On the way back from the mountains, we stopped by Cary and picked up Evan and his friend, Pierce. They'll be staying with us this week. Should be a fun week.
Sun, Oct 6
We start the day with what is becoming a tradition whenever we have someone visiting - a bike ride downtown and breakfast at the Boardwalk Cafe. The boys do what 10 year olds do best - eat.
The boys get the bikes out and take rides downtown. It's great to live where we feel comfortable letting them take off on their own to ride around.
Mon, Oct 7
We had planned to take the motorhome and head up to Cape Hatteras today, but the weather was great, so we took the power boat and went over to Shackleford Banks.
It was interesting on the banks - we were the only ones over there. which is very unusual. After we got home, we realized that the National Parks are closed because of the budget impasse in Washington. Supposedly, Shackleford Banks is off limits, which is ridiculous!
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| Evan and Pierce |
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| They get a good workout drying to dunk each other in the waves |
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| And they were worn out when we got back to the boat to head back to Beaufort |
Tues, Oct 8
We've made reservations for the Cedar Island - Ocracoke Ferry and at a campground on Cape Hatteras. Unfortunately, the weather forecast is completely messed up. Yesterday it was supposed to rain - it was beautiful. Today is supposed to be nice - and we are in the remnants of a tropical storm. It rained all day.
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| The motorhome is ready to roll |
But we went ahead with our plans to take the ferry to Ocracoke and then from Ocracoke to Hatteras. It made for a long, VERY wet drive in driving wind approaching 40 mph. Sitting in the motorhome on the ferry felt like we were in the cabin of our sailboat, Eureka.
Wed, Oct 9
I can't recall when it has rained as much as we've seen since yesterday. It rained hard all night with winds gusting to 40 mph. It continued raining on and off all day.
We did get a few minutes clear this morning so we walked down to the beach. The RV Park is right on the ocean. The guys enjoyed the brief break. The ocean is really rough and they could not get in the water.
Then we headed to the Aquarium on Roanoke Island. We made the drive at high tide, and there were parts of the road that were flooded by the ocean breaking through the dunes and the wind was blowing the sand across the road. The Department of Transportation was hard at work trying to keep the road from getting washed away.
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| The ocean is overtaking the dunes. It seems that the DOT is constantly at work keeping the road open. |
We enjoyed a nice lunch at Big Al's, a restaurant that is filled with Coca Cola memorobilia and then a pleasant afternoon at the aquarium.
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| The dudes wearing their new aviators at the aquarium. They eventually figured out that you don't wear sunglasses in the aquarium, even though it does look cool. |
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| I took this picture off the internet. It was taken only a short ways from where we are parked tonight. It shows how severe this storm has been here at Cape Hatteras
Thurs, Oct 10
The skies have cleared and the wind died down overnight. As soon as we got up, the boys were ready to head to the beach. The surf was still very rough, but Evan and Pierce made the most of it.
 
Today is a travel day back to Beaufort. The tide is extremely high and as we drive down the island to catch the ferry, we encounter several places where the ocean has washed over the dune line and covers the road. The first thing we'll be doing when we get back to Beaufort is washing the salt off the car and motorhome.
The ocean waves are breaking through to carports of these condominium and crossing the road
 
The motorhome is NOT a boat
Mimi and the boys
The birds are enjoying the water is this yard on Ocracoke
Fri - Sun, Oct 11 -13
Slade and Anna drove down on Friday evening. We've enjoyed a nice weekend, although the weather still remains cloudy. 
Anna and Maddy enjoy the swinging chairs
Slade's birthday is this week. He is forth something. Nice to have him down here.
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