I know it's been awhile since my last posting but we have been busy these last few weeks with watching the rain drops fall and doing a lot of exploring of some areas of the Refuge and a few small towns that we had always wanted to see. At one stretch of time we had only one day of real sun shine in a 13 day stretch and we had over 15 inches of rain with 6 inches coming down in an 8 hour period. Thing are looking better now with a little sun each day with of course some showers mixed in from time to time just for good measure. With the Government shutdown finally over we have started to do some Volunteer work here and once again everyone is really nice and we are having a good time doing it. Went to Virginia Beach a couple times in the last two weeks to see the Family here and all are doing well. It's nice being only a short ride away from our Southern Family. I will try to get back to doing a more regular posting again. Also we saw our first Bear tonight, way cool.                     G

The full moon with the mist in the air.

One of our resident Herons .

We took a ride down one of the old refuge roads the other day.

The Milltail Pond down the road from where we are parked.

One of the feeder creeks into Milltail Pond.



A rainbow appeared as we were exploring one of the roads out on the Sound side of the Refuge.

Peters Point .

The rain had stopped and the clouds were really moving.

Our sunset two nights ago.

This mornings sun rise.

Yesterdays sunrise with the moon still in view.

Tonights Sunset.

He was just sunning on the road on one of the few sunny days we have had in the last three weeks. 

Admiring him self

Just another gloomy day on the water.

When you can't be on the beach you can always go and search out some history.

Scuppernog  township has done a great job of presenting and preserving some 18th century history.

As you drive down some of the old back roads of NC you never know what you may find.

Just might be a relative on Grandma Helens side.

View out the back door of the Barker house on the water front of Edenton NC

Some Gulls waiting for the next boat to leave.

Two gun from the Edenton Battery on the Southern Side from our Civil War.

A rev war cannon with 19th century barrel decoration.

A simple and direct statement to the English King .

The Church in Edenton where their Revolution began.

Bodie Island Lighthouse from the beach

The Sun did finally come one day last week. But only for one day.

Not a butterfly but a grasshopper .

         We decided to take a little ride today around the section of the Refuge that is not gated off as there are still some private holding on the inner areas of this area. It is amazing how large it is and we found the bombing range that is in the middle. It's left over from when this whole area was a Military Base. You know how the Government works. They transfer from one Branch to another with those  little catches like a bombing range in a Wild Life Refuge. As I write this we are acting as security for this part of the Refuge. That's the only thing we are allowed to do until our boy's in DC figure out how to play nice. Oh well. It's never dull and always make you wonder how we survived this long despite all the bickering among our Elected ones, our Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves. It's probably no different than when we get together at the beach for the week , 12 people with varied opinions on how things should be done. Some times we are like Congress and then some time we are really family and all is well in the World. No matter what ,it is always fun and never boring. Each year the group changes a little as new family comes and some family goes. You never really get to involved in it all but are never really left out either. You always get back what you are willing to put into the whole.                                                                                  G

The Ocean finally decided to calm down after the first 3 days we were there and the rest of the week looked  just like this, really enjoyable . The sun warm and the breeze mild . Who could have asked for more.

We took a little tour of the Refuge by the RV Site and we are a little over a mile away when we took this picture.

The trees here are just starting to turn even though it is still in the 80's here and we are definitely back on the East Coast with the high humidity .

        We are at Sea Scape with the rest of the family this week and as usual all the players are acting as predicted. Oh well, another week at the beach.                          G

We are leaving the main part of Hatteras Island on our way to Ocracoke Island

One of the many sand bars in the Hatteras Inlet area.

The wind and waves were awesome as we passed the main Inlet Channel.

Two wind surfers using one of the sand bars to do their thing without any others bothering them. In the Sound areas there could be 20 or more in the same area.

The wind this day was in excess of 20 mph.

A few of the Spanish Ponies still on Ocracoke Island protected by the NPS. I guess they will not b taken care of today.



The view down the beach on Ocracoke . One of the most beautiful and empty beaches in the US.

A look down the same beach.