On Saturday night, we attended a wedding 
and we got home late. We were up until after 1am loading up the car-top cargo box knowing that we were going to have an early morning and a long day on Sunday. However, we were so excited to go on this trip that it didn't matter. We weren't tired on Saturday night and we got up with ease on Sunday morning. We were on the road by 7am. After a stop at Tim Horton's, we headed south on I75. Fortunately, someone noticed that I ordered the wrong thing at the first Horton's and we were able to stop at the Buck Rd. Tim Horton's to correct that issue. Our first (and thankfully our only) close call on the road occurred when I tried to change lanes to get off at Buck Rd. I cut someone off and they had to go to the shoulder to avoid me. Oops!
There were some uncomfortable ears in the mountains in Pennsylvania but the trip was really quiet until about the point where we went through the tunnel in PA. By then, everyone was awake and stirring in their seats. On a whim, and for no reason at all, I challenged everyone to hold their breath through the tunnel. I made it. Nobody else was even close. Soon after that, Bubbles decided to entertain us by decorating her face.
One of the rest stops in Pennsylvania was the busiest rest stop I've ever seen. There were barely any empty parking lots. As we were walking out of that rest stop, Sig noticed a man that was holding a toddler and streaming from the toddler's shorts was a foot long piece of toilet paper! She was tempted to say something. I encouraged her to not.
There was very little traffic through the last part of Pennsylvania and it was quiet through Maryland. 
As such, there was more sleeping
Then, we hit some rain. It was raining when we went into the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel. It was raining when we came out.
Unfortunately, rain in Maryland and Virginia is equivalent to snow in Ohio. That is to say that they have no clue how to drive in the rain. We went from 75mph to 0mph and then back to 50 and down again to a dead stop. This continued for quite some time.
You know how, sometimes, when you're in a traffic jam, you'll end up seeing the same cars over and over? Sometimes you'll change lanes. Sometimes they'll change lanes. More often than not, you end up no better/worse off than if you'd just maintained your original lane. Well, we noticed that happening during this traffic jam and I decided to make a game of it. We pretended that we were in a race with 5 of the other cars of our choosing. As we made our way through the traffic jam, we'd call out as if we had a NASCAR spotter...
Car high...
Three wide...
Car low...
All clear
Clear high...
...etc. Then, each time we'd get near one of the 5 chosen cars, we'd get all excited and cheer when we made the pass. There was even a point when we were almost led to believe that a couple of the other cars were actually knowingly playing with us. Though, I doubt they were. Or, were they?
One of the cars that we included in the race was a car we called "TP Car" because it had something dangling from the tail end - just like the kid that Sig saw at the rest stop!
We arrived at the house at about 9:30pm and we spent the evening unpacking and getting situated. Since linens weren't provided, we had beds to make and we hadn't eaten dinner yet, so we had to do something about that. Plus, we got all of our bags unpacked and put away. The only disappointments on that first night were the missing BBQ grill and Nintendo Game Cube that were listed in the home description. While the kids were unwinding and exploring the house, Sig and I went to find some food. Ryan had told us that there was a grocery store in Avon, about 15 or 20 minutes to the south. Unfortunately, we drove right past the Food Lion because the only sign for the store was facing the south and we didn't see it.
We stopped at a little convenience store and found that they had $8.00 frozen pizzas and not much else. Not willing to pay that much, we decided to head back north and see if we could get to the Subway restaurant before they closed. Luckily, we found the Food Lion on the way back north. With enough food and supplies to get us through the next 24 hours, we made our way back to the rental house. Two frozen pizzas later, we retired for the night.
Monday started with rain. The kids spent quite a bit of time in the hot tub on Monday.
When the rain let up a little, I finally found the BBQ grill. Still no sign of the Nintendo.
At around 1pm on Monday, the rain finally broke for a while and we made our way to the beach. Looking back at these pictures, I can't believe how calm the ocean was that day.
Just about the time we were getting tired of playing in the surf, the rain returned. So, we went back to the house and cleaned off for the first of 200 times in the outdoor shower
Then, the kids returned to the hot tub while we prepared dinner.
Tuesday, we spent nearly the entire day at the beach. We were having too much fun to spend a lot of time taking pictures. The waves were much bigger on Tuesday and we found some boogie boards in the utility room at the house that we took with us. Great fun!
Sig and I went for a walk each day, Tuesday through Saturday. It was about a 2-mile loop around the neighborhood and we had a lot of fun doing it. On Wednesday, we walked across Rt 12 and walked out on this dock on the Sound side.
Wednesday, we spend the day hunting for souvenirs. We went to Real Kiteboarding and Kitty Hawk Kites for me - though, I knew I wasn't going to buy anything. Then, we headed to the various beach gear stores and souvenir stores. It was a really good time. I even let Bubbles buy something for her mom. We ate lunch at Wendy's before returning to the house.
With Bubbles all decked out in her new Dacron shirt - which I bought for her because she had some serious board rash from the boogie board - we made our way back to the beach for some more fun. M (Sig's boy) and I both bought skim boards so that we could play together at the beach. M got frustrated quickly and that was compounded by the fact that I rode almost instantly and got a few good rides on the skim. I probably should have prepared him by letting him know that I was experienced and that my kiting helps with board-skills, too.
I made an attempt at riding my biggest kite on the ocean side on Wednesday, with very little success. It turned into 3 out-and-back reaches that took me a couple of hundred yards down wind - each time.
We wanted to go see the new Harry Potter movie on Wednesday, but we didn't get there in time. They were all sold out for both the 7pm and 10pm shows. Instead, we went and saw the new Ice Age movie. We all really enjoyed it! If you get the chance, go see it. We also bought tickets for Harry Potter on Thursday's 7pm showing.
On Thursday, I finally got to go kiteboarding! Winds were out of the southwest at about 20-25 mph. Since that would be off-shore if we were kiting on the ocean side, Ryan and I went over to The Sound side and did a nice down-winder from a place they call the Chimi house, to the Salvo-day-use beach. As the crow flies, it's a 9.8 mile ride. Once you throw in each of our reaches, I'd guess we rode about 40 miles.
After we reached Salvo, we stayed and played for another 2 hours or so. I ended up with a rather large bruise on the bottom of my foot. Ryan had a nice blister on his foot. Other than that, our bodies fared well. My kite, however, suffered two rips. It didn't ruin my day or my trip. In fact, I was able to go kiting again on Friday. While I was gone, Sig took the kids to the beach.
Thursday night, we all went to see the Harry Potter movie. We got there right at 7pm, so we were stuck with some of the worst seats in the house. Sig, M and I sat in the very first row with our necks craned back for 2.5 hours. The girls got to sit one row back and didn't have to strain so hard to see the screen. Again, this was a good movie and I'll go see it again or I'll rent it when it comes out.
Friday was another windy day. However, I didn't want to spend as much time away from Sig and the kids, so we decided to all go play at the Salvo day use beach. The kids were all for it because, on Thursday, the off-shore winds caused the waves to be WAY more violent than any previous day. The Sound side is inland-lake-like with waves less than a foot tall and shallow water that stretches miles from shore. On some of my reaches on the kite, I must have gone 2+ miles from shore and it was never more than chest deep.
I gave Bubbles and M a ride on my shoulders for about 1/2 mile and back. They both loved it.
Friday night's dinner was a London Broil. It was delicious!
After dinner, Bubbles played hair-dresser with S
On Saturday, we split the day spending part of it at the ocean, and part of it at the Salvo Day Use beach. I took lots of pictures so that I'd have something to post.
Saturday night, we cleaned up and went to Dirty Dick's for dinner. S had catfish, Bubbles had snowcrab legs, M had a couple of bites of a burger and Sig and I split a huge platter of seafood. M ended up eating some catfish and some "Crab Fingers". Crab Fingers were new to us. They're the last knuckle on a crab leg and the meat from that first knuckle to the second knuckle. That's dipped in batter and deep fried. They're good. Really good.
Sunday was D-day (Departure). We were all packed up on Saturday night and all we had to do in the morning was pack our bedding and our dirty clothes. Then, we went to the NC Aquarium at Roanoke Island. We arrived at about 9am and stayed for 2 hours. I don't know if that hurt or helped our traffic situation on the way home, but we had a lot of fun.
Somewhere during the first few minutes, we heard S say...
And then at the exit, I saw that sign. I'm sure they hear that a lot.
The drive home was uneventful and we didn't really play much NASCAR. We got home just after 1am. On Monday morning, Nick was glad to have M back  |
Betty Boop Fri Jul 31 09:03:54 AM 
taz Thu Jul 30 10:52:08 PM 
BizB Tue Jul 28 03:09:44 PM 
sopops Sun Jul 26 11:42:02 AM 
and looked at the stars. The Milky Way was clear and bright. We found the big dipper and I think I spotted Orion's Belt, but I can't be sure. I wish I'd taken my star gazing book and guide. Sig saw her very first shooting star that night!