for a total 9 hours fishing and saw only 4 people the whole time. The weather was beautiful and the water was 78 degrees with a nice warm breeze. Who could complain. We did some bike riding earlier today and we walked on the beach early in the day today. It was a great way to start the day and got us moving again after a long period of not doing much in the way real exercise. We are looking forward to moving soon down to the NPS park soon , it will be a lot cheaper and we will be right on the ocean this time. Where we are now is on the Sound and is great for sun sets but we are really looking forward to some great sun rises.                   G
Us and the sand crabs are the only ones on the beach
No people for miles
A great day at the beach
Just me and the ocean
 
Sand crop circles
Yea too much stuff





Saturday, September 15, 2012

        Had a great day yesterday at Howard's Pub on Ocracoke Island and a ferry ride that always make for a perfect ending  to the day . The view on the ferry is always great and is one of our favorite thing to do when we are in the Hatteras area. Today we finally went for our fishing licenses and found out that they had gone down in price from the last time we purchased them. So I guess they figured out that the tourists are the ones who buy all the new tackle and spend money on all the fishing odd ends. Had a nice walk on the beach at the RV park and before we knew it we had walked 3 miles in no time at all. found a great place to fish north of the new inlit and got a good look at the Army Corp Bridge. WOW.                                                                                                                              G 
 A ferry ride to Ocracoke Island to get lunch at Howards Pub
 Their hard to see but wind surfers behind our RV site
Another great sunset

Thursday, September 13, 2012

     Well another beautiful day in the Outer Banks. Did some much needed odd ends on the RV today. One of the major landing gears in the front finally stopped working yesterday and I finally broke down and called an RV repair man and he arrived today and looked at it and scratched his head and asked if I had any info on the unit. At that point I paid him for his service call and pulled it apart and fixed it myself. Not to hard just a really tight spot to work in. Lessons learned, trust myself and just do it. Also had to repair one of the rear motorised jacks. Bad switch lead to burned wires in motor. Was and easy fix that took way more time than expected, OH well , if I had not tried to fix the old switch and just used the new one I had it would have taken less time but not as much fun as trying to do the impossible with the old one. The weather here is just amazing. Clear blue and very sunny with a great breeze. As I write this there are on the horizon a few clouds coming in but they won't ruin the sunset. We plan on getting our fishing licenses tomorrow and hope to be on the beach in the after noon and do our our usual catch and release. It's just fun to do the cast and tug as Jeff would say. On the way down we finally got to see the new inlet that the storms cut in last year. One of those Army Corp temp bridges that leave you wondering if you are going to make it to the other side.          G
 The view from our window , Halloween loves the view too
 Sunset from our RV site in Waves NC
Me watching the sunset and wondering what everybody else is doing right now.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

      Hello once again from the road. The State of PA did their best to keep us from reaching NC today and they won. We started out really well at a good time and had reached the NE extension by 9:30 and went a whole 2 miles before we hit traffic. The state once again proved that they can screw up almost everything they are involved in. WE hit the first warning sign that there may be a few delays due to construction after sitting in traffic for 30 minutes. After that it was all down hill and we managed to get off at Lansdale some 2 hours later. That's right, 2 hours to go 15 miles.  Just a bit of frustration and then to back track and go south on 309 and get back on the pike for 4 miles and then the Blue route. OH well , what can you do with another inept State body. The turnpike after all the screw ups in the last ten years still answer to nobody. Anyway we made it to Virginia Beach after the place we have stopped at before just before the Bay Bridge tunnel has decided to no longer function as  an RV park but still has their sign out. Yea more ineptness. you have to begin to wonder if maybe the world has gone to shit after all and I just didn't notice. The other thing that amazed me was that we have traveled the same route to the Outer Banks for some 28 years and this is the first time the traffic moved below the speed limit and their were police every where, I guess tickets are easy money for the states now and they are really pushing the revenue source to the max. Anyway we left the house on the for sale market and the last auction in the hand of our friends Ginny and Less . At this time we don't know how we could have cleared out some 30 years of stuff without them. They have the final hurtle in front of them, my work shop and the garages. God bless them for all their good hard work and patience. I would have given up long ago . I know I haven't posted much lately but I will try to be regular now that we are on the road again doing what we really like doing.                                                      G

Monday, September 3, 2012

           Well here we are again in Beautiful Center Valley. Home of our house for sale and more stuff than I can ever imagine is everywhere . We started to empty the storage spaces behind the walls on the second floor and have managed to finally get to take some 30 years worth of canceled checks and old bills to be shredded. 15 bankers boxes of paper, who would have guessed one can be a hoarder of old bills. That's me. But it was very satisfactory to see them turned into confetti.. Did a few more odd repairs to the RV and if it doesn't rain all week I will wash it before we hit the road for a couple of months. Lots of sand and ocean views in our future. I know washing it before we go to the land of salt and sea air it would still be nice to clean the exterior. Also maybe wash the Kia and the Truck. The last wash was in New Mexico and it was looking good.                                            G.