Turnkey Camping

We relaxed this morning and awaited a mid-trip call from Lu.  It was a nice breezy day and we relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather.  It ended up that she fell asleep and we missed the call window, but hopefully she'll try us tomorrow.  I'm so excited to hear from her and get stories about her time in Japan.  Kitty Hawk was only about 45 minutes north, so we visited the memorial and C got a Junior Ranger Badge.  After a quick lunch on the road, we re-provisioned a bit at the grocery store and  headed back to the campground.  P finished his bike trip and got to spend time with his long time best friend in LA.  He'll hop on the redeye tomorrow and we'll get to see him on Monday!  The trip has gone really fast.

We arrived in the Outer Banks and are camping at Camp Hatteras.  The campsite is a little forlorn, but we're at an oceanfront site, so you can hear the waves - although the sand dune in front doesn't allow us to see the ocean from the site.  Yesterday we stayed close to home.  J was desperate to try jet skiing, so we rented two for about 45 minutes.  All of us loved it!  Afterward, we jumped in the ocean over by the campsite.  The water was beautiful but the waves were bigger and stronger than we were used to.  J had a bit of a scare when his boogieboard leash was ripped off his arm and he struggled against the tide to get back on shore.  We relaxed in the pool for a bit then went to Kitty Hawk Kites and an ice cream shop.  It was a great day!   Today we got moving around 9 and drove to the Ocracoke Ferry.  Finding a little sandwich shop, we enjoyed a picnic in the shade.  We found some fun t-shirts and drove past the ligh...

The day after Williamsburg, we spent the day exploring Jamestown.  We really enjoyed exploring the area.  We took a ferry over to a beautiful lunch spot on the water and then beat the heat by taking C to his first movie!  We saw Toy Story 5 and it was a good reminder on how tech has overtaken our lives.   Next we drove to Ocean City, MD.  The kids had a ball on the amusement park rides at the boardwalk!  We tried the famous fries, boardwalk lemonade and ice cream.  The view from the top of the ferris wheel was beautiful and even Gampie got in on the ride-fun with the bumper cars! The next morning, we popped over to Delaware to see a lighthouse in the morning and then ventured to Chincoteague with the hopes of glimpsing some wild ponies!  After a visit to the wildlife refuge visitor's center, C got a birding patch and picked up his Junior Ranger badge packet.  We drove Beach Road and saw some wild horses!!  The wildlife loop didn't o...

​Back in February, we hatched a plan with my parents to visit Williamsburg.  As a child, I loved the American Girl Dolls - especially Felicity.  My mom and dad took me on an “Educating Kate” tour where we visited Williamsburg and Washington DC as a child.  I fondly remember the cobblestone streets and blacksmiths shop.  It was like walking back in time with folks roaming around in period correct clothing.  They even sold old fashioned children’s toys - mom bought me a hoop and stick that you could roll along the roads.  I have no clue how that one made it home - we must have driven. In an effort to show our kids as many states as we can, my primary goal of this trip was to check a few states off the list.  When we zeroed in on the Fourth of July as our ideal timeframe for vacation, I thought “how festive to be there for July 4th!”  We booked - only later to put 2 and 2 together and realize that this year was America’s 250th birthday!  What a ...