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.