Goodbye Outer Banks!

Goodbye Outer Banks: https://youtu.be/Qtve8Fn07UU

Thursday at the Outer Banks, part 2

ok, so Thursday continued....  As the sun began to set over the sound, i decided to make use of my bike that we'd brought along, and set out on a trail recommended to me, one that was supposed to run alongside the sound-side of the island for quite some ways, not sure how far.
                                                                     

         
                                   So i got to the place where no more motorists were allowed, and began my                                     solo journey down the dirt road on my mountain bike.

                     Feeling like quite an adventurer in these lonely dark woods, the feel of this natural environment conjured up poetic words like the quote by Emerson or some other dead guy: "Two paths diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled, and it has made all the difference."

 (or something like that)

and so i was enjoying the small treasures i found along the way...a

a spooky old tree, 

a dead snake,

a foot path to a swamp.

But as the road went on and on and on,

..and i never met another human nor saw any recent signs of civilization,

i began to wonder...

and worry (just a little)

but most of all, i was just a slappin' and flailing my arms around at all

the stupid annoying horseflies that were buzzing in my face and biting my bare arms and legs till i was sure i was going to go screaming like a banshee into the nearest alligator-infested swamp and submerge myself to get away from these demonic creatures.

(by the way, does anyone really know what the heck a banshee is? i have no idea.)

anyway, so my anger started steaming at the person who cheerfully suggested this route, for not including that one small important piece of info, the one about this rustic, ghost-town, ruled-by-horseflies trail being about 10 miles long, with no exits to any other roads until then.. not what i had in mind for a leisurely sunset cruise.

so i did what any normal person would do: i made a video of myself ranting as i bumped along one-handedly up and down the rough hills...take a listen:

Well, by that time i realized i'd better just turn back, and as i rode back the way i came, i saw things i hadn't seen on the way in, like these old deserted cemeteries, out in the middle of nowhere!

This just seemed so strange... i mean, what kind of people bury their loved ones in a place where there isn't even a decent road to drive an off-road vehicle down, much less a hearse???
Or perhaps the "dead" just walked themselves in, zombie-style, and laid themselves down to rest in their grave, still alive???

Thoughts like these made me hop on my bike and pedal even more furiously back home, swatting and swearing at the horseflies all the way back to the condo.

ahh, good to be back.

and tomorrow i'll try to fill you in on..today!!

goodnight, y'all!!

Thursday at the Outer Banks, part 1

Good evening!  It is one of those nights, towards the end of a long beach vacation, when you realize that now you need a vacation to rest from your vacation!  For that reason, I will be simply slapping down these photos (and videos) and publishing it without much chatter, as I'm just too exhausted to caption, tell stories or philosophize about these days at the beach, though my mind is constantly going over situations like a fine-tooth comb, analyzing where faults in our emotional programming cause an excess of pretending, communication gaps, frustrated emotions and more.  But nah, this is a happy frivolous beach vacation!  Let the party begin!

Yesterday we took a little road trip down to Hatteras.  We went to the lighthouse, (i thought i took pictures of it, really, but i don't know what happened to them!) but the wait to go up inside the tower was too long, so we crossed the road and hung out at the beach awhile instead.  Kids were grumpy, though, so that didn't last long.  Almost as grumpy and crabby as this guy!

Of course I wanted to shoot a video of him scurrying across the sand at top speed, and of course that meant my chasing after him like a crazed fbi agent chasing a criminal, and here's the video to prove it: (dang! these guys run fast!!!!)

(as you may have guessed, my daughter was not at all pleased with my antics; not only was i embarrassing her to death, as usual, but she thought i was going to hurt the poor little guy. needless to say, he was not harmed, and she got over it...i think, though she'll say she's scarred for life..) (insert dramatic eye roll and heavy sigh)

 and this is the part where i'm feeling pretty smug and gleeful after capturing that crab on film, despite my girl's reaction.


 so back to our condo land on the sound. Water has become much calmer, great for kayaking, and at this low tide we have a huge sandbar to play on, fun!


 The wind messed up the audio on this clip, but i was just giving a quick peek of our place from the sandbar.

I'll finish this summary of Thursday on the next post, stay tuned!!

Wednesday at the Outer Banks

Wednesday started out pretty cloudy and still too windy for kayaking, so we made it our day of field trips.  First trip: the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk.

Walked the steep climb to the memorial tower...where I found this inscribed quote:

"Achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith".

pretty good mission statement.

                                                      a nice view from the top.
                                     

                                             .....and then back on the ground...

This was just a statue of the original, but still fun to climb on, as you'll see....

                                                   oh and meet my buddy here...

                                                                               

                                                 wow!  what an amazing dancer you are, sir!!!

                     AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Please don't crush my head!!!!!!
                                           (I am so terribly sorry, dear children, but your crazy mother
                                just cannot help embarassing you by posing for all these silly pictures!!!)

                                             

                                             ok, now can you zoom in just a bit more....

                                                                       

                                           another cool quote: "I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all - while lying in bed thinking how exciting it would be to fly."     

hmmm, i think i can relate to this guy. a dreamer.

Next trip: across a bridge to Manteo, to the NC Aquarium there.  Really nice, remodeled since the last time I've been there.

                                                 

           
                                                       heeeeere, fishy fishy fishy!!!!!

                                             

                                 "but grandmother!!! what big TEETH you have!!!!!"

And that is all for Wednesday's activities, the updated story of our happy all-American family vacation.

more later.

oh and i may post a vine now and then and I have a couple videos on youtube which i'll try to share here later on.  bye!!