Fourth of July 09 Beach Trip #6 The End

Friday, the sun woke us up to a bright and beautiful morning. Everyone was really ready to head for the beach cause this was our “last day”. You always have that day when you realize you have to go home tomorrow. How is it that a week at the beach seems to take forever to plan and get here and then is gone in a flash?

Everyone, including yours truly, rounded up all their stuff, and prepared to head for the beach. From every floor of the house came the sounds of greasing and spraying. I was heading down the stairs when I heard that unmistakable sound that is sort of a cross between a squirt and a splop. I rounded the corner to see my son and son in law dispensing large blobs of the dreaded white goo on themselves. Soon everyone was sufficiently SPFed, and we loaded all the beach gear in the back of the truck. The family walked down to the beach access, and I hauled the load of gear in the truck to my accustomed handicap parking space. This day we were early enough I didn’t even have to use the handicap space. I got a prime spot right beside the beach stairs. Everyone gathered up their load of “gear” and soon we were all installed in “a spot” on the beach. I was safely landed under my industrial strength umbrella, and had done a special rig that allowed the breeze to blow through the screen windows in my umbrella. (this is really a slick umbrella) I settled down with my book and some shade, my friends and family, and all was well with the universe.

We enjoyed the morning on the beach, and as lunchtime approached, we decided to adjourn to the house and then the boat. We reversed the process of beach landing, and hauled all the “gear” back to the house. We had a good lunch of tasty leftovers and some new veggie additions, and planned our afternoon. While we were eating lunch we got some good news: Vickie and I have been on the waiting list for the “dry stack” at Carolina Marina in North Carolina at Belews Lake. For those who don’t know a dry stack is a big building where they store your boat on big shelves and put it in the water when you want it. Well they had called and left a message on my cell phone that our slot had opened up. This was really cool since we were #20 on the waiting list this spring when we first asked them about getting in. It is a very nice facility, and the lake is pretty close to our house.

Vickie and Marian decided to go shopping. This left us with the perfect number for an afternoon of water sports. (thanks to Miss Vickie, but as she said, she could go boating anytime and thanks to Marian, she really didn’t want to go because of back pain) Tom, the boys and I headed out to launch the boat, and we told the girls we’d pick them up at the dock.

Well that was the plan, but when we got to the boat ramp, it seemed everyone in the general vicinity had the same idea. There was no place to park the truck and trailer. Well, I thought about it, and so I just dumped Wes IV, Tom, and Jon off with the boat, and told them I’d meet them at the dock. I took the truck back to the house, parked it, and joined the girls to meet them at the dock. All went pretty well, and soon we were out on the water. We headed upstream to the area where we had been the other day. Our intention was to let some of the folks ski. When we got up to where I thought we might pull someone, Jon got suited up and jumped overboard, turned out the water was waist deep, and he ended up standing in the ooze. We worked at trying to pull him, but the wind and current combined with the bumper-to-bumper boat traffic made it nearly impossible. We gave up on that, and put out the tube. Jon rode that and then Aylea. It was sort of like riding in the ocean however with all the boat wakes.

Finally I made an executive decision, and said let’s head downstream to the other end of the island and see if it is any calmer. Turned out it was much better. The swinging bridge at Sunset Beach only opens once per hour, so far fewer boats come that direction. We were able to get everyone a chance to tube, and we even anchored and swam a little. Even Tom got on the tube. I might not have mentioned it, but Tom is the Chief of Police in York County PA. I told the kids, “too bad I know him, this is just what I always wanted to do---drag a cop through the salt water at high speed on the end of a rope”. I told Tom later and we had a good chuckle over it.

While we were swimming, the bridge opened unexpectedly. We heard a great huge horn, and through came a barge, pushed by a tugboat, carrying a huge bridge girder. He proceeded upstream, and the little boats just had to get out of his way. It was surprising to see such a huge boat, but then I remembered that the Inter Costal Waterway is there for much more than recreation. It is a vital waterway for commerce on the East Coast. I could imagine what it must be like for that tug boat skipper threading his way up the channel with a bazillion rookie ICW boaters like me to contend with. Need to mention what a joy Greta was during this boating afternoon. She rode the boat, went in the water, watched mommie and daddy tubing, and generally had a big time. Very amazing behavior for a 2 year old.

As the afternoon came to a close all had recreated their fill, and we headed back to the dock. Tom and the boys dropped me and the girls off at the dock, and I went to fetch the trailer. I got the trailer and headed for the boat ramp. When I got there we had a giant traffic jam at the boat ramp. One lady couldn’t back up her trailer-this was quite comical to watch, as she almost backed it over the side of the ramp. Since it was only a jet-ski trailer, it ended up with a guy simply picking the trailer up to get it oriented properly as she backed it up. Then one guy’s boat was broken down and blocking the first launch, then while successfully avoiding a collision with the side of the boat launch, my son accidentally changed launches at the last minute, meaning that our boat was in the wrong slot for loading, and the guy in that slot was trying to back down to launch and couldn’t figure out what to do. My son didn't want to tempt fate and risk a mishap on his (otherwise uneventful) second time driving my new boat by moving it to the other launch, and the guy trying to launch didn't want to move to let us unload and get out of the way.

We were all sitting there in our trucks kind of looking at each other and I saw Tom talking with the guy that seemed to have terminal indecision. Low and behold everything started moving and all of a sudden, we all got straightened out. I found out later Tom had just “explained” to the guy he’d either have to move or sit there forever, despite his protests about losing his place in line. I should note that Tom is a very easy-going, friendly guy, but in his position as a career police officer, he has gotten good at this sort of very persuasive "explaining" that gets the desired result without making everyone angry. We certainly appreciated him putting on his "chief" hat for a moment to sort everything out with a minimal amount of drama. We got the boat loaded and headed back to the house. Of course on the way back the tube blew out of the back of the boat on the road. Tom and Jon jumped in another vehicle and went back for it.

Everyone turned to, and we thoroughly scrubbed down the boat to get all the salt water and sand off it. Meanwhile the ladies managed to put together a great dinner from all the stuff left in the refrigerator, and we sat down to a great communal meal reliving all the great moments of the day, and sharing good times. A great end to a great week.

Soon after dinner, everyone once again turned to and we began packing, cleaning, and preparing for the exit on Saturday. All hands were on deck, and when everyone finally turned in for the night, we were the requisite number of hours away from departure in the morning.

Just to finish up, everyone got loaded up Saturday morning, and the leaving was uneventful. For us the traffic was relatively ok, no back ups but I-40 was pretty frantic.
Wes IV reported “we didn't really run into bad traffic until we hit 95 when 64, 295 and 95 all merge together above Richmond, where, just for good measure, it goes from 4 lanes to 3. The combined beach traffic made for a longish ride home. Very few dead stops, but a lot of time where you'd be motoring along at 65 and then all of the sudden it'd slow down to 30, then go back up to 65 or 70. As far as I can tell there were no accidents, and the root cause seemed to be that the VA State Police were doing an "admirable" job enforcing the speed limit, but what it was actually doing was causing a chain-reaction backup due to a combination of rubbernecking on flashy lights and standard "oh crap it's a cop (slam on the brakes)" halfway across VA. I counted no fewer than 6 traffic stops along that stretch. What should have taken us 6 hrs took closer to 7 with only one 30 min stop for lunch. Because we stopped fairly early on in the trip (about 11), that ended up being a nearly 5 hour nonstop stretch of driving for Tom and I - we were amazed that no one needed to stop, but VERY ready to be out of the car when we finally hit home.”

We had an unusual event while riding on I-40. This big lighted sign over the roadway said “SILVER ALERT CALL 511” So we dutifully called 511 and got to listen to 9 traffic messages none of which had any particular bearing on anything that had to do with anything. Still haven’t figured out what the “SILVER ALERT” was supposed to be. Perhaps it was an Al-Qaeda secret alert for terrorists. The forty bazillion people traveling I-40 all calling 511 at the same time allowed them to slip a message through the cell overload. Or maybe the cell companies paid North Carolina to do it to waste minutes. But anyhow everyone got home safe, and we are vowing to do it again.
More later,
Wes

Fourth of July 09 Beach Trip #5

Thursday morning dawned sort of cloudy and rainy looking. The forecast was iffy so we didn’t plan anything too involved. Some of the folks went to the beach after the sun did come out. But a little while later I looked up from my keyboard and it was pouring down rain with rain lashing against the sliding glass doors in the kitchen. I had used the morning and on into the afternoon as it turned out, to catch up on my writing and manage posting some photos to the web. Miss Vickie disappeared early in the morning to the beach, and never returned even through the rainstorm. She spent the day in pursuit of sharks’ teeth. She was rewarded for her day of labor with some prize finds.

Miss Vickie reported her day on the beach was interesting. There were not a lot of people on the beach because of the poor weather, but the folks who were there wanted to know what she was looking for. She became the “shark’s tooth guru” teaching everyone what to look for and helping them.

Thursday night we were having Ragu Bolognese ala Wes III. Yours truly had started around 11:00 AM (assisted by daughter Aylea) to prepare my well-tested pasta recipe. I even brought my Lodge cast iron Dutch oven all the way there since I feel it is a necessity. (if you are driving—flying is a different story) Aylea and I chopped, sautéed, browned, deglazed, crushed, simmered and stirred. I had even brought San Marzano tomatoes from my stock at home. When all was properly combined it went into a 225º convection oven for the rest of the afternoon.

I retired to the kitchen table, with a view of the beach and waves rolling in, to capture some of the events of the week. Folks came and went, shopping, eating, beaching, playing guitar hero, just regular daily stuff for a sort of off and on rainy day at the beach. It was a nice day of respite in some ways. You can’t ask for a better “writers perch” than overlooking the ocean, with a happy family surrounding you, and dinner from your own hands slowly simmering in the oven.

Sometime during the day, my son discovered the house we were renting had a hidden elevator. He was looking at the breaker box (like nosy engineers often do) and noticed a breaker labeled elevator. Once he did it was obvious there was a locked door, all in alignment, on each floor. On their own they appeared to be just locked “owners closets” but when taken as a whole they spelled elevator. Me being a half cripple, it was a little disappointing that the owners of this particular house chose to let me struggle up and down four flights of stairs all the time when I could have ridden. Just a word to the wary, if you rent a 3 or 4 floor beach house with kitchen and gathering area on the top floor, be sure to ask if it comes with an elevator and if that elevator is only for the privileged.

As everyone started gathering for dinner, I made some Yoder’s cole slaw and got some Barilla Plus pasta ready to boil. I am partial to Barilla Plus spaghetti with my Bolognese and what’s even better is it is good for you. Tom and Marain had made the trip to Myrtle Beach for the day and called to see if we needed anything. I ordered up some crusty chewy bread to go with dinner and everything came together nicely.

The food must have been ok cause it got snarffled up with just a few leftovers. Anyone who would like the recipe let me know. It’s somewhat laborious to make, but rewarding in the finish. While I was finishing up dinner Miss Vickie returned from the beach and cooked up a massive tray of her famous peach Jello shots. These went into the refrigerator for later appreciation.

After dinner, we got out the Rummy Cube game. It is one of the few games I can really play. (I’ve just never taken the time to learn a lot of the others, sorry kids) We had a bunch of spirited players, and half way through Miss Vickie passed around the tray of her special libations. We played and talked and sparred until everyone succumbed to the call of the bed. The whole day was wonderful.
More later,
Wes

Fourth of July 09 Beach Trip #4

Wednesday morning dawned bright and pretty. Everyone was chomping to get to the beach. Carrie and Creston especially wanted to get in some beach time cause they had to go home today. Everybody scurried around and hauled all “the gear” to the beach. I decided to disconnect the truck from the boat and use it to haul my stuff (and my butt) down to the beach access. I used my handicap parking privileges to secure a spot near the beach access.

The beach on this particular day was nearly perfect. The wind was low, temp was in the middle 80’s, and the water was warm. I sat under my mother of all umbrellas and watched the world go by. Intermittently I got up and spent some time in the ocean. I really love to swim in the ocean when I get a chance. Miss Vickie spent her time searching the beach for anything collectable. Mostly she is currently interested in sharks teeth and sea glass. She has a big time and the patience of Job searching for both.

Sitting on a well populated beach during the 4th of July week caused me to wax analytical about all manner of things. The first thing that came to mind was how wonderful all these folks can still afford a vacation with their families even with the economic troubles we currently face. An then gazing at the ocean and remembering the MRAP vehicle we saw on a trailer at the Rest Stop on the way down got me thinking about all the kids who are over seas and at home keeping our way of life safe. My kids were here with me at the beach---I am a fortunate man. An then there is the thought that even with adversity—life is good if you take your fun where can find it.

Carrie and Creston packed up had lunch and headed up the road. They had to drive back to the DC area so Carrie could go back to work tomorrow. Vickie and I agreed with each other how fortunate we were to be happily retired and free to live life on a slightly different plane. We enjoyed the beach till mid afternoon, and then made a run to the local stores for some supplies.

This is a good time to mention a really cool service we found on this trip. Anyone who has ever been to Ocean Isle Beach in the distant past knows you used to have to travel all the way to Shallotte to go to the grocery store. Then years later they built a new Food Loin down the road toward Sunset Beach. That and the local small IGA were the only food supply sources available. Also anyone who has ever been to this or any beach for that matter knows how it is always a mob scene the first couple days at the grocery store as everyone tries to stock their larder for the week. While planning for this trip, I got an Email from Lowes Foods (whom I have a green points card with) telling me about a new service called Lowes Foods To Go, an on line shopping service. I sent a note to my daughter in law, Emily, about it thinking it might be useful for our beach trip because they had a store nearby. She embraced it quickly, and soon we were preparing an online shopping list for the beach.

It turned out that this service is beyond cool. I even put in my green points number so we could take advantage of the specials. How it works is that you prepare an online shopping list, complete with prices, sale prices, and quantities. You then pay a one-time charge of $5.95, which allows you unlimited on line shopping at that store for a week. You then transfer your shopping list to a shopping cart, and put in your credit card number, selecting a pick up date and time, and place the order. At your appointed time, you show up at the Lowes Foods, and pull into one of their special Lowes Foods To Go lanes, push a call button, and the person asks for your name. Then they politely say they’ll be right out with your order. They proceed to bring out everything you bought, load it in the car, and refuse to be tipped. (read they are not allowed) This is shopping like we always thought it might be in the future. We have used the service several times subsequently all week with similar favorable results. I can only imagine how useful this type of service would be for a busy mother who works and tries to keep up a family household. Emily said she is going to try to find a similar service near her home in Manassas. I can only imagine the young kids running around the store being shoppers for the to goers.

On the way back from the store, we picked up a nice big watermelon at a roadside stand. The kids fixed Chicken Marsala with Portobello mushrooms and risotto for dinner. My son used the couple quarts of hand made chicken stock from my previous days endeavors in the risotto. We topped it all with fresh cold watermelon for a great feed.
More later,
Wes

Fourth of July 09 Beach Trip #3

Tuesday morning arrived bright and sunny. The weather report promised only the possibility of scattered and or isolated storms, so we decided to take the boat and venture out to our deserted wild beach. Our current rental property is on the ocean side with a great view of the ocean from the lovely kitchen/living area on the top floor. It is also in close proximity to the houses that are situated on the canal system at OIB that was devised to create more waterfront property. Since we were planning to ferry some folks out to the remote beach, and we had 6 lifejackets for 10 folks (Greta had a dedicated midget lifejacket) we looked around at the closest canal to us to see if there might be a dock we could utilize to facilitate the transfer (the boat ramp dock is not quick walking distance from our house). We found a vacant lot just down the street complete with dock. The nice lady next door said the owner (a builder) would certainly not care if we utilized the dock so we were all set.

We loaded up everything in the boat and with the first wave of folks, headed for the remote beach. We easily beached the boat and headed back for the balance of the crew. Cell phones came in quite handy for this endeavor. We turned one canal too early, so I got some additional practice in “advanced low-speed jet boat maneuvers” in order to turn around and head back to the correct canal to meet our waiting party. With everyone transferred to the beach, we picked a smaller crew and decided to try some water skiing. We spent some time trying to get folks up on the skis, and only once managed to suck the ski rope into the boat impeller. Needless to say yours truly was a little embarrassed by that particular event, but the operation of a jet boat does have somewhat of a learning curve. The convenient clean out port allowed us to quickly untangle the rope and we continued. Mostly what we found out was it is pretty much difficult to ski on the ICW during July 4th week---the boat traffic is pretty busy. Next time out we are going to try going up the Shallotte River a ways and see if that’s not a little better.

We spent a nice afternoon hanging out on the remote beach—looking for shells, swimming, sun bathing, and just generally having a big time. Finally the weather started threatening a little so I suggested we probably ought to start the return trip. As it turned out, about the time we got to the dock, it was pouring down rain. But then we were all wet already and wearing swimming suits, so other than being a little cool it wasn’t a big deal. We off loaded most of the gear, and then headed back to the boat ramp. We had one couple we wanted to let try some tubing if we could (Creston and Cary, Emily’s sister and her husband) since they had to leave Wednesday. We hooked up the tube rope and they got on it in the water. We took off pulling them and they were having a big time. We managed to use a sharp turn to slingshot them enough that they actually were moving faster than the boat for a short period of time. Fun with angular velocity! After a while it started to rain a little, then it started to rain a lot. We got them back in the boat and headed again for the dock. We got most everyone off loaded (in the downpour) then the boys and I headed for the ramp to get the boat landed. It was really crazy driving the boat through the pouring rain.

We got the boat trailered OK and headed back to the house. The plan for that evening was to go to a restaurant to celebrate the various anniversaries/birthdays/whatever that had happened in the last couple months. (just another way of saying both sets of grandparents took everyone out for dinner) We went to Captain Nance’s in Calabash. What trip to the beach in this part of the country would be complete without a trip to Calabash? A wonderful time was had by all, and appetites were well sated with all manner of fried crustaceans. (I remarked that this particular restaurant had a Lipitor dispenser in the bathroom instead of a condom dispenser). I seem to remember ice cream somewhere on the way home as well, all in all a wonderful day at the beach. I was dead tired when we got home and crashed for a while with a book on my chest.
More later,
Wes

Fourth of July 09 Beach Trip #2

Sunday at the Ocean Isle Beach: everyone headed for the beach. I am somewhat of a beach aphobic. I really like it I just don’t like the sun and sand and wind and suntan goo. I used to like Ocean Isle’s beach OK cause we’d put up a gazebo on the beach we could leave up all week, and it was great to sit under. But a couple of years ago, the Ocean Isle folks got the idea that the gazebos were interfering with the breeding habits of the sea turtles. Now I’m as environmentally friendly as the next guy, but I was a little put off by the whole “no gazebos” thing (as were some other folks I know who quit coming to Ocean Isle because of it). In my sometimes-cynical view of life, I figured it was probably cause the local government wanted to either run or franchise some kind of beach umbrella rental business, and needed a monopoly. My daughter knew of my beach issues, so compromised by getting me the mother of all beach umbrellas for Father’s Day.

With the whole family happily “down at the beach” I hung around doing some kitchen snack prep work like peeling and cutting up 5# of carrots, making dip, marinating meat, etc. (subconsciously anything to avoid the beach). Finally I decided to brave it, and greased up to make the journey. Just as I got to our spot on the beach and landed in my chair under my new umbrella, it started to rain. I apologized to everyone for bringing the rain, and we packed up for the return to the house.

Dinner that evening was fajitas both of the beef and chicken variety. Previously on Saturday night we had baby back ribs and rotisserie chicken that had been started at home then finished upon arrival. Also great corn on the cob hand imported from the farmlands of York PA by Em’s mom and dad. Both nights’ chicken carcasses made their way to a large pot and were cooked down with various condiments to become stock for later usage. Everyone has been pitching in with the kitchen duties, and it is sort of a “fun for all”. As with most big family gatherings, after dinner each night we settled down for a nice quiet session of Guitar Hero World Tour on the Playstation at 125 db. Life is good.

Monday morning, Miss Vickie disappeared to her favorite beach pass time of wandering, and I got some of the young folks together, and said, “let’s go see about getting the boat in the water.” It ended up being Jon, Aylea, Wes IV, Greta, and me as captain. This was Greta’s first boat ride, and so we made sure that she was properly outfitted with her lifejacket, sunscreen, hat, and sunglasses. We rounded up everything and headed for the free boat ramp that lives under the Ocean Isle Beach high-level bridge. It’s a real steep ramp, and puts you right into the Inter Costal Waterway. We got the boat launched uneventfully, and headed down the ICW to see what we could see. Heading South (which is actually West because of this islands peculiar orientation) we came to the famous Sunset Beach swinging bridge (as in swings open), which is soon to be replaced with a high level bridge, much to everyone’s aesthetic chagrin. The posted schedule said the bridge only opened on the hour, and being it was 10:30 we elected to head the other direction.

Heading North (which again here is actually East) we passed our launch point, and then on to the mouth of the Shallotte River. We looked around there, and continued up Waterway till we reached the harbor and high level bridge to Holden beach. Along the way we passed the opening between Holden Beach and Ocean Isle Beach where you could make a turn and head out to the Atlantic Ocean. Also in that general area we found a great stretch of beach where we could bring folks with the boat and hang out. Greta was a natural at the boat riding, and had a great time. She comes by her love of motorized conveyances honest, as my family has the gene that causes us to have some amount of gasoline in our veins, starting with my mother, then me (which you already know), and carrying through to both of my kids (and apparently my granddaughter). We returned to our launch point, and successfully trailered the boat for the return to the house, planning a future trip to our beach find. We discovered at home that we gave the boat its first contact with the dock, due to some telltale yellow plastic stuck in a couple of the screws on the bumper strip of the boat. Oh well, it wouldn’t be my boat if it was completely pristine.

That night we had a modified clambake (fresh shrimp, some of the most buttery clams I have ever had) along with crab cakes and some more of the wonderful York corn. This evening we settled down for some lively board games and conversation.
More later,
Wes

Fourth of July 09 Beach Trip #1

It all started a few months ago when my son called and said they had rented a house at the beach for July 4th week. He wasn’t sure exactly who was going to be there, but it would be a group. We ended up with Wes IV (my son) his wife Emily, granddaughter Greta, Aylea (my daughter) and her husband Jon, Carrie (Emily’s sister) and her husband Creston, Tom and Marian (Emily’s parents) and Miss Vickie and I. I said we’d love to go and mentioned that I might want to bring my (old) boat, but that I wasn’t sure cause the whole boat thing was somewhat up in the air at that point. Well now it is 4th of July week and we are happily at the beach with family, good weather, new boat, and new truck to pull it with. The in-between is quite a story.

To start with, I had some trepidation (actually a deep seated phobia) of going anywhere on a holiday week. But since the kids were willing to do it, I said what the heck. Then I read how less people were traveling this year etc. etc. so I started worrying less about it. Also, I figured all the accommodations at the beach would be slammed, and I have an additional phobia about crowds. It all turned out to be useless worry because now that we’re here it is and was no worse than any trip to the beach we’ve ever made. The crowds are definitely manageable, and the traffic getting here was pretty much a non-event.

Also in the planning stages I still had my 78 Checkmate boat and our 03 Tahoe to pull it with. In the ensuing months the Checkmate went to a good home and was replaced with a new Yamaha SX230. That happened the last week of April, and then the rains started. We bought the new boat and it rained almost every day for about 6 weeks. So we pretty much had a “yard yacht” brand new that had never been in the water. Meanwhile the beach trip was fast approaching. We had intended to take the boat on our last trip to Hilton Head, but that just didn’t seem to work out either. Then in the meantime, we determined the Tahoe was working way too hard pulling the new boat, so it went to the Chevy dealer and came back as a big red pickup with the max towing package. So all was well for a trip to the beach. I hoped.

Jon and Aylea (my daughter and son in law) came from Pittsburgh and made our house their interim stop over. On Friday before the trip, a lot of “plans came together” and our new bed rug and toneau cover were installed on the pickup. Since we didn’t really have to be at Ocean Isle till 4pm or so, we had time Saturday morning to load the truck and boat. We ended up with pretty much everything we owned that had anything to do with the beach loaded in both the truck and boat. Since it is a crew cab as well, Jon and Aylea rode with us. The queen mary pulled out of the driveway with four people, their luggage for a beach trip, plenty of water toys, 5 or 6 cases of liquid refreshment, and towing the boat. I was apprehensive how this was all going to go.

Soon however, I got the feel of driving “the rig”. We pulled out on the Ridgeway by pass and it wasn’t long till I had the cruise control set on 70. Vickie had a white-knuckle death grip on her grab handle. (which she had off and on all the way to the beach especially on the Durham Freeway) One thing is certain, for all its faults, GM still knows how to build a honkin’ big 4 wheel drive truck that will tote your stuff in comfort and safety. After a while and some driving adjustments, I was ready to pull “the rig” anywhere in the US.

We arrived at Ocean Isle pretty close to our scheduled time with the only delay being a slight backtrack in Wilmington when we thought we might run out of gas. Ooops. Did I mention that the truck fuel computer is off by about 5%? I looked at the fuel range vs. the miles left to go and decided we better get gas while we could. Rt. 17 south of Wilmington is pretty much nothing till you get to the beach turnoffs. Our truck being a crew cab short bed has only a 26 gallon fuel tank. The longer bed trucks are available with a 36 gallon tank that I wish ours had. Pulling the boat with everything we own and running 70-75 mph a lot of the time yields mileage in the 10-11 range. One time I was in the fast lane passing a Honda Prius, and I looked down (down is the operative word here) scoffing, “heck buddy, I’m using 4 times as much gas as you are”. As he looked up cowering and hoping I didn’t run over him. J I wanted to break out in a chorus of “I’m proud to be an American”.

We got close to the beach house we were planning to stay in, and called the kids. They were already there, and told us to come on in---they left us a good parking space. Turned out the parking space IS good, but involves stopping traffic on the main road to allow me to back the boat under the deck with about 2 feet to spare on either side. With the help of my son and son in law, however, we got the boat safely landed an all our “stuff” hauled in and stowed. I was glad to be here, but now have considerably more confidence traveling with “our rig”. We’re all looking forward to a great week of beaching, boating and fun.
More later,
Wes