April 22, 2015.  Gosh, it feels like a year since I last wrote.  We’ve been on, over and through two ferries, one million bridges, two tunnels and three lighthouses since yesterday afternoon.  The ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke was interesting — but it took at least 2.5 hours.  The funny thing is that as we queued up to get in line to board the ferry, we pulled in right behind an Airstream just like ours and as we were talking to the owner he told us that they call their trailer Toad Mansion!  They are travelling with an aged dog named Amos!  How very odd.  I guess there is nothing new in the world.

Ocracoke (the town) is very charming with a maze of colorful shops, bars and inns crowded around the harbor.  Upon docking, we sailed through town on our way to the state park campground in hopes of getting a decent campsite, as it was getting very late in the day.  As it turned out, we had our pick of places — nobody camps much in April on a school night.  Good for us!  We moved from the first spot I chose because a nearby camper revved up a loud generator (there is no electricity or water in these island state parks).  The new place was quiet, remote and very dark, making for a beautiful night sky with a crescent moon and brilliant stars.  We drove back into Ocracoke for dinner at a local pub — just to be around lights for a little while and sample some of the local seafood.   We went to bed early, having stayed up until 1:30 the previous night re-celebrating the improbable Yellow Jacket victory and metaphorically tearing off little pieces of hedge.

This morning we naturally woke up at 5:30 with pale light beginning to brighten the windows.  Being this far east makes a big difference in the sunrise.  Taking our coffee with us, we climbed up the high sand dunes and watched the orange sun arrive above the ocean.  Then, without taking time to shower or fix breakfast, we hurried the 15 miles to the Hatteras ferry in hopes of catching the 8 am trip.  We made it there in plenty of time, but there were about 20 cars and three huge tour buses in line in front of us.  It was obvious that there was no way we would fit on the small ferry.  However, it was like getting on a subway in Tokyo — the expert ferry-packers summoned a few cars to board, and then one of the buses and some more cars (we thought it would sink at that point), then another bus!  Then a third bus was crammed in some how and then US!  I would never have believed it.

Like Ocracoke, the village of Hatteras at the ferry landing was bustling with commerce and tourism.  Again, we ignored all that and headed straight for the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, which in 1999 was transported overland 2900 feet to the southwest to its current in-land location to protect it from the eroding shoreline.  Doris wanted to climb to the top, but Brad and I dissuaded her from attempting the feat.  It is one thing to get up an 8-foot metal ladder on a ferry; another altogether to go up 267 spiral steps without the benefit of opposable thumbs.  It is indeed a beautiful lighthouse, with its red brick pediment and distinctive spiral black and white pattern.

We made one more lighthouse stop a few miles later at Bodie (pronounced “body”) Island.  I liked that one the best.  Who knows why.  The Outer Banks was much more developed than I recall from my last visit (in 1980).  But in all fairness, so am I.  At Kitty Hawk, we rejoined the mainland and headed up through bountiful farm country with fields of bright yellow rape, as we had seen in Arkansas last April.  North Carolina is one sprawling, beautiful, diverse state!  Brad commented that it must be difficult to govern and manage, given the many disparate needs and interests of it citizenry.

Circling around Norfolk VA, we took the incredible Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where we are tonight, at Kiptopeke State Park.  Brad especially wanted to travel on the bridge tunnel, a 27 mile engineering marvel that contains two long underwater tunnels and an even a gift shop in the middle!  I was a nervous wreck with us dragging a 28-foot Airstream through the narrow tunnels at 55 mph with 18-wheelers whizzing by in the opposite lane.  Brad loved it.  He has nerves of steel. He can’t wait to do it going the other way tomorrow!  Meanwhile, we went on a hike to the ocean from our campsite in Kiptopeke and Brad is now grilling hamburgers and corn for dinner.  It has been a remarkable day.