An Outer Banks Experience!

We took our 3rd camping trip on a week-long family vacation to the Outer Banks, NC. We stayed in Frisco, a small village on Hatteras Island, at the Frisco Woods Campground. 

Like any big vacation, we had lots of preparations to make before leaving. We bought a new *to us* truck three weeks before we left for the OBX. Daddy's truck was plenty of power to haul the camper, however, it was only a single bench seat which means the three of us would have been crammed like sardines for 12 hour drive. We looked for a truck with an extended cab for almost a month before we bought ours.

Day 1: 
We left for our vacation at 2am to try to avoid traffic. Daddy didn't go to sleep at all that evening and I took about an hour and a half nap before we left. Addison slept for about 5 hours before we left and amazingly she stayed awake for 11 of the 12 hours it took to get to our destination. The weather was pretty overcast and drizzly most of the roadtrip. We got to camp around 2pm and as soon as we got there and began to park the campers, unhook, and get camp set-up, it began to pour! It rained for a few hours, enough to soak everything and give us a nice mud pond right outside of our camper! We had great spots though, we were backed up right along the canal and only a few spots down from the Pamlico Sound. The sight was breathtaking, especially at sunset! After the rain stopped we went for a walk around the campground and along the sound, we found a total of 5 little hermit crabs in the water and brought them back to camp. I told Addison they could be her vacation pets but they weren't going to come home with us! A little later in the evening some boys from a neighboring campsite were fishing right behind us in the canal and caught us two big hermit crabs so we put them in their own container too!

Day 2:
We started our morning with a big breakfast and then we headed to the beach for the day! The waves were very calm and we were able to spend a lot of time in the water! It started out not so good when Pappy got in the water and immediately lost his eyeglasses when a wave came up and smacked them right off of his face! Luckily he had his prescription sunglasses with him so he was able to see for the rest of the week when he wore those. The water was much warmer than I anticipated, yet it was cool and refreshing. Uncle Bubby buried Addi in the sand and she didn't like that at all! After that we buried Bubby and Mommy turned him into a gorgeous murman complete with seashell bra! Uncle Bubby also made some inappropriate sand sculptures... Boys will be boys! After we got back to camp, Daddy made jambalaya for dinner and it was de-lic-ious.

Day 3:
On our third day, we got up early and made breakfast and got ready for our Outer Banks Air Tour.  We went on a 30 minute tour of Cape Hatteras and it was one of the most amazing things we have ever done! I personally could have spent all day up in the plane if given the opportunity. I wasn't sure how Addison was going to handle it - if she would freak out or like it - and she was a little apprehensive at first but she ended up having a great time too! After our tour was over we went for a drive up to Nags Head in search of a non-beach-themed shoe store. With all of the rain we had had, Daddy's shoes were all pretty soaked and he needed a new dry pair. On our travels we stopped at the base of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse for a picture, and then we found a turtle pond across from the beach access. Addison loved all of the turtles and I have to admit it was pretty cool to see so many turtles in one place! We headed back to camp to get cleaned up to go out for dinner to the Sandbar and Grille. After dinner we went back to camp for a sunset walk on the  Pamlico Sound, a beautiful ending to a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4:

Our *new* truck has been giving us some electrical hook-up problems in the fact that the camper turn signals and brake lights weren't working when hooked up to the truck. Daddy spent the day going to local garages and driving around to pick up parts for a new electrical wiring harness. The rest of us hit the beach for the day. The weather was great and Addi tried boogie-boarding for the first time. She had a blast and it was very hard to get her out of the water after that! 

Day 5:

The waves were pretty rough and we didn't do as much swimming or boogie-boarding, which was pretty upsetting for Addison. We spent a few hours on the beach and then packed it up and headed back to the campground's swimming pool so that at least she could swim for a little bit. We got her a new swimsuit/life jacket and it works great! She is able to maneuver on her own and she was really doing excellent on her own! After swimming for an hour or so we headed back to camp and got ready for dinner. 

 

Day 6:

We took the Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry to Ocracoke Island, approximately a 40minute ferry ride. After we disembarked from the ferry we drove the length of Ocracoke Island to the village which is full of many restaurants and boutiques and then drove to the Ocracoke Light House. We spent a good part of the day and then took the Ferry back to Hatteras Island. For something to do before dinner we decided to take a drive and made another visit to the turtle pond. When we got to the pond there was a water moccasin swimming in the water. Daddy was taking pictures of the scenery and wildlife and walked right past another snake curled up on the ground, mouth open! He is very lucky to have not gotten bit! After these close calls we packed it up and headed back to camp. We got back to camp to find that we had a visitor at our campsite. Another snake! This snake was crawling from our campsite towards Nanny & Pappy's! With the help of Uncle Bubby and the neighbor boys (the same ones who caught the hermit crabs) and their grandfather, we were able to get the snake out from under our camper when Uncle Bubby threw a mull and killed the snake, yay! Thankfully that ended our snake sightings for the rest of the trip!

 

Day 7:
For our last full day, we got up early and headed to the beach first thing. Hitting the beach early is the way to go! The waves were still rough and again Addison didn't get much swimming in at the beach. After a few hours and not enough sunscreen, we packed up and went to the pool again. After the pool we did some a little shopping and had dinner. After dinner we all went down to the beach at sunset to take some family photos. After all of that *modeling*, we had worked up an appetite so we went for ice cream! It was a great ending to our last day.

 

We packed up and headed home on the 8th day, making slightly better time coming home then we did going down, but still not getting home and unhooked from the camper until after 11pm.
All in all the vacation was great, not nearly long enough of course! We can't wait for our next adventure!

2nd Camping Trip - Front Royal, Va

Memorial Day weekend was our second camping trip with our new camper. Our destination was Front Royal, Va (Skyline Drive). We stayed at a campground that Nanny & Pappy had stayed at before. We went with Nanny, Pappy & Uncle Bubby this time with camp sites across the road from each other.

Our trip started on Saturday with the guys taking the campers down, along with Addi, and setting up because Nanny and I had to work that day. Once we were both finished with work we drove down together where the guys already had camp set up and dinner made, what a treat! We just relaxed around a fire that first night.

                                    

Sunday morning we woke up e-a-r-l-y. Addi got up around 5am so we decided to get an early start on our day. We were up, showered, dressed and eating breakfast before 7am. We took some small walks around the campground while we waited for everyone else to get up. Some neighboring campers told us about a coyote that was hanging out in the fields behind the campground so we tried looking for him but didn't have any luck.
While we were waiting to get moving, Addison made friends with some girls at a neighboring camp site. The girls were out collecting sticks for kindling for their camp fire they were going to have later that evening. Addi LOVES sticks, and kids, and so she was in all of her glory when we let her go to a big stick pile to play with the girls. They became instant friends and the girls were very good with her, protective even. They wouldn't let her get any big sticks for fear of her hurting herself. It was hard to break them apart so that we could go on with our day, but we assured them (and Addison) that they could play together again later that evening.

 Addi and her new friends: Alexis and Alyssa

We packed a picnic lunch and headed up to Skyline Drive for the day. There were several scenic overlooks and lots of traffic due to the holiday weekend. We had a good time enjoying the scenery. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop along the way to have a picnic. We only drove approximately 40 miles of the scenic drive, to the highest elevation point and then we turned around and headed back to camp.

 Once we got back to camp, as promised, the girls played together into the evening. They played miniature golf, shot each other (and Jason) with water guns, went to play at the park, and just had a good time playing together.

Sunday evening Addison had a hard time getting to bed. We tried everything we could think of to get her to sleep, but nothing was working. Finally, Jason took her for a drive to get her to sleep in the truck. I went to bed to get some sleep incase either of us needed to pull a 'night shift' with her. When they got back, Jason put her to bed without much problem and then he stayed up for a little bit longer. While he was up by himself at night (between 1am-2am) he had heard some loud banging sounds coming from the bathhouse which was maybe 100yards from our campsite. We found out the next morning that a bear had come through camp and that was the noises he had been hearing but didn't get to see it!

Monday morning we got up and had breakfast and then we got ready to go to the Skyline Caverns that were just a short drive up the main road from where we were staying. This was also the day that Addi's new friends were leaving to go home so it was sad to say goodbye, they definitely had a great weekend together. It was a great place to be on a hot day that's for sure. The tour was approximately an hour and afterwards we took a ride on a miniature train they had.
                                    

After we came back from the caverns we had lunch, and it was such a hot day that we ended up going to the pool for a little bit to cool off. Addi had fun learning to jump into the water from the sides of the pool.

It was a great weekend away, and of course was too short as all vacations are. We really enjoyed our time at Skyline and plan to go back in the future.