Wednesday, July 2, 2008-Frisco Campground, NC

We hung out at the camper this morning. Sue read and I rebuilt the spreadsheets that I lost when my computer died. This time I backed them up on the portable hard drive. That took most of the morning. We are really lucky to have internet access here at the campground. We are high on the ridge and get the cellular signal from Frisco. Down near the beach, the signal is weak or non existent.

In the afternoon, I ran again and made five miles. The temperatures are not too high and the breeze is refreshing. After we cleaned up, we went shopping at the Food Lion in Avon. That is THE grocery store on the south shores. No competition for them. There are several small grocery stores, but non have the selection that Food Lion has.

On the the ten mile drive to Avon, the island is at its narrowest. If one were to stop and climb a sand dune, they could see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound. The island can't be more that a quarter mile wide here, if that much. The sound side is a popular place for wind surfing. It is extremely shallow and people far away from shore seem to be up to their knees. The wind surfers have a surf board and hold a kite, or parasail, and are pulled along the water. Sometimes, we have seen surfers sailing in the air above the water. They must have a different type of gear.

The more time we spend here at the campground, the more we notice the birds. There are many species and we are learning their habits. I don't think we would become birders, but it is interesting to watch them. They all have their separate characteristics, territories, and methods of flying.

The campground is filling up for the Fourth of July. Frisco Campground is an exceptional campground. When it was built, the sites were designed for tent camping. Most of the tent sites have a trail for walk-in camping and are hard to see from the road. There is no water or electric at the sites. Since then, smaller campers and pop-up trailers come here, and it is a tight fit for some of them. From our camper on the ridge, we cannot see any roads, except for those close to us. There are small trees and bushes obscuring the roads. We can see some tents and campers, but mostly only see the brush and the ocean beyond.

Without the generator, we would not be able to stay long. The camper battery gets charged each time we run the generator. We sometimes operate the refrigerator on electric to save propane. During the night, the refrigerator is powered by the propane. So far, I have filled each propane tank one time on the trip. The lights and fans are battery powered. We conserve our water usage, and should be able to have water until we leave Monday for Shenandoah National Park. I use the shower at the bath house and Sue prefers to shower in the camper. The campground shower water is cool, but if feels good after a run.