pack... let's go!

My employer makes me choose my vacation time in December of the year prior.  I had picked this week with the intent of either a camping trip or a beach vacation.  As the summer approached, we had no definite plans, but we were leaning toward camping as a matter of economics.

Days before my weeks vacation, still with no definite plans, Jen found a beach house that was not yet reserved for the week.  It has been a few years since our last trip and boy, could we use some sand, surf, and salt!  We called my parents to see if they were available and interested.  After debating a bit about whether or not we could get my dad to the beach from the house with his bum knees, we all decided it was a go!

We booked the house and the frantic planning and packing began!  OBX... here we come!

Road trip!

To Jen's chagrin, the kids still love the tradition of driving late into Saturday night and "camping" in the car in the parking lot of the Williamsburg Wal-Mart for a few winks.  We are outgrowing this tradition... perhaps this will be the last year?

It was a rough "campout"... somebody napped too much during the drive and was wide awake!

This boy loves him some Grave Digger!

Hanging out at Jockey's Ridge State Park while we wait to check into our beach house.

The Jockey's Ridge kite festival

I am a creature of habit.  To me, OBX=Hatteras Island, where things are less developed.  The house we chose this time was further north on a different section of the Outer Banks... an area that was more developed.  It was also a little further walk from the beach, and unlike Hatteras Island, in a neighborhood that had trees.  I wasn't so sure about that, but I decided to give it a try.  The upside was that it shaved about 50 miles of drive each way.  Southern Shores, NC also had boardwalks over the dunes for beach access.  With my Dad's knees deteriorating, there is probably no way he can walk over the sand area to get to the beach like he did in the past on Hatteras Island.  Time for a new location... I guess.

"Otter Banks"

One of my beach house requirements... an outdoor shower.  I wonder if I could get away with one of these in Ohio?

Is my hair windblown?

The morning after we arrived, after spending hours in the van with "seat-belt on", Benny settled into this chair in the corner of the room and pulled the curtain behind up through the back of the chair. He wrapped it around him and sat there for over a half hour, saying, "see-my seat-belt", and "seat-belt on". I'm not sure if he just wore the seatbelt so long that he felt he couldn't be without one, or if he assumed if he wore his seatbelt in the house that we wouldn't load him back into the van for another day! It took me quite a while to persuade him to forgo the seatbelt and play! Love my Benny!

The house came with this great wagon... many memories involved this wagon during the week.

beach bums

Ahhh... sand and flip-flops!

Hanging out on our great shaded deck

afternoon recharge

My parents celebrated their 49th anniversary while we were here

The ocean was angry a few days.  The beach was non-existent during high tide on this day.

What do you do when the beach doesn't cooperate with swimming?  How about a blanket tent?

We drove north to Duck, NC to watch the sunset.  Jen discovered this snake in the shallows of the Currituck Sound.

Sunset over the Currituck Sound, Duck, NC

Currituck Lighthouse

Another sunset on the Currituck Sound, Duck, NC

I love this picture... 3 bookworms!

The red flag in the background indicates a no swimming day

Heading back to the house... Ben has the life!

I picked up some speed rolling down this hill.  Just after the picture was taken, the steering started to get a little squirrely... my mom was diving behind a garbage can! 

Dad's knees were hurting from walking in the sand... the wagon wins again!

Lunch on the drive home was sandwiches from the cooler, but we "splurged" for "dinner"... the choices were Taco Bell or McDonald's. With the heavy traffic we hit on the first part of the drive, I was looking for fast and cheap!  The actual vote was 4-2 in favor of Taco Bell (with the only McD voters being Ben and Lily). However, when the road-weary Benny came to life at the mention of McDonald's (the boy LOVES McDonald's), his enthusiasm in lobbying for his candidate swung the vote... "Macadonald's? Chick-a-nuggets? Fwies?"  I was first to swing my vote to the MacaDonald's side, making it a tie... Jen was quick to follow!

OK Benny, MacaDonald's it is!

So, it's now back to the grind with another OBX vacation in the books.  It was a great week... especially for pulling it together so quickly!  And, even if it wasn't Hatteras Island, it's still OBX, and the place gets in your soul!