Sunday, October 02, 2011

Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - October 2, 2011

It's Sunday morning, time for my off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken. I'm cheating a bit this week because I'm totally exhausted. So, I'm using photos I've already posted during the week on Facebook. I will be going through my photos and putting together albums rather than posting thousands of images here on Blogger.

I had a fantastic time last week in Corolla (NC) -- the Outer Banks. I did do a bit too much standing and walking and by Friday I could barely walk at all. But it was all worth it! I gave that new knee quite a work out even if I didn't try surfing, nor did I end up renting a bike. I got very little sleep and tended to stay up later than everyone else, then get up early almost every morning so I could watch (and photograph) the sunrise and take walks on the beach.

We ate very well with meals in local restaurants and fantastic meals cooked by my fellow vacation friends at the house. Marge made us all breakfast daily. (Hey! Where's my breakfast today? I'm hungry!)

When it came to the ocean, I was a bit of a wimp. I don't really trust my knee -- sometimes it gives way on dry land. Plus I have a caught in the rip tide incident in my past when I almost drowned. So I limited myself to about knee-high wades in the surf. I do love that hot tub, though! That felt like heaven!

I became mesmerized by the abundant ghost crabs in the area. I had brought a flashlight to look for them at night, but it wasn't needed. If they weren't so darned cute, I'd say the area was infested with them. I took some video of one eating a Cheez-It and another working on his hole. I have to edit them a bit, but will let you know when they're up.

The big highlight of the trip was our Jeep-ish vehicle guided tour of the northern part of Corolla where the wild Spanish mustangs live. They used to be all over Corolla, but too many were being hit by cars as the town developed. Now they're fenced away from the lower part and have a huge expanse of land only accessible by 4x4 vehicles. Yes, (sigh) there are houses up there. The horses date back 500 years when they were abandoned by Spaniards fleeing the Outer Banks. They're gorgeous.

Oh. And they pronounce it Cah-RALL-ah, not like the car.


Margarita on the front deck

We did see quite a bit of rain in the first few days, plus thunderstorms nearly every overnight. The wind blew the rain onto the back decks facing the ocean. But the front deck, at least a part of it, usually stayed dry.


Gulls on pylons in the sound


We de-crabbed our pool on a regular basis

Isn't he cute? We rescued some alive, but unfortunately we didn't get to others in time. This one was very alive. He jumped out of the net and skittered away on his little crab legs.


Keep off the dunes!

The dunes protect the homes and the Outer Banks itself from hurricane tidal waters. I couldn't get up the dunes if I wanted to. Going up and down the stairs from our crow's nest private beach access was grueling enough on the knee.


Jellyfish

Dead jellyfish were found every morning on my early walks, but I didn't see any live ones in my ocean forays.


At the local library


Surf's up!

I can't remember if I took this one in Kill Devil Hills or Nag's Head. I only saw one surfer near our house and I didn't think the waves were that great for surfing for the most part.


Early morning

THE WILD HORSES ...








Solitary sunrise


But he likes Cheez-Its!


Vincent at Best Friends

He comes home this afternoon. Yay!

13 comments:

Delee said...

Miss ya, Jackie and all the others! What fun we had...rain and all!

Becky said...

Glad you are back, Jackie and group. Marge does cook a mean breakfast.

Laurie said...

Even if our memories fade, our pictures will keep them vividly alive for us. Truly a magical place.

I do hope your legs, knees and feet all feel better and that no lasting damage was done. You are a trooper!

lynn1 said...

Jackie,
Thank you sharing your beautiful pictures.
It has been at least a zillon years since I visited the Outerbanks. It brought back fond childhood memories for me.

Sally said...

Sounds like you all had a lot of fun on vacation. I'm a bit envious of your overnight thunderstorms--there's something about a storm over a large body of water that can be mesmerizing.

Bet your home feels empty without Vincent.

RiseandShine said...

Nice vacation! I love the pictures of the horses. After viewing your pictures, I looked it up. The history of the horses in NC is very interesting. I've always wanted to see the annual round up in Chincoteague.
Sounds like you all had fun, glad to hear it!
Hope your knee recovers well.

Donna in Alabama said...

Glad you are all home safe and sound! Wonderful pictures! I hear Marge does wonderful breakfasts.
Time for Vincent to return home. You will be showered with his love the rest of the day!!

Anonymous said...

have never seen wild horses! wow jackie thank you so much for sharing those pics..., this blog is the closest i will ever get to the east coast!!
debi in calif

monty924 said...

Glad you all made it home safe and sound. Love all the pictures and the stories.

Will have to miss TAR party. :( I have to DVR it and watch later.

meb said...

Marge who? I'm not Marge... and I was surprised that some people make a name out of meb... it's not a word. It's letters as in: m e b. And yes, I do make a pretty good breakfast... as long as everyone stays OUT OF MY KITCHEN! :)

meb said...

I suppose I should mention that I had the best time ever. I rarely was out of my bathing suit or jammies. rbennie said the last day before we left, "Let me take a picture of you with real clothes on". I mean, REALLY!

Jackie, want to see the ghost crab video again eating cheeze-its. He is so cute.

Jennasmom said...

Jackie, glad you girls are all back home safe & sound. Hope the knees are feeling better soon.

I could look at those horse pictures over & over. Just too sad I wasn't there with you all. But as much as I love the horse photos, the crab pics are my favorites!

I know Vincent is happy you're home!

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