The Outer Banks
~Thursday, May 6, 2021~
Day 326 (Travel Day)
Everytime I get to a page where I’m adding “Travel Day”, I get so excited about where our wheels are taking us next…..another backyard that could be better than the last, or not, but all the same, unfolding a brand new adventure. Maybe it will add another sticker to our trailer map or another highlight onto our “footprints route” on our website. The escapades continue to unfold.
As we headed east in North Carolina to our new destination of the Outer Banks, it was nice to see the ocean again and the memories of heading to Key West, driving on a variety of islands linked by a series of bridges. A little more than 20 miles from the North Carolina mainland, these barrier islands are accessible only by bridges, boats or planes. We had heard of the Outer Banks before, but we didn’t really know what they were. So here’s a little background. They are a thin, broken strand of islands curving out into the Atlantic Ocean and back again in a sheltering embrace of North Carolina’s mainland coast and offshore sounds. These barrier islands (the Outer Banks), have survived thousands of years of the onslaughts of wind and sea. Sounds intriguing, and we can’t wait to discover what lies in this treasure. One thing we’ve already discovered….planes! We’re close to Camp Lejeune Marine Base, so planes will be part of the scenery.
Upon our arrival to Frisco Campground at Cape Hatteras National Seashore (which is part of the Outer Banks), we were greeted by a very sweet woman at the kiosk. Since there was no one checking in behind us, she had time to share a vast amount of information about all things to do in the Outer Banks…...including 4-wheeling on the beach. Yeh!!! And we just got the 4WD fixed on the truck. They just require that you purchase a $50 ORV permit and with that, you receive a detailed map of all of the ORV access points. You can even have campfires on the beach!
As we approached our new “home” for of the next 7 days, Jeff and I didn’t say a word, but just gave each other a perplexed look.😮 Uh, first of all, the site is very sloped. Second of all, our rig will likely not fit. And thirdly, it appears to be the worst site in the campground. This has never happened to us before, and yes, we preselected the sight. When booking sites online, some campgrounds do not designate slope nor have photos. And even if those things were noted, the photos are not what they appear to be and the slope description is subjective. We drove around a little more and noted alternate sites. But, it is Mother’s Day weekend so our chances of moving are next to nil. I walked back to the park attendant and told her we had a problem. Luckily, they have several “emergency” sites that are not reservable on their website. She offered it as a temporary solution, or we could stay there the entire 7 days. The dilemma is finding an alternative site that includes a weekend, that is open for 7 days (likely impossible). But we are willing to relocate after the weekend. Unfortunately, the attendant was in a hurry to get to another job, so we weren’t able to firm things up until the next attendant showed up which I was told would be in about 15 minutes. I must have waited 45 minutes and figured, with it being after 5:00, no one was coming. But we’re grateful we have a temporary solution. So we backed into site P4 for the night, or maybe for the next 7 nights. We shall see.