2013 Big Truck across the Southeast Day 10

We made it to double digits! For all of you that work full time, you know how difficult it can be to take that much time off consecutively, and how rewarding it feels. Today was a great day, unique to the rest of our vacation so far. We are staying on a small island in Buxton, NC, and our plan today was to go to the ocean.

 

We started off at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Station, which was about 3 minutes from our campground, and conveniently where we needed to go to get our Offroad Vehicle Permit.

 

In order to obtain the ORV permit, you have to watch a 7 minute video, which contains helpful tips such as:

• Don't drive into the ocean, as your vehicle will sink
• Don't run over turtles in mating season
• You are not allowed to drive anywhere a bird has landed, will land, or has the capability to land in the future*

*This one is only a slight exaggeration. Huge sections of the beach, previously accessible, are closed off because some chooch beached his Hummer on a sand hill a few years ago. It must have been a HUGE sand hill, because those H2s can go anywhere...

Someone in our vehicle was pretty excited to get to the beach.

 

This is the view once you find one of the authorized access ramps (this is #44) and start working your way toward the surf.



 

We picked a spot with some decent waves and started to set up camp. I'll just get it out of the way now, yes I got tremendously sunburnt today, yes I used sunscreen (it acts like a focusing lens for the sun for someone as gingified as myself), and yes I was by far the pastiest person on the beach, at least for about 20 minutes before I transitioned into the hue of a lawn flamingo.

 



A few minutes after we got situated, I set out on a fatbike ride to reach the point, which of course is off limits because of Hummer guy.

 

Along the way I encountered quite a few of these little guys, not to mention a bunch of shells and other sharp objects. One thing I didn't expect to find was an older couple, retired as of last weekend, who had just found a pipe carved out of bone washed up on the shore. This marks the first time a woman in her 60s has asked me if I had any weed on me, and her husband looked genuinely disappointed when I said no.

This water crossing had me second guessing my plan. It was very similar to quicksand at the bottom, but I could see the end of the sandbar and I'll likely not be back here anytime soon.

Since the satellites are always watching, here's the track I rode. Although it would imply a skill level beyond what I possess, all of that riding save for a few knee deep crossings was on sandbars at low tide.

 

 

One final gratuitous shot once I reached the point (just behind me). The salt water is ridiculously corrosive, my chain was already rusting by the time we got back to the campsite, but the ride was worth it. One challenge I was not used to based on my Michigan beach riding experience was dodging the lines from the surf fishermen.

 

Upon my return, a couple of guys with a pretty thick French accent (Fraunch Fries....) came over and complimented our Jeep. They had driven down from Quebec in this 2013 Wrangler JK, which they've only had for 4 months.

 

We talked Jeeps in broken English for a few minutes, then I returned the favor by complimenting them on their choice of beverage. All 4 of them (I assume girlfriends/wives) were killing these on the beach. Impressive in itself, until you consider what chain of events must have occurred for a group of Canadians, with access to some of the finest beers in the land, came to our country and chose this delicacy.

 

 

 From there, it was on to full play mode. We buried Jordan,

 

 

she buried Kimberly,

 

Then we swam and played in the waves for quite a while. The weather was perfect, a blessing when you consider the cold/rain that has been going on for the past week or so.

 

 

We relocated further down the string of islands, driving down to the ferry launch to Okracoke Island and taking ramp #55 to another beach. The water here was a bit colder, but the waves were nice, big rollers that Jordan could swim in without shrieking every 10 seconds. After the swim, we played in the sand, and I wish I could tell you what was going on here. I don't think she even knew.

 

We returned to the Big Truck to assess the situation, dispense Aloe with a firehose, and relax for a bit before heading back out for some moonlight (not to be confused with Moonlighting, featuring David Addison and Maddie Hayes, one of the finest television accomplishments of its time) waves. 

 

With a huge full moon (I'll refrain from another Joe vs the Volcano link, but you get the idea), the scene was incredible. The beach ORV access shuts down at 9pm, so we stayed until close to that time, listening to the waves crash and watching the little piping plovers (the reason access is shut down, in addition to Hummer guy) dodge waves and find treasures.

 

 

Finally we got back to the site, and Jordan washed up her shell collection, then sorted it by size. I have no idea where she could have gotten these nerdish tendencies, but it was cool to watch.

 

Tomorrow marks an aloe-filled drive up the coast to Assateague Island, to camp among wild horses and do some more ocean/beach exploring.