| |
|
| |
Ken's Journal - Summer 2003
|
| |
Well, it
seems I was getting a little bored staying at home and decided to take a little
trip! The itinerary includes a stop in Raleigh NC to see my daughter Carly, a
few days on Cape Hatteras NC, then a week or so in Florida at my sister's horse
farm and finally a week at Bethpage Resort along the Rappahannock River in
VA for a motor home club rally. I haven't
seen Carly since she announced she's pregnant with her first child - my first
grandchild! I haven't
been to Cape Hatteras in 25 years. It's about time I visit again.
I'll need
to know how to ride a horse on my trip west this fall. I may be taking a couple
trail-rides to access some of the canyons in eastern Arizona so I've
arranged for my niece, Miranda, to teach me a bit of
horsemanship. The rally
at Bethpage Resort is with a group called Loners on Wheels - a group of singles
who like to travel in their RVs. Most are in my age group - 50 and
up.
|
| |
Friday-Saturday, 8/15-16/03, Day 1-2.
Friday is
a travel day from home to Raleigh NC, some 360 miles or so. My daughter Carly
lives with her husband Steve on the north side of Raleigh. After an
uneventful trip, I parked the motor home in a NC State campground some
25 miles northeast of Raleigh. Friday night I have
dinner at Carly's place. Carly looks good and feels good. The baby is coming
along right on schedule and the estimate for birth is early November. I'll be on
the road then, but will park the motor home and fly to Raleigh for this event! Saturday starts a bit overcast and the forecast is for
occasional showers and thunderstorms. I manage to get in a 3 mile bike ride
and then after that, it's onto the hiking trails for a 4 mile hike through the
woods. On the way back to my
campsite, the first of what will
be a series of thunderstorms opens up. I make it back without getting fried
by lightning. The storms end by early afternoon and Carly and Steve
show up in time to take a short hike before dinner. Dinner comes off really well -- Mahi on the grille, a
big salad and Carly brings desert - fresh berries and whipped cream!!
|
| |
Sunday,
8/17/03, Day 3. This is a travel day - Raleigh to Waves NC. Waves is
about 25 miles south of Nags Head and maybe 35 miles north
of Hatteras. The trip is only about 230 miles. I leave late, dawdle along the way and arrive at the
campground in Waves at about 2 pm. After check-in and setup it's about 3 or
so. It's really windy so I don't pull out the awning -- that's why I left
the last time I was here 25 years ago. Then, I remember tying a tent to two oak
picnic tables so it didn't blow away. I also remember trying to sleep in
the tent with the floor billowing up around us and the sides flapping nosily all
night -- after no sleep, it was easy to pack up and leave. Anyhow, by about dinner time a storm was starting to
blow up and in short order it was a full blown tropical that dropped over three
inches of water before it petered out by midnight. After that the weather was
great. That was the last rain I saw before leaving and there was only a slight
breeze -- just enough to keep the 90 degree temps bearable, almost
pleasant!! |
| |
Monday, 8/18/2003, Day
4. I decided that today will just be for scouting out the
northern stretches of the islands. I choose Waves as a base because it's about
in the middle of the chain of islands. North is the Pea Island National Wildlife
Refuge, Oregon Inlet, Bodie Island Light, Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills (Think the
Wright Bros), Duck and finally Corolla before you run out of road. At Corolla is
the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. The first stop was the Pea Island NWR visitor's center
where I picked up a map for the refuge. Pea Island is midway on the Atlantic
Flyway and is heavily used by migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors and wading
birds. The refuge has three managed impoundments - North, New and South. Only
the North impoundment is open to the public. There is a 4 mile hiking trail around the pond so I decide to give that a shot. It's
hot and humid - 90 and 90. I'm really disappointed as what I find is little
wildlife and a ton of bugs. After about a half mile, I see a group a
hundred yards ahead of me slapping their bodies and trying to put on some sort
of spray - bug spray is my guess at that point. To this point, I'd had little
problems with bugs but I pulled out the spray and shot some on my legs, arms and
face. What a futile effort that was -- by the time I reached the struggling
group in front of me, I was covered with these little BITING insects. Some of
them were what I know as deer flies but some were much smaller and much more
painful. I was out of there!! These things were a problem with 30% DEET and
probably had evolved to feed on the stuff!! This would turn out to be the last
shot at looking for wildlife to photo.
The next stop was the Bodie Island Light (pronounced
body), just north of Oregon Inlet. I made a few shots of this light at the time,
but the crowds were heavy and as it was midday, the light was a bit harsh. This
shot is from a later visit - at sundown, maybe slightly after. This light is 150
feet tall and sports a first order Fresnel Lens - the largest lens designed by
Mr. Fresnel. The second shot is an enlargement -- the lens is about 7 feet
tall. The light from this one is visible for 19 miles over the ocean. |
| |
| |
  |
| |
Next stop
- or non-stop - was in Kill Devil Hills for the Wright Brothers Memorial. My
memory of that from 25 years ago was of a small parking lot and a short hike to
a plaque on a hill of sand. Not now! This is the hundredth anniversary of the
"first" flight. Commercialism has run amok! Now there is a giant visitors center
with a replica of the plane, a diorama and acres of parking. As I went by, the
parking looked packed so I decided to skip the man made spectacle - now just
another amusement park. Next on the day's itinerary is the Harley dealership in
Nags Head. No trip is complete without a tee-shirt from the local Harley
dealer!! The dealership is on
the north side of Nags Head and after a stop there I continue north on RT 158
which bypasses the old beach RT 12. RT 158 is a nice four lane, but not limited
access.
|
| |
 It's
afternoon and the traffic is rough -- this late in the season and there's still
too many cars in too small a space. Where 158 turns west and heads across
Albemarle Sound, I cross to RT 12 to continue north. From this point it's some
22 miles through Duck to Corolla - that's 22 "highly developed" miles. The speed
limit varies from 25 up to 45 -- and you are lucky to make the limit anywhere on
the route. It took me almost an hour to do the 22 miles - and almost an hour for
the return trip to. If you're vacationing in a place somewhere along this
stretch, be sure you take all you provisions with you on the trip in and plan on
staying the duration. Here's a shot of the Currituck Beach Light -- For
$6 you can climb the 214 steps to the top. I decided to pass on the climb --
there were too many people and so late in the day the inside was bound to be
really hot. This light is 158 feet tall and also sports a first order
Fresnel lens. It's located 34 miles south of the Cape Henry Light (north of
Virginia Beach at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay) and 33 miles north
of Bodie Island Light. The light is visible for 18 nautical miles. I will not visit this light again unless I fly in or
visit in the winter when the traffic dies off a little. I made it back to home base, fixed dinner and made it
back to Bodie Island Light just before sundown - the pictures you see above.
|