Friday, June 13, 2008-Frisco Campground, NC
Yesterday evening, we met the wicked
ranger from the west. Our campsite has enough depth for our camper,
but not the truck. I had to park the truck perpendicular to the
camper and parallel to the road. It so happened that the two back
tires of the truck rested on sand, not asphalt like the two front
tires. The other rangers had no problem with that. However Elizabeth
stopped by the camper and informed me that I had to move the truck
to overflow parking, since not all four tires were on asphalt. The
overflow camping is about a quarter mile up the ridge and consists
of a pullover space on either side of the road. Elizabeth obviously
did not understand the separation anxiety I have with my truck!
Earlier in the day, we received a notice that there had been four
autos broken into in another campground to the north. I was not a
"happy camper". However, not wanting to be evicted from the
campground, I graciously moved the truck.
This morning, I drove down to the entry
kiosk and spoke to a young ranger on duty. I explained the
preceeding night's events. He looked to see who was on duty and
rolled his eyes. He informed me that Elizabeth had been on duty. He
told me that no one else had a problem with the truck. I obtained
Elizabeth's work schedule for the week and will park accordingly.
From there, Sue and I drove to a parking
area and walked about a half mile to the beach. We had our chairs,
water and a new beach umbrella. When we got to the beach, there were
many cars and trucks that had driven down to the beach on a sand
road that started before the campground area. I spoke to a man that
was fishing near us that had driven his truck. I asked what I shoud
know about driving in the sand. He said that anyone that drove on
the sand road had to lower the air pressure in their tires to twenty
pounds or they would get stuck in the sand. The problem I have is
that when I bought the tires at Costco, they filled the tires with
nitrogen. I have the perfect truck for this type of driving, but I
can't refill the tires with nitrogen here. I probably should walk
instead of driving, since I really need the exercise.
We stayed about an hour to an hour and a
half. The beach was beautiful. The sky was blue, the water warm and
the breezes cool. We didn't want to get a burn, so we left and
walked back to the truck. I drove by the ranger kiosk to check if
Elizabeth started early. She was not there yet. We took the truck
back to the camper. I wanted to practice using the slide rails on
the hitch. This is a device that slides the hitch back in the bed to
increase the turning radius. The site we are in is tight and I
should use the quik-slide when we leave. Then I drove to the shower
house and cleaned up. I left the truck there, since the ranger today
told me that is considered overflow parking. Elizabeth will be
happy.
We ate lunch and afterwards I decided to
go for a walk. Sue rested in the camper and read. She found a book
titled Outer Banks, by Ann Rivers Siddons. I walked down the
road on the ridge until I found a boardwalk to the shore. When I
reached the shore, the sand had heated up and was hot! I ran to the
water and soaked my feet and cooled down. I continued down the beach
until I found the boardwalk we had used earlier in the day. During
my walk, I noticed that I was beginning to appreciate the area a lot
more. I had time to look around and notice the different plants
and birds. It usually takes me a little time to acclimate to a new
area.
There is an issue here regarding the
closing of beaches to protect nesting birds and turtles from trucks
and bathers. The local community wants to keep the beaches open to
the public. I think that was another issue in the closing of the
campground near the Hatteras Lighthouse.
I returned to the camper and we made
plans for dinner. Sue loves fried oysters (yuck) and we might look
for a seafood resurant tonight. We are really enjoying the camper.
The generator keeps the ceiling and exhaust fans running, the music
playing, the router working and coffee maker perking. We are
somewhat isolated from the other sites and are enjoying our privacy.
The one exception being Elizabeth's ever watchful gaze.
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