Say it can’t be, really, we can only spend an hour there?  The reason for coming way out

here where the road ends at Cedar Island RV Park was quite simple.  We wanted to take the ferry on over to the Outer Banks and do some sight seeing each of several days.  But that went horribly wrong because I failed to read between the lines, so to speak.

Looking at Cedar Island and then over to Ocracoke I figured how long could it take to get there.  Maybe 30 minutes at best.  Oh, silly me, if I had only taken the time to really check things out.  Barbara began researching options when we got here and that is when I learned how horribly wrong I had gone.

The ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke was 2 hours and 15 minutes.  That ferry left us off at Ocracoke but wait, if we really wanted to see even a bit of the Outer Banks there would be another ferry involved.  That ferry ran between Ocracoke and Hatteras and would take 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Furthermore, with the ferries running on limited schedules at this time of the year, and the second ferry being first come first served it was beginning to become plain as could be we would have at best an hour maybe two to visit the Outer Banks.

So what to do?

• We could move the RV to the Outer Banks. I wasn’t really comfortable with this since it would mean taking both vehicles separately and removing the hitch from Graybeard since it sits so low to the ground.  The campground options over there were not the greatest either.
• We could do a walk on and just visit Ocracoke. Tempting but we wanted to see a bit more.
• We could settle for just an hour or two but that also seemed silly to both of us. What could you really see in two hours?
• We could also go over on Wednesday and stay overnight returning on Thursday. This was Barbara’s favorite option.  At first, the thought of leaving Graybeard sitting here unguarded and with no one to watch over him gave me a queasy feeling.

In the end, however, it was the overnight option that we went with and so Barbara went to work on planning the trip and making reservations for a motel that would accept dogs.  Yup, Marti was definitely going to be a part of this odyssey.

So it was, Wednesday morning at 6 am long before these two retired people would normally ever think of getting out of bed, we were rudely awakened by an alarm clock

telling us to get up and get going.  The temperatures were in the low 50’s and Small Craft Warnings were still posted.  Clothes had been packed the night before.  We now packed the cooler with lunch and supper.  We gathered together Marti’s stuff.  We went through our check list and deemed ourselves ready.

Out the door to the ferry terminal.  Our first cruise ship would be the Cedar Island.

This ferry belongs to the what is called the Sound class.  The Sound Class ferries weigh around 300 tons and can accommodate 50 vehicles and 300 passengers, and all of the ferries that service the Cedar Island / Ocracoke route are of the Sound Class variety.  Since we had made reservations the night before we checked in and then got on line

with the others who were making the early morning trip.  In no time at all ,we were on

board with everyone else.  We discovered a little later just what these ferry’s could hold.  We saw motorcycles, cement mixers, large class A rigs, all kinds of trailers, numerous class B & C rigs, tour buses, and just about any other kind of vehicle under the sun.

Remember I said there were still Small Craft Warnings posted?  Here we are just

just clearing the breakwater and whitecaps are rolling in.  A little later straight into the

winds and waves we took one over the bow!  Yes, it was rough but you don’t feel a thing.

A little over 2 hours later we were pulling into the ferry terminal at Ocracoke.  But no time to dilly dally since we had another ferry to catch 30 minutes to the north that would take us to Hatteras.  So we worked our way through Ocracoke and soon we were on Route 12 heading north for the other ferry.

Going to have to call it a night now since the internet is again going up and down.  Amazed that I got this far.  Much more to come tomorrow and the night after.  Yes, by tomorrow we will be in an area where the internet will not be an issue.  So till then have a good night.

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

I so much wanted to begin the blog of our journeys tonight, but alas it was not to be.  My computer crashed, the internet went down, the end result being it has taken me several hours to finally put things right.  I’m exhausted and need a rest from resolving technical issues.  Tomorrow I will get things going again – promise.

I hope your day ended better than mine.  The last two days have been absolute winners in all respects.  So we’re not going to let what happened tonight spoil the time that we had together.  We’ll pick up the pieces and move forward into the promise of an even better day tomorrow.  Let’s never forget we may not know what the next day may bring, but we know with certainty Who will be there to meet us, the God of our faith.

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Cabin Fever Got to Both of Us.  When we went to bed last night, we resolved that we were going out today no matter what.  The weather report wasn’t looking too promising but there was mention that the rain would cease around noon.  That it did, though the wind continued and the temperatures refused to rise.  We also resolved that there were things that had to get done so no more sitting around doing nothing.

So it was when I got up this morning I got busy.  I vacuumed Graybeard from front to back.  Cleaned all around the windows.  Checked all the lockers for any signs of water.  Made some necessary phone calls.

Barbara whipped up a great breakfast of pancakes with ham, juice and coffee.  I also got to try my new strawberry chocolate jelly which was a real treat.

Barbara then began planning our trip over to the Outer Banks tomorrow.  We quickly came to the conclusion that it could not be done in one day so we are going to spend the night there tomorrow and return home on Thursday.    My first night away from my beloved Graybeard – Barbara has already vowed to knock me out so I don’t keep her up all night by tossing and turning and worrying!  That also means no blog tomorrow night, sorry, I am going to miss writing it for sure.

Cabin fever got to both of us today.  We had to make an escape. So we did, if only for an hour.  We went and paid the balance of our bill.  We went to Dollar General which

serves as among many things the local grocery store.  On the way back we also

stopped at Islands Choice Variety Store for some fresh fruit.  This place has a little bit of just about everything.  By the way, see the bottom of the sign, the ferry ride from Cedar Point to Ocracoke is for a fact 2.25 hours long.  Then there is another 1.25 hour ferry ride before you can even begin to go sight-seeing.  So that is why we are staying over tomorrow night.

Back home I did what comes naturally, I took a nap with Marti on my lap.  Since he offered no objection I figured he was in need of one as well.  It’s so nice to be able to just kick back whenever one wants to.

Finally, it was supper time.  Now what to do?  Eat in or dine out?  Dining out we had a really huge selection of places to choose from, not really, only one and it was the local

 

hangout known as Sharky’s Bar and Grill.  What a pleasant and delightful surprise this turned out to be.  We both had specialty burgers and they were enormous and delicious.  By the time we left our tummies were more than full, so much so we had to turn down dessert.

Back home now we are, correction, Barbara is pulling stuff together for tomorrow.  She is making up our schedule, booking reservations for the ferry and motel, and gathering up the food we are going to take with us.  Me?  I’m offering moral support.  Hey, we make a perfect team!

So our day is coming to a close.  The sun did peek out on occasion.  The rain stopped.  Yes, the wind continued and the temperatures are still way to low for both of us.  But we took what was given to us and made the most of the day.   As always, we did it together, which is the most important thing.  Tomorrow is just around the corner and with it the promise of new things to discover, new places to go, and new sights to see.  There is also the promise of abundant sunshine and temperatures in the 70’s.  Time will tell.  We hope you had a great day and were able to enjoy every minute of it.  We hope you were able to brighten up another’s life, to put a smile on someone’s face, and to let someone know that they are loved and appreciated.  A closing thought for all of us:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

Hunkered Down and Hanging On!  When we turned in last night, the weather report did not look good for today.  Yet, how often is the weather report accurate?  Well, by the time we woke this morning, we unfortunately found out that they were absolutely correct in their predictions.  They predicted rain, it came in buckets all day.  They were issuing small craft warnings for winds between 20 to 25 mph with gusts often exceeding 35 mph.

Once again they were absolutely correct.  Moreover the wind would be coming directly from behind us.  Suffice to say we rocked and rolled throughout the day, it never got uncomfortable but you definitely knew the wind was there.  At one point, I even had to bring in the one slide for fear that the slide topper would rip away.

So today, we hunkered down and hung on.  It was a day of I’m retired.  We watched movies, we napped, we played dominoes, and conducted our own wine tasting.  Of course, the wine we were tasting was the same bottle, one for each of us!  That was the sum total of our day.  I didn’t even have the energy to clean, or do preventive maintenance, I just wanted to sit and relax.  So did Barbara.

Barbara, though, did get our itinerary together for our visit to the Outer Banks on Thursday, which will be the first decent day we have.  That day is going to be a long one.  The first ferry over

is 2 hours plus and then there is another we have to take that is something like 45 minutes.  The worse of it is to get everything in during one day we are going to have to be on the first ferry by 7:30 am.  Then, we have to turn around and do it all over again to get back.  We will have to watch the time while we are on the island or we could end up missing the last ferry back at 4:30 to Cedar Point and that would be a nightmare.

Finally got the pictures off my phone from yesterday.  I did add them to yesterday’s blog but if you read it before I could get them uploaded, here is our current site on the bay.

And here is the view of our back yard for the week.  Nice when the sun is shining. (See the two flower pinwheels and trash can, well the flowers are all over the campground and I had to get the trash can out from under the rig, a bit windy huh?)

The day is now done and night is all around us.  We enjoyed the day and each other’s company as always.  Things are beginning to settle down a bit in terms of the wind, the slide is back out, and the rain is gone for the time being.  The weather report for tomorrow is more of the same and if it comes to pass, so be it.  We’ll find things to do and do it together side by side.  We hope your day was not as windy and wet.  Yet, though we cannot control the weather, we can control how we approach and live the day we are given.  So make the most of every minute of every day whether it is sunny and warm, or wet, cold, and windy.  Do something to bring a smile to someone else’s face.  Let someone else know how special they are because they are a child of God.

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before