Last day of Ocracoke Visit

Time to go home.... We had brought a cantaloupe that a friend at Asheboro Airport had given Duane. He told a funny story - you can sell all kinds of vegetables to your friends....but you can never sell a cantaloupe. You never know if a cantaloupe is going to be any good until you cut it. So, in order to keep your friends happy, just give the cantaloupes away! He's a nice friend and his cantaloupe was fabulous!!

No trip to Ocracoke is complete without a ferry photo....so here it is!

And we had a fabulous sail - put the spinnaker out in the channel.   Turned the engines off....and about 7 hours later we cranked up the engines to enter the Oriental channel.  Cool sailing! 

More Ocracoke

Much biking was done in the couple of days.....

We road down a cart path over to the sound side of the island.

We rode back to the pony enclosure - just because it was a good stopping point.  Went for a walk on the deserted beach near the pony enclosure.

And we took the dinghy to the ultra-secret clamming spot....convinced Duane to help me dig for clams!  Fun, fun!

Ocracoke trip

You know, we're on this biking/hiking trip....so we took our folding bikes on the boat with us to Ocracoke.  And we rode alot! 

8.5 miles to see the wild ponies down Highway 12.  I know I'm dorky.

Ponies are not so wild anymore.  They're in a pen and are fed hay....but they are in nice shape. You're not allowed close to them now.   I remember seeing them 30 years ago when they would stand at (a much rattier) fence and eat apples/carrots out of your hand.  They were not well tended then.

And of course, we then rode the 8.5 miles back to the boat.....that was plenty of exercise for a day!!

Birthday pressie for my sis

You guys know how much I like to make tie-dyed shirts.....and my sister's birthday was coming up.  So, I had the idea to send her a shirt dyed, but not exposed!

First, a plain cotton tee - wet with Borax powder (to set the dye)

Twist it up!

You know the drill by now....

Rubber bands to mark the different colors and to hold it together.

Start the dying...

And all sealed up with our new pass-between-us birthday card (I couldn't let the dye ooze onto the card, could I?

And now I'll have to wait for her to receive the package and open it up to see how it turned out!!!!


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Fun dancing

We went out to eat with Sharon & Buddy and Pat & Diane.....and they invited us back to their house for some "shag" dancing lessons.

I did a little bit with Pat - good fun, but I'm not a very good listener or dancer!!!  Sharon did a little bit too....I don't think she was all that thrilled but played along.   :-)

And then the pros in the room danced a bit - fun time!

Stormy weather!

If you've been missing us.......we've been busy at the boat of course! 

We flew back this afternoon to attend a airport meeting - a little early because storms were forecast.  It's a good thing!  A big storm rolled through and left the 95 degree ramp steamy!

Hiking the Lower Haw River trail

We walked 8.6 miles along the Haw River.  To call it a trail in some spots was kind....it needs a good bit of work before the general public would want to wander it.  But we plugged along pushing thru weeds and made our way.

Beautiful scenery.

A beaver had been hard at work!!  I bet the next time we pass this way the tree will have yielded!

Some places the trail was well-cleared.  Very peaceful - the mossy trail muffled even our footsteps.

 We were on the trail about 4 hours - and didn't see a soul....with the exception of about 1000 of these millipedes....not my favorite creature!!

Family photo

We went out to eat with the kids to celebrate a belated birthday for Duane.

They indulged me and allowed Miranda to take a photo.  And, they seem to be fairly happy - I comment since more often than not at least one of them is making a silly face!

Biking at Seawell School in Chapel Hill

I found a nice mountain bike trail map online for trails near Seawell School in Chapel Hill. 

Just a short drive - and the trails were very nice.

We didn't go on any of the "expert" ones this time.  Just rode around for a couple of hours.  Some nice hills to climb.  Very shady and comfortable. 

Just as we were about to call it a day, I saw this lovely little fawn.  Not the slightest bid afraid - he/she actually stayed right there as we rode by!

More hiking at Raven Rock State Park, Lilllington, NC

We hiked about 6 miles today at Raven Rock State Park.  We've been here before, but there were trails we had not hiked!

This time we hiked to the actual namesake - Raven Rock!  Luckily, it was very shady so the temp was bearable.

The trail down to the river was steep - the last part was this stairway.

Kind of hard to get a good photo of a big rock....

The rocky hillside almost directly adjoined the tannic water of the Cape Fear River.

Loved hiking over this tree-root system.  See all the above-ground roots sprawling out over the rockbed?

Walking along the cliff-face.

And finally, we hiked up to the "Overlook" - which really was a pretty nice view considering how flat the area is elsewhere.  A lovely viewpoint!

Much needed windsock change at the airport

The windsock was pitiful!  It had gotten so faded and worn that a recent windstorm ripped it to shreds....

The City employees came out to remove it and install a new one.  (The structure "tips" over just for this purpose!)

And now it's standing tall and brilliant!

And now the pilots can actually see it from the air once again!

Fishing boys in Oriental

Lots going on in Oriental lately!  If you haven't checked out the sail blog, you're missing some fun!

While Pat and his "crew" were bringing in his sailboat to the marina, Sharon and I wandered over to the Endurance Seafood dock to check out what they had in stock.

We were greeted by the same two boys that I've posted about over the years.  It seems like I see them just about every time we go by.  Very business-like and polite.   A true family-run business.

Here they are showing us the fresh shrimp.

Sharon and I  admired their kitty-cat.  Look at those lovely blue eyes!

We ended up with wonderful shrimp and some clams.  Grilled on the marina grill.  Yum!

July 4th!

We had a great time at Pecan Grove Marina for July 4th!

The marina hosts a hot dog lunch - good fun.  Note our crowd - Duane, Sharon, Buddy and Pat enjoying a breeze on the porch of the clubhouse.

Our host - John Cox - hard at work at the grill.

 Steady stream of fellow mariners, always ready for a free meal!

Robert joined us - but I didn't get a photo of him and his fuzzy beard!

After dinner, we all wandered up to the (closed) Highway 55 bridge to stake out our spot to watch the fireworks.  We got a great spot near the crest of the bridge.

I know, you've seen fireworks before.  These were really nice and the breeze made for a very pleasant evening!

And the finnale!