RV Trips: Fall 2015: Heading to the Beach

Waterfront View:

What we came for!

October 9 to October 16

After waiting out Ted Cruz who threatened to shut down the government again, Hurricane Joachin and its storms, a nasty cold and warranty work on the MoHo, we finally headed out!

Day 1 was typical with an easy border crossing, lots of driving, a WalMart and Hannaford’s supply shop in Watertown, some nice fall colours and a noisy overnight (and pizza and wings) at the Pilot on Exit 219 of Highway 81.

The view from my chair was a sweet ride: a revamped fire engine RV:

Day 2 was more driving, some of it tense through Baltimore and Washington. Best signs of the day:

“Open Joints on Bridge” near Washington, which has legalized marijuana, right?
“CONCEALED Handgun Training”

We spent the night at a lovely Virginia Welcome Centre not far from Newport News.

Day 3 featured a stop at Moore’s Roadside Farmer’s Market in Virginia. All foods and produce were overpriced, but the samples were many! here are some of our signs:

Church sign: “All Welcome, Except Joachin”
1st Pelican of the trip
“Equine Adventures, the Original 4X4”

Our drive along Highway 158 on Cape Hatteras showed some of the after effects of the storm:

…but things looked fine. We pulled into the Frisco Campground and immediately set up the bug hut (mosquitoes are DEFINITELY after effects of the storm) and relaxed after three days of driving.

Here’s the view of Campsite P38 ($20):

Day 4

The campground is located well behind the dunes and you can see the ocean and the sound from some of the higher campsites. The boardwalks to the ocean were still under water:

…so we rode the bikes (9.5 km return) to the Frisco Bath House beach access and took our first chilly steps on the beach (not sure if that wharf fell before or after the storm:

No Campground Bunny here, just some Campground Deer:

We left Frisco early Day 5 and got the 9:30 ferry and were sent off by these Ibises:

It was a great, sunny sail and we enjoyed the company of Patrick, one of the Ferry hands. Highway 12 to the Okracoke Campground showed some signs of breaches in the dunes, but overall, things seemed normal.

We got to the park and got a great dune-side site (C1 $23). We immediately set up the Bug Hut (yep, loads of mosquitoes) and will enjoy this special site for several days:

Oh, and we hit the gorgeous beach!

Day 6 started sunny and bright. We biked (16.5 km) to Ocracoke Village and back and stopped for Americanos and treats. Then we continued our daily pattern of some version of beach, bike and beer with a beach walk, time in our beach cabana (it was very windy):

and a visit with the Surfer Dudes, three guys next door who were surfing beaches from Charleston, SC to Maryland!

By the way, if you come here, beware the “cockleburrs”, little prickly devils all over the grass and dunes. Ouch!

It was a gorgeous morning on Day 7 so we rode to the Pony Pen (14.5 km return). The road north of there to the ferry had been closed during the storm from flooding. We had a great talk with the Pony Ranger who said they horses were all safe. We missed seeing the newborn foal (in February), but enjoyed these guys:

We rested for a bit then rode (12 more kms) back to the Village and had lunch at Eduardo’s Taco Truck:

Then walked the beach some more:

Then we welcomed our friends Linda and Denny, and their friends Denny and Ellie. We met Linda and Denny four years ago in Texas then saw them again three years ago here. It was a great reunion over Happy Hour.

Here’s the evening view from my chair:

Ho hum, another sunny Day 8. We had a beach walk, a 16 km bike ride (our reward was an ice cream!), a couple of beach walks and an early and quiet evening:

Yes, Day 9 began beautifully, and I was even inspired to get this sunrise view:

We rode 24 kms (and had Americanos) around the entire Village with a quick stop at the Ocracoke Lighthouse: