mixups, confusion & crazy, 19 hour driving days

Arrived back from the Chicago area after a 2nd 19 hour drive in a week....  The drive was uneventful, as they should be, but

entertaining nonetheless.  Slept when we slowed down about 6:30 PM, and were fresh and ready at 7AM Friday morning to head to Currituck (our final Lighthouse destination for this project).

Though the scenery is fabulous, during the night the road could be loud.

Currituck prove to be the most "out of the way" lighthouse to date, but the hour of driving gave us the opportunity to see the local area and find a great place for lunch:

Sooeys BBQ and Rib Shack - North Carolina BBQ - Outer Banks BBQ

www.sooeysbbq.com/ 

We arrived rather late in the day, which gave us fairly good shadows, and Bill went to work. 

http://www.currituckbeachlight.com/

 I got so preoccupied with taking the reference pix, that I failed to have my NP Passport stamped prior to closing.  I caught up with the volunteers as they were locking up to leave and the kind volunteer unlocked again and got my stamp for me...I didn't even care that he stamped it upside down.  It would have been another 120 miles to "return tomorrow" as the volunteer originally suggested..

Currituck is an unpainted lighthouse, and it was beautiful!  

The "northermost" active light station in North Carolina!

With The Lighthouse Project temporarily on the back burner, we plan to spend Saturday at Kill Devil Hill .....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Devil_Hills,_North_Carolina

as well as....

The Wright Brothers Museum   >>>http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm

THEN, for a few days (Saturday night, Sunday, Monday) we will be onto Tom & Linda's & Hank & Louise's BOTH in the Virginia Beach area:     http://www.first-landing-state-park.org/

On Tuesday we'll head for Sophia, NC to visit Larry & Sandy (who's last day at a VERY strenuous job was Friday).         

And CELEBRATE with Mexican food!!!!

Wednesday (April 3rd) we will be back in Cornelius for my doctor post surgical check-ups and a deep tissue massage at Massage Envy (I love Armons). 

This will prepare us for the next leg of the trip to Marietta, GA to visit with Jim & Lydia....

Jim is the 1st volunteer to be a plowboy!  The guy controlling the handles of the plow is Jim :-)

LOVE to know what the "high 5" was for??????  Lydia??

Your prayers for our friend Jim are greatly appreciated!

Then on Sunday we will make tracks for Northern Illinois (may try to see family in Indianapolis).  While back "home" for the balance of April, we will make all of our annual doctor check-ups starting on he 9th as we prepare to begin our "busy" season at Curecanti National Recreation Area in Gunnison National Park, CO.  To be followed by another 3-4-5 month stint at Joshua Tree NP, S. Cal.

We welcome visitors to our assingment locations, and will always have the time for you.

For example:  our Curecanti summer is booking up fast with our time there May 6th to September 6th and Rory visiting May 31st to June 8th, and Cindy & the kids arriving July 22nd to July 29th (approximately).

Some of you may have been observant enough to note this BLOG should have started with our visit to New York to see Kelly, and it is with great disappointment I have to report that she had to call it off.  About 3-4 weeks ago she started a new job with "Diesel" and, well, yáll know how it is when you're working your way up that ladder...she needed a "break" and we gave it to her.  

MANY THANKS to Tami & Brett for putting up with us (I mean "putting us up") while we were "up north" for Lisa's funeral.  When 2 days stretched into 7,  Tami took it all with grace (and alot of patience).  THANKS GUYS!!!!

And, Yes, the planned 2 day trip had to be stretched out for a week, BUT, this allowed us some memorable times with friends:

Dinner with the Padulas (no photo, but not forgotten)

Ditto regarding dinner with Kathy (Bill's sister)

Getting to see our new pastor Dave Mudd!

Molly & Tessa greet Uncle Kevin!

Dinner out with the birthday boy (SIL Brett) & Tami

HUGZZZ all around

Lisa :-)

Getting to see Cindy & the kids (Johnny, Christine & Kate)

And a night out with the girls for Jan:

Beth, Kathy & Kathy, Jan

LOTS of time with my BESTIE Audrey (shhh she doesn't yet know I took this)

With all the upheaval and changes, you can see our week was blessed....proving once again:

GOD IS GOOD....ALL THE TIME!!!!

A week in the old homeland

So, 2 days turned in to 7….like I said WE HAVE A VERY FLUID schedule. 

After a 19 hour run home, we discovered the funeral was actually NOT Tuesday and Wednesday…but the coming Sunday & Monday.  This delay afforded us some quality time with family & friends and Church that we would not otherwise have had the opportunity for.

Spending time with my BFF Audrey:  

We were able to celebrate our son-in-laws birthday:

Before he left town on business, Kevin was able to see Bill , AND, more importantly, greet the girls:

While we were "home", Lisa (the best Vet in the world) gave the girls complete physicals and they were BOTH given a clean bill of health:-)

Have dinner with Don & LisaJ

And the Padulas (sorry, no pix)

Catch breakfast with Cyndy and the Sullivan Grands:

Saying "Goodbye" is the hardest part:-(

I (Jan) was able to have a girls night out with some of my besties:

Beth, Kathy, Kathy, Jan 

And last, but not least, we were in church (Alpine Chapel) on Sunday to hear our new Pastor Dave Mudd, who is on fire for the Lord!!!  It was a wonderful inspirational sermon!

http://www.alpinechapel.org

We’re on the road again, back to our home, which is currently at Roanoke Island.  A few days to complete the last lighthouse (Currituck)  http://www.currituckbeachlight.com/

And a visit to the Wright Brothers Museum where we will pick up a few encouraging items for a nephew who has recently completed a school report on this very topic. www.nps.gov/wrbr/

After that, our job on the Outer Banks will be complete and we’ll take a short break to visit friends in the Virginia Beach area.  Tom & Linda, Hank & Louise and Dan & Laurie.  We are so fortunate to have the chance to visit friends all over the country.

The 1^st week of April will find us back in Cornelius, NC so I can do a final follow-up with my orthopedic surgeon before heading back to Northern Illinois for a few weeks. 

The Yin & Yang of life!

We moved on to a town called "Sealevel (and it was...at sealevel that is).  Staying at Cedar Creek Campground (cedarcreekcampgroundandmarina.com/), 




where we saw some very interesting local residences.  

The weather had taken a turn for the worse, being overcast and rainy.  The rain stopped mid-morning, but it was very windy.  

These conditions created 2 problems:   #1:  the artist prefers to sketch with shadow, which requires sunlight.  But even this obstacle could be overcome if he had to.  The real issue was the wind #2:  the swells in the sound were 10 feet and NO ferry captain was going out under those conditions.  So we had 5 days to cool our heels, and explore the neighborhood.

In the small world category:  On Friday we went to the Cape Lookout Visitors Center (www.nps.gov/calo/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm) and ran into a couple we had met last spring, when they visited The Cradle of Forestry, to see some old friends working with us there at that time.  We had a great chat.  It was fun to pick the brains of other people who are doing the same thing we are, and have been at it longer.

 On Saturday we used the Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/), as I do a lot, and stopped at a place for lunch called “The Fish Hook”  
(www.fishhookgrill.com/) The food turned out to be as good as it was rated (5 stars), but the real highlight of our visit there was meeting “Faye”, the 82 year old owner/manager and cook.  It was a real slice of life!  We enjoyed it so much, on Sunday we went back for lunch.  These Islanders who served us so well, many of whom had been residents for generations, made us feel like long lost friends.

Sunday lunch was preceded by our trip over to Cape Lookout Island (www.nps.gov/calo/ ) via a ferry called “The Local Yokel”  (http://www.tourcapelookout.com/) which was piloted by a gentleman named “Ellis” (just like my littlest cousin “Ellis” Neely…who is named after her Grandmother Ann Ellis- apparently this giving children a 1^st name from a grandparents last name is popular in the South).  

While Bill sketched, the girls and I wandered to the ocean side of the island and this is where I fell in love with the Atlantic!  The sea oats were bowing to the wind and the waves kept a constant beating of the shore which produced a strangely calming affect to my soul. 

 

I will never feel the same about the ocean after this experience!  

On our return trip back to Harkers Island, Captain Ellis graciously pulled in close to Shackelford Island (www.shacklefordhorses.org/) at several points, to give us a close-up view of the Islands famous resident wild horses. The horses are believed to be survivors of a Spanish shipwreck of 150 years ago.  This year they number 104 horses on the island.

Upon our return to Harkers Island (wikipedia.org/wiki/Harkers_Island,_North_Carolina) we broke camp and headed off to our next Port O Call via a 2 hour ferry ride from the North end of Cedar Island  (www.ncdot.gov/ferry/)disembarking at Ocracoke Island (www.ocracokevillage.com/).
  

The campground was a short drive up the road thru a very quaint little seaside town (Ocracoke).  We stayed at “The Beachcomber RV Resort” (www.ocracokeisland.com/beachcomber.htm) for 2 nights, once again due to weather.  

Killing time, we found ourselves at a VERY nice, little, quiet restaurant in downtown Ocracoke called Dajio (www.dajiorestaurant.com/).  It was late and not crowded on this damp, off-season Monday night.  Now, I am sure it was not him, but the guy at a table over in the corner of the dining room, was a DEAD RINGER for Johnny Depp.  My Facebook friends shamed me into snapping a pix, which is not very clear, but I present it to you here, and you can draw your own conclusion.   

The next morning found us walking right up to the base of the  
Ocracoke Lighthouse 
(www.ocracoke-.com/light/ocracoke-lighthouse3.shtml) and Bill sketched happily away.  

While he performed his task I discovered a “cemetery” directly behind the light station.  Given that this lighthouse was already causing some peculiar feelings on my part, being set right in the middle of an island neighborhood, the cemetery
did nothing to put me more at ease, and I sought                                               out close proximity to Bill.  

Upon my return to Bill, I found him in conversation with a feline friend.  An orange Tabby to be exact (his favorite variety), who had come by to examine his work.  




The girls and the Tabby were fascinated with each other.

Another ferry ride to Cape Hatteras that afternoon (a short 90 minute ride this time), led us to lunch at the 1^st place we found open…Hurricane Heathers (www.tripadvisor.com › ... › Buxton › Buxton Restaurants).  

The afternoon light was beginning to fade, and we still had the sketching of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to complete, as we waited for our lunch.  Looking out the window I commented “I wonder how far Hatteras is from here?”  As I said those words I spotted the “Cape Hatteras” (http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=356) entrance sign, directly across the street.  At the same moment Bill glanced out the window and said (in unison with me) “there’s the lighthouse right there”.  We had a good laugh, finished lunch and headed across the road.  Cape Hatteras is still my favorite! 




We stayed 2 very nice nights at Camp Hatteras (http://camphatteras.com/) which had been all but destroyed last year by Hurricane Irene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene). 

We would have stayed longer, as our planned activities for this area included Kill Devil Hills (http://www.kdhnc.com/) and The Wright Brothers Museum, but The Refuge Campground (www.refuge-roanokeisland.com/) in Waves, NC on Roanoke Island (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Island) provided a more central 

location for our activities. 

At The Refuge we were provided with one of the best lakeside sites one could imagine and we found our neighbors to be a bunch of good ole boys with some VERY expensive toys (1962 totally restored Chevy Pickup-my personal fav, a 1967 Mustang, a final edition Barracuda and a 1970 Camero).   It turned out  they were in the area for a Saturday Car Show, which we found ourselves magically drawn to.  The weather was perfect, 60 degrees and sunny.  

We enjoyed the cars, 


and everyone else enjoyed meeting the girls.


But, as life is a gift, every moment to be savored, and be thankful to God for, our plans abruptly changed that afternoon.

(Tim & Lisa Leach)

Bill’s sweet & lovely niece Lisa went home to be with our Lord, and with heavy hearts we made arrangements to return to the Northern Illinois area to say “Vaya Con Dios Lisa”!  

So, this night find us on an 18 hour journey across hill & dale to grieve and celebrate Lisa’s life with family and friends.  We will return in a week and pick up where we left off along the outer banks of North Carolina.