1278 October 7, 2025 Dajio Again

Tim and I left for our walks at the same time.  He turned off to walk to the gym.

I walked to the harbor and back.

After lunch, we rode our bikes on the bike path.

This evening, we returned to Dajio.  We had another outstanding meal.  The shrimp and grits entrée was the best I have ever had.  Tim took my picture while I was chewing and refused a do-over saying that he liked the picture just the way it was…the real me.

We drove to the boat ramp to watch the sunset.  The couple we met on the beach last night rode up on their bikes and we chatted as we watched the sky change colors.

1277 October 6, 2025 Harvest Moon

I started my day with a another more than two mile walk into town.  The sea was calmer today and there was just a slight breeze.  The Carolina sunshine is still powerful at this time of year.  The walk felt good and I was motivated to ride my bike on the path.  I finished at just under 7 miles. I am still astonished that I can walk without foot pain…what an amazing feeling!  PT does work!

We went to Dajio’s in town for lunch.  I couldn’t decide what to eat and so I took the server’s suggestion.  We had terrific fish and shrimp tacos.

This evening, we packed a light picnic of tuna salad and crackers and apples and we headed out to the beach.  Beach fires are allowed but are restricted to certain areas.  We drove out and found the perfect spot.  We set up our chairs and Tim dug a hole for our fire.  Tim climbed the dunes to see the view.

We were a little disappointed when another couple made their way toward us.  They also set up to have a fire.  We saw the man go out into the ocean to get the requisite bucket of fire water but he had only a gallon jug.  Needless to say, he got very wet.  Then we heard him rummaging around in his vehicle for a long time.  Apparently, he had forgotten matches.  He came to our fire and asked if he could light a stick but this proved to be very difficult in the wind.  Finally, Tim offered him matches so that they could enjoy their fire as well. 

We ate our meal by our campfire and watched and waited for the moonrise.  At 6:19pm, the October Harvest Moon made its appearance behind a bank of clouds.  This is a Super Moon and it was gorgeous.  When there is a full moon, there are also king tides.  High tide came at 7:51 and fingers of ocean water reached within feet of our parked Jeep.

What an incredible evening.  This is absolutely one of my favorite things to do.  We were in a nostalgic mood and we listened to Neil Young sing Harvest Moon and then listened to James Taylor and lots of other old songs that we both know all of the words to.

The moonlight on the ocean waves, the scent of salt, the fire warmed sand between my toes, the soothing sound of waves in an endless ribbon…ahhhh!!!

1276 October 5, 2025 Beach Day

I started my day with a 2.25-mile walk from Jerniman’s to the ferry terminal and back to the campground. The forecast for today was mostly sunny with a high of 73 and a low of 71 and winds with gusts to 17mph.  Lots of people who come to the Outer Banks prefer Duck and Corolla…but this small and sleepy fishing village is our favorite place. 

Tim walked to the gym, did his workout there and then made a loop to the harbor and back.  We hopped on our bikes and rode the 3.4-mile bike path to the Ocracoke Day Use Area and then we biked back.

We packed a picnic lunch and went out to eat on the beach.

This evening, I grilled chicken and prepared quinoa bowls and we took our dinner back to the beach.  I love watching the waves and the drifting clouds and the birds.  We drove as far as we could to the end of the island and then got out and walked to the water’s edge to watch the sunset.

Unbeknownst to us, the people who had parked their Jeep next to ours, took some pictures and videos.  When we got back to the Jeep, the woman was able to airdrop the pictures to my iPhone…what a kindness!

The sky was still changing and beautiful as we drove back to town.

1275 October 4, 2025 Ocracoke Ferry

We started the day with 2-mile walks and then we returned to the campground to prepare to move.  The Ocracoke Ferry resumed operations on Thursday evening.  Today the winds were only 17mph and we were glad to be able to go.  There wasn’t room for us on the 10am ferry and so we waited and we took the 10:30 trip.  I was first on with the Jeep and then Tim pulled on with the RV a couple of cars behind me.  It was smooth sailing across the Pamlico Sound.

We arrived at Jerniman’s Campground shortly after noon.  We will be here for a week.

This afternoon, we took the Jeep out onto the beach.  The entire length of the Island is accessible with the exception of the Day Use Area.  It was a lovely day.

When we got back, we hopped on our bikes and cycled through town.  We stopped at Angie’s Gym where Tim was able to purchase a one-week membership.  He opted to stay and get a work out in.

This evening, we grilled delicious venison burgers.  Thanks for dinner Kyle!

We went back out onto the beach to watch the last vestiges of the day.

1274 October 3, 2025 Last Day In Hatteras

After starting the laundry and cleaning the bathrooms, I walked the two-mile loop around the campground.  I had planned to walk all the way to the ferry but my legs were tired after yesterday!

We packed our lunch and drove to the beach.  We parked the Jeep along the access road and got out and walked all the way to the point.

Then, we drove until we found a parking spot on the edge of the dunes.  We sat by the water and had our lunch. It was cloudy and breezy and perfectly pleasant.

We rested this afternoon and Tim biked around the neighborhood.

We ate corn on the cob and grilled bruschetta chicken and had a fruit salad of nectarines and blackberries.

We drove across the island to the bay side to watch the sunset.

We are finally starting to feel more relaxed.  The rhythm of traveling is very different than being at home and there is always a period of adjustment.  We are happy to be spending more time outside and I am especially happy to be more active.  We have a good life and we are as always very grateful.   

1273 October 2, 2025 Happy Place

We each took walks from the campground to the ferry terminal and back. It was still windy but today the wind forecast is for less than 30mph…woohoo!!!

We had our breakfast and took the Jeep out to the beach. What a wonderful privilege to be able to drive out to the water’s edge and claim our own little piece of beach. We sat by the Jeep, protected from the brunt of the wind, and we enjoyed the warm and beautiful sunshine and we watched the water. The gulls and pelicans were fishing today. The waves were less chaotic and the breeze was balmy. This is our happy place!

We returned to the campground for lunch and naps.

We each rode our bikes, the headwind made riding challenging but not impossible.

This evening, we drove the short distance to Hatteras Sol where we enjoyed excellent food. The view of the small harbor was pretty.

After our meal we went back to the beach to watch the sunset. The tide was too high to have a good vantage point.

1272 October 1, 2025 More Wind

Last night was long.  The wind speeds were 34-39mph and the RV was pummeled relentlessly for hours. 

This morning, it was still windy.  There were deer walking through the campsite.

We both took walks.  The beach access road remained flooded. 

We packed the RV and drove to the dump station.  Then, we parked in the lighthouse parking lot.  We took our bikes and cycled several miles on the new bike path.  Tim spotted two more snakes.  We believe these were both black snakes.  The first was too far to get a good picture but the second was just a few feet from the path.

We drove to the end of Hatteras Island to the Hatteras Sands Campground.  We encountered some water on Route 12 as we approached the village. 

We will be here for 3 nights and it will be nice to have full hookups.

We started laundry as soon as we got settled and I put a big bunch of fresh lima beans from Morris Farm in our crockpot.

We saw a few peeks of sunshine and blue sky and later this afternoon, we tried to drive out onto the beach.  It was high tide and there was not much beach to drive on! The ocean is much less angry today and the winds have calmed considerably.

We had a quiet day and made omelets for dinner.  We had planned to eat out but the restaurants were both closed until tomorrow.

We knew that the tide should have receded and so after eating, we drove back out to the beach.  We were able to travel in the sand for a short distance. 

1271 September 30, 2025 Hatteras Hurricanes

Today was eventful!

It began quietly enough with morning walks around the Morris Farm property.

Soon, we were headed south to the Outer Banks.  Humberto did indeed head out to sea pulling Imelda behind it.  We stopped in Kitty Hawk at the Walmart for one last mega supply run.

We turned onto Route 12 and into the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

We stopped at Bodie Lighthouse hoping to talk to a ranger about impact of the storms, beach driving, and the changes that might occur with a government shutdown…but the office at Bodie was closed.

As we drove, we noticed that the wind had picked up.  There was sand blowing across the road.

In Buxton, there was standing water on Route 12.

We arrived at Cape Point Campground in early afternoon.  We are in a no hookup site for $10.00.  We plan to stay just tonight.

After lunch and some quiet time, we took the Jeep and drove out onto the beach.  We were amazed by what we saw.  The tide was high and the surf was incredibly rough.  The waves were cresting far away and they came crashing in.  The wind was blowing the sand and it was stinging our skin.  We watched the ocean from the safety of the Jeep.

We drove to another ramp and the path to the beach became impassable; completely flooded with water.

We stopped at Cape Point Lighthouse and the ranger there told us that the ferry to Ocracoke was halted and that Route 12 on the northern part of the island was flooded.  They expect the ferry closure until at least Thursday.

The lighthouse is undergoing an extensive renovation.

Tim rode his bike from the lighthouse along the new bike path and then back to the campground while I drove the Jeep back.  He met this water moccasin or cottonmouth on the way.  It was crossing the park road and headed to the pond on the other side.

We made quesadillas with yesterday’s leftover BBQ.

After dinner, we drove to Buxton.  We had read online that 4 houses fell into the water today shortly after high tide. 

This hotel is being whipped by wind and water and there is concern that the buildings may cave in.

The side streets were flooded.

There were news vans.

There were the remains of houses…so sad…  There was a lot of debris in the streets.

We had been so relieved when we learned that the hurricanes had turned out to sea.  We knew there would be effects.  We had not anticipated that the residual wind and storm surge would continue to wreak havoc here.

1270 September 29, 2025 Morris Farm

We slept well with windows open. Upon awakening, we checked all the sites for updated hurricane information. It looks like the storms will head away from the US coast and head east and out to sea. This is good news for us and lots of other people! The local weather forecasts that at 1am the wind will begin to whip up. Tim is thinking that we should leave later today because when there is crazy wind, the Bay Bridge Tunnel will not allow high profile vehicles (RV’s included) to cross.

We did our morning workouts and walks and then headed into Cape Charles. We walked along Main Street.  We stopped at Mason Avenue Bakery and it smelled heavenly inside.  We chose two scones dense with fat and juicy blueberries for our mid-morning snack.  We left with a still warm loaf of sourdough. 

We crossed the street to North Market and bought some fig balsamic vinegar.

We fueled the Jeep and got fresh drinking water while we were out.

Because of the wind forecast, we returned to the campground and prepared to leave.   We took the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to Virginia Beach. Tim likes driving on the bridge but the tunnel is a little nerve wracking. Tractor trailers were coming the other way!

We arrived at Morris Farm Market at about 1:30.   This is a Harvest Host site.  We did some shopping and then parked our rig in the back of their lot.  We will stay here overnight.

We set up our chairs and drank some blueberry wine, ate our fresh sourdough with our olive oil and our special vinegar, and listened to music.  Later we had some North Carolina BBQ.

We are watching the weather forecast now and we are hopeful that we can travel safely to Hatteras tomorrow.

1269 September 28, 2025 Weather On Our Minds

It rained most of the night but this morning there were glimpses of blue sky. I walked the park, again thrilled to be in a beautiful place.

We had a short drive to Kiptopeke and so we were able to take our time.

We were very early and check in at the campground was not until 3pm.  We decided to go into the town of Cape Charles.  We parked along the beach and had our lunch.  Then, we hopped on our bikes and cycled around; up and over the bridge and to the wildlife preserve.  We took the boardwalk trail as far as we could go before turning back.

We arrived at the state park in late afternoon.  We elected to add another night to our stay so that we could be certain of the path that Humberto and Imelda were going to take before committing to driving down 12 toward the Outer banks.

Tim was able to follow the NASCAR race while simultaneously watching the Ravens lose…badly…

We grilled tuna with fresh corn on the cob and had a really delicious honeydew melon.

After dinner, we drove to the fishing pier and watched the sunset.