Away From It All in the Outer Banks

During the 4th of July holiday week, Colin, Darwin and I were able to join some of his friends at a beach house in the Outer Banks.  It was a little nerve-wracking because we had to rent a 4x4 vehicle for the week since the house was located off the beach road north of Corolla, NC.  When the car rental offices told me they couldn't guarantee a 4x4 in an SUV category, I freaked out a little bit, but thankfully it all worked out. It's good that you can reserve vehicles from multiple locations without putting down a credit card.

On Saturday morning, we packed up the Ford Escape rental and set out on the 4 hour drive. Well, the drive should have taken about 4 hours, but once we got to the northern beaches in the Outer Banks (or OBX), we were at a crawl for the 20+ miles to the very northern tip.  Since the weather was crappy (raining), we didn't feel too bad for the delay. And, we can't complain considering our friends hit that same traffic after driving over 16 hours from upstate New York!

As we drove on the sand (hoping not to get stuck), and made our way to the house, we were instantly greeted by a bunch of wild horses. They were just walking around, grazing on the grass around the house like people didn't bother them.  I didn't get any great pictures of them the first day, be we say them throughout the week and managed to get pictures later on.

View of the horses on the beach from the patio

Horses making their way towards the house

Horses almost trampling the kids!

The house was moderately sized for our group and nicely laid out. All 4 bedrooms were on the lower level and the upper level contained the living room, kitchen, and patio.  The best part, was the amazing view to the ocean from the patio. It was nice to be situated slightly away from the beach, especially with all the 4x4 trucks passing back and forth, while still being able to see and hear the ocean.

Our house was the second from the left (blue)

Our first two days at the beach weren't that great. It was cloudy most of the day and we had some rain on and off.  The first day was fine because most needed the day to recover from the long drive the previous day, but everyone was ready for the beach by day 2.  Thankfully, the middle of the week brought better weather with only scattered clouds and storms. By the end of the week, we had clear blue skies and lots of sun!  It was actually really nice to have a mix of weather. It forced Colin and I to relax and allowed us to not get burned by being in the sun all week.  I'm sure Darwin also appreciated the not-so-hot weather early in the week.  Even on the cloudy days we managed to get two long walks in on the beach.  Darwin had the experience of being good, but also not being a push-over with Colin's friends two pitbulls (one male, one female). There were a few times they got a bit aggressive with each other, and we kept them separate from each other a lot, but by mid-week they seemed to be able to hang out in the same room without bothering each other.

6 adults, 4 kids, 3 dogs couped up together for the first few days

Darwin, Luke, and Cooper getting along

One of the things that surprised me the most was that everyone was into cooking and eating good meals all week.  Our dinner menus included chicken kabobs pork, ribs steak, grouper, shrimp and lobster. We pretty much made a full course dinner every night. It helped that the guys liked to grill and the ladies helped with the sides. It also would have taken too long to drive to town, especially on the sand in the dark! I wish I had taken pictures of our dinners because they were so impressive.

One of the several beautiful sunsets

The guys grilling chicken kabobs

The only down side of the trip was that we did manage to get stuck in the sand in our 4x4. By the end of the week, the sand was really dry and some spots had really deep tire tracks. Colin wanted me to practice driving on the sand and it was pretty nerve-wracking on the way to town (we needed some groceries).  I tried the same route on the way back and managed to get stuck! The $165 tow was pretty steep, and it was a hot and miserable 45 minutes of waiting to get pulled out, but it was better than being left stranded.  Next time we will take the advice of the locals and deflate our tires to almost half and we'll drive closer to the water where the sand is packed down!

This is where we should have been driving!

I'll leave you with some pictures of our fun in the sun. I don't know who had more fun running around at the water's edge - Colin or Darwin. I will tell you that Darwin still doesn't think the waves at the ocean are fun at all.  And unfortunately, the water was pretty cold where we were for the week (in the 60's).  We'd been to the beach in southern NC earlier this summer and the water was much warmer. I don't know if we were just in a pocket of cold water, but I only went in on the last two days when it was really hot on the beach!

Colin and Darwin sprinting

Darwin fears for his life!

Darwin paddling for dear life

Taking out aggression on his leash

Happy to be back on solid group and coming to me for protection

We were close to Kitty Hawk - temps there (a little south) "low 60's"

Too cold for me!

Have you ever driven a 4x4 on the beach? If so, did you ever get stuck like me!??!

Camping on Ocracoke Island, NC (OBX) in June

Millers on the Road did not have a rest during the month of June!  First, we moved into our new house, then my dad and brother visited and we all went to DC, and the subsequent week had us camping on Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina.  Why would we do this to ourselves?  Well, an out of town friend had made travel plans back in March to visit the third weekend in June.  We had planned to camp on the beach during his visit.

As you probably already know, we Millers love the beach!  It's probably our favorite place to go.  We wish we could be closer to both swimming beaches and the mountains, but alas we are not fortunate enough to live in California.  Ocracoke Island is probably the farthest beach from our home, a 5.5 hour drive from Cary.  You have to go all the way out to Manteo, and follow route 12 south along the coast for 70 miles and take a ferry across the Hatteras Inlet.  We chose a second option, to drive 3 hours to Swan Quarter and allow the 2.5 hour ferry to transport us across Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke.

The weather was almost perfect for the trip.  Temperatures were in the 80's during the cloudless days and dipped into the upper 60's/low 70's at night.  The "almost perfect" was due to lightning storms the second night in the tent.  The flashes of light and humid air made it difficult to sleep.

Darwin did fantastic on the trip.  He was very nervous on the loud ferry, so his tail stayed wrapped under his legs most of the trip.  We are also having a difficult time breaking him of his fear of people who want to pet him.  It doesn't matter if it is an adult or child, his tail immediately goes under and he tries to get behind me or Colin.  When he meets other dogs, he has no problem going to greet them, but runs away the minute the owner tries to pet him.

Do you have suggestions to get him more comfortable around strangers and while in loud places? 

The national park service campground on Ocracoke is amazing!   There are a variety of campsites to choose from - grassy, wooded, or sandy areas and tents or RVs.  Our late arrival on Friday meant all the sites along the dunes were taken, so we chose a grassy site.  I would have liked to hear the rolling sounds of the waves, but I'm not sure anyone could hear waves over the strong winds that were prevalent.  In addition, it is so much nicer to lay on a grassy area than a wooded area!

 Darwin scoping out the campsite

Arriving late on Friday and leaving on an early ferry on Sunday meant we really had one full day at the beach.  Our morning started with a 3 mile trip to downtown Ocracoke.  We people rode bikes while Darwin trotted along with Colin.  By 11am it was really hot and the trip back for Darwin was difficult.  We had to make a few stops along the way.  Our little guy also gave us quite a scare when he tried to chase a bird out into the road and Colin lost his grip on the leash!  Thankfully, cars drive very slowly in this area and they stopped to let us get him out of the road.

The remainder of the day was spent on the beach - and oh how splendid it was!  I could have enjoyed calmer waters, but the air and water temperatures were perfect.  Darwin's first experience with the ocean was sub-optimal, but it was only his first time.  As much as he wanted to be in the water with us, the waves would always force him back out.  It was okay since he was so tired from the morning run! He spent most of the day napping beside us.

I love this adorable little face!

We love going to the beach and very much enjoyed Ocracoke.  It is a place we will definitely go back and visit when the air temperature cools back down to the 80s (and 60s overnight) late summer or early fall.

There were definitely some challenges as well.  Taking a visitor and a puppy camping for the first time means you have to plan ahead.

Here are some tips and lessons learned from our beach camping trip with a friend and a dog:
1. Secure a tent, sleeping bag, mattress pad for your out-of-town guest so they don't have to travel with these.  I am lucky to be able to rent these through the University.
2. Ask about your friend's dietary preferences.  Our friend is a vegetarian, so we included vegetarian friendly foods in our grilling options and stopped at a grocery store on the way to get any last minute choices.
3. Bring extra bug spray and sunscreen. North Carolina beaches have lots of people-eating insects.
4. If you plan to do something fun, be sure to include your friend in the planning process.  We wanted to ride our bikes so we brought a 3rd bike for our friend to use.  During the planning process, the main goal was to go camping on or near a beach and go to the beach, so that's what we did.
5. Decide how your dog will sleep when you are camping.   Darwin normally sleeps in his crate at home, so we tried to make a "den-like" area for him with a tarp.  He was not a fan of the strong winds that resulted in loud noises from the tarp.  He did sleep well in the tent with us, but we did not because it was too crowded.  We'll likely get him his own tent for next time.
6. Pack cool and refreshing things to eat during the heat of the day - lunchtime.  We tried grilling portabello mushroom/vegetable sandwiches on the grill and it just felt too hot to eat them. Take a cooler and ice to keep cold foods cold.
7. Don't plan to do work while enjoying vacation!  It never works for me.  I didn't get to enjoy this trip much because I had a final paper for my summer class due the Monday after the weekend.  With a 5 hour trip to and from the beach, I planned to get some done while driving and some down while hanging out at the campground. Needless to say, the work I did was minimal and not very good.  I should have just enjoyed my time at the beach and settled down to work when I got home instead of not enjoying myself and still working 12 hours when I got home!

Next time I go to the beach, I plan to enjoy the sun, sand and water without distractions!

Do you sometimes take work with you when you travel for fun? 
How do you manage to get your work done?

Exploring part of the Outer Banks

The week I spent in the Outer Banks with my mom was nice and relaxing.  Without a car at our disposal, my mom and I used what Colin likes to call "hamburger power" to get around.  With the car, we decided Saturday would be the day of exploration.


The day started out at the Wright Brothers National Memorial (http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm) in Kill Devil Hills. Kill Devil Hills is the town just south of Kitty Hawk and our vacation rental.  It was interesting to read about Orville and Wilbur Wright, who chose Kill Devil Hills because they needed wind and sand to test their flights.  I am fascinated that it took at least 2000 years of civilization for man to sustain flight, but only took about 50 years for humans to escape the earth's atmosphere once sustained flight was achieved.


The memorial boasts few interactive displays, but the story is not lost.  There is one exhibit that was interesting.  It showed the 100 year celebration, where people tried unsuccessfully to replicate those first flights.  Outside, there is a monument on top of a large hill dedicated to the two brothers from Ohio.  On the grounds you can walk the distance each of the four first flights traveled (which was not very far).  I am reminded of the first flight every day when I look at North Carolina license plates! 

The park entrance fee is a mere $4 and you can get a year's pass for $20.  In my opinion, the best value is the $80 "America the Beautiful" National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.  This pass is good for a year and gets you into all the National Parks throughout the U.S.  We bought this pass in 2008 when we did a west coast trip to The Grand Canyon and California.  The pass is a great incentive to travel and visit the U.S. Parks, which have been preserved for us to enjoy.  It is sad to hear that many of our parks are limiting their service.  Millers on the Road have enjoyed some and hope to see many more!


After visiting the Memorial, we visited Jockey's Ridge State Park (http://www.jockeysridgestatepark.com/), just south of Kill Devil Hills, in Nag's Head.  Jockey's Ridge is the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States.  It reminded me a little bit of our exploration of Frasier Island in Australia, which is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 720 square miles.

At Jockey's Ridge, we stopped at the information center to grab a map and set out to explore the dunes.  We started along the boardwalk from the information center and reached an area where everyone left their shoes.  We did the same and it felt great to walk barefoot in the cool, soft sand.

There were hang gliding kites laying in the sand, but we didn't see anyone hang gliding.  We also saw some people carrying cardboard boxes for sand-boarding, but didn't see anyone actually boarding.

The view from the top of the dunes was good and mimicked the view from the Wright Brother's Memorial.  One nice feature at Jockey's Ridge was getting to see the bay up close.  I have a feeling the sunset from the dunes would be amazing.

We opted for continuing to explore and left Jockey's Ridge to drive north along route 12.  The drive through Duck showed us a really cute beach town that had some Newport, RI-like characteristics.  While it seemed like we drove forever past Kitty Hawk (maybe 30 minutes), we still didn't reach the northern-most part of the Outer Banks - Corolla.  As the sun dipped lower in the sky, we decided to head back to Duck to catch a sunset on the bay.

The houses between Duck and Corolla were enormous!  It was fun to imagine who owned them and what kind of parties they hosted there.  My guess is that they are corporate owned.  I think someone said a former governor of North Carolina owns a house out there.  Pop Quiz beloved readership: Anyone know who owns some of the mansion-looking houses out there??

We reached Duck just in time to see the sun dip below the horizon.  It seemed like a perfect ending to our last day in the Outer Banks.

The Outer Banks aka OBX

Those of you that know me know that I love travel deals.  When travelzoo (www.travelzoo.com) listed a deal on the Outer Banks through Endless Vacation Rentals (http://www.endless-vacation-rentals.com/) I jumped right on it.  The deal was actually pretty awesome - $250 for a 1 bedroom vacation rental for the week or $275 for a 2 bedroom rental.  The pictures looked decent and the property was within walking distance to the beach.

There were options for weeks in March, April, and May.  I knew April and May would be much warmer, but my big 30th birthday was in March, so I decided to book that week.  I did debate reserving a second week in May, but Colin kept me in check.  Since he did start a job here in North Carolina back in January, he doesn't have much vacation time built up yet.

Luckily, my mom was on board to come down and visit and spend the week at the beach with me.  Colin joined us for each of the weekends.  I tried invited people I know who were off of work and were relatively close, but no one else could join us.

The beach rental was called Barrier Island Station and was located in Kitty Hawk.  Because we were without a car for the week, we didn't explore much of the area until the weekend.  We did however, do a lot of exercise.  The rental property was actually a timeshare resort and had an indoor pool, fitness center, steam room, and walking trails.  I usually ran in the mornings before lunch and walked to the beach with mom after lunch.  I logged my miles on daily mile (www.dailymile.com) and the weeks total came out to 38 miles of walking and running.  That's the entire length of the state of Rhode Island!!  My mom probably logged pretty close to 20 miles herself.  There was an outdoor pool, but we did not dare attempt to swim in it.

I will admit that I did take water aerobics and my mom was the second youngest person in the class with me!

The weather was a mix of good and bad.  When we arrived, it was beautiful and sunny with temperatures in the 60-70's.  Unfortunately, the weather changed to low 40's on Monday.  That was the day we kept to the pool and indoor gym.  Each day got progressively warmer and we were able to walk to the beach each of the subsequent days.

Wednesday was my birthday and the day was in the 50's and cloudy.  We kept to our normal routine, having a good breakfast, going to exercise, having a nice lunch, and walking to the beach.  We did manage to take a few photos for the occasion.

On the way back, my mom insisted on getting birthday cake to go along with the delicious fish dinner she had planned for me.

Thursday and Friday were gorgeous days.  On Thursday, I ran 11 miles (training for a half marathon) and we went for a nice long walk on the beach.

Friday, we spent the whole day basking in the 70-80 degree sun.  The only downside of the day was trying to find a bathroom near the beach!!

Once Colin joined us and brought the car, we were able to explore more of the area.  I'll save the details for the next post.