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Borrego Springs, CA

Friday, August 17, 2012

A trip down the Outer Banks

It was 11:30 at night before Jack was able to drop me off at the rig after we went to see The Lost Colony production on Roanoke Island.  I’ll be showing you what a great experience that was in the next couple of days, but I want to cover what we did today while it’s still fresh in my mind.

Considering that Jack didn’t get back to his rig until one in the morning, I waited until 9:00 to head for Avon this morning.  Avon is about 60 miles away, and half way between Rodanthe and Buxton where the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is located.

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With all of the trips I’ve made back and forth to Pea Island, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get a picture from the top of the bridge that spans Oregon Inlet.  There’s no place to pull over on that bridge.  This morning, an opportunity presented itself that I took advantage of.  As I came to the crest, no one was behind me, so I stopped dead in the middle of the road, hopped out, and quickly took this photo.  That’s the Pamlico Sound on the left, the Atlantic on the right, and Roanoke Island is in the distance in the middle.  It’s a spectacular view in person.

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Once I made it to Jack’s, we hopped in his truck and made our first stop of the day at the Cape Hatteras Light Station.  There’s no way I could hike to the top right now, so after a short visit we moved on towards the town of Hatteras to catch the ferry to Ocracoke Island.  We had to wait about a half an hour, and it’s a 40 minute journey across the inlet.

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From the ferry departure, it’s another 13 miles to the town of Ocracoke where the road ends.  It’s pretty much a summer tourist place with very skinny streets.  At the turn around lot, there’s an interesting monument telling of the Civil War time Fort Ocracoke.  Neither of us were interested in the tourist shops that abound here, so we tried to make our way to the Ocracoke Light House.

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We weren’t actually able to visit it.  This pic is from when I was here five years ago.  Nothing has improved.  As it was in 2007, there are only about four parking spaces for visitors to this light house, and they were all full.  We had to be satisfied just glancing at it as we drove past.  After a tasty lunch at a local establishment, we began to make our way back.

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We stopped to visit the wild ponies of Ocracoke.  These horses are descendants of Spanish Mustangs that used to wander freely on the island.  The herd is now maintained  by the National Park Service, and they are kept in spacious pens and fenced pastures.  Food and all vet needs are taken care of by the Park Service.  The horses remain unshod.

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Across the street from the pony pens is a boardwalk access to the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.  There were a number of people enjoying the sand and sea, but I certainly wouldn’t call it crowded.  Today was a great day for folks that enjoy beach sitting.  (I’m obviously not one of them.)  I did enjoy seeing the dunes and sea oats however.

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We were one of the first vehicles in line to get on the return ferry, so while they loaded everyone else, I got out of the truck to observe this spit of sand that appeared to be a grooming spa for laughing gulls.  It was a busy place.

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               As I was watching, another of my favorite species of birds flew in… a black skimmer.

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They have such a cool adaptation for finding food.  Their lower mandible (beak) is longer than the top mandible.  This provides them with a specialized way of feeding.

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They ‘skim’ along the top of the water with the lower portion of their beak under water.  When a tasty tidbit comes along, they snap the top portion down to catch it.  If you look closely, you can see the water spray that follows behind them.  I could watch them coursing along all day.

We made it back to Avon around 5:00, where I jumped into my car to drive the return trip to my rig.  It was a nice day of just tripping along the Outer Banks.

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                                                                                  THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

18 comments:

  1. You go to some interesting places.
    Now I know more about black skimmers and their bottom beak. Thanks.

    I have a neighbor foster mom who tends to horses hoofs, and she said that not many horses are shod any more. But they still need to have 'pedicures' and their hoofs filed down.

    Happy Trails, Penny.

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  2. You guys packed a lot into your day. Those black skimmers are really neat. Thanks for the information on them.

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  3. Really wonderful pictures capturing the black skimmer in flight and feeding! Thanx for sharing.

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  4. Interesting visit. I hope your hip is getting a little better with the medicine.

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  5. What luck to have the black skimmer skim right into your lens! Love the ponies too. I didn't know that they don't roam anymore.

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  6. We found the easiest way to go see that lighthouse was by bicycle. They park easier :)

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  7. There are wild ponies roaming Assateague Island (or is it Chincoteague where the feral ponies are). They just roam and plop down where they please, and if your beach blanket is in the way they will lie on it and give you a dirty look for being there. I've never seen such nervy ponies in my life - loved it!

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  8. Thanks for the tour. Gotta move Outer Banks up on my "to do" list. Great photos, as usual.

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  9. I especially enjoyed the shot of the skimmer. Happy for you that you had the chance to get away for the day.... very nice!

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  10. Thanks for the day trip; reminds me of the fun things we did on Ocracoke. Like you, we skipped the stores and such in the crowded downtown area. We lucked out at the lighthouse and snagged one of the few parking spots; they need to find a way to make it more visitor friendly. Great skimmer; I don't think we saw any of those when we were there in April.

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  11. Great tour, Judy, and wonderful pics as usual. Love those lighthouse pics - the end, not so much!

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  12. So glad you got that photo, I loved it! What an amazing sky and all that water. Gorgeous. Reminds me of the keys, so hard to get a photo there as well. Erin has written a lot about the OBX. I really hope I get to go there someday. maybe 2013

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  13. Cool birds and light houses, two of my favorite things. I so look forward to you photos.

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  14. Really enjoying the Outer Banks through your lens and experiences.

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  15. You are bringing back memories of our first long motorhome trip. We came from the south and worked our way north. Loved the ferry ride as we had a great view from our home on wheels.

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  16. Great pictures, Can hardly wait until we will be there in October. We have never been down the east coast so I know it will be fun. Great bear pictures on the previous post.

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  17. Hi,
    My name is Sarah and I'm with Dwellable. I was looking for blog posts about the Outer Banks to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, drop me a line at Sarah(at)dwellable(dot)com.
    Hope to hear from you :)
    Sarah

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