Happy New Year

We've been busy settling into our new place in Wanchese and enjoying 50+ degree temps (it was 60 on Christmas). I haven't had time to get at-home internet yet and I don't have a vehicle to get to an internet cafe much so photos of our "Redneck Revival" house need to wait. Here are some of the things we've been busy doing during our month in North Carolina:

• Explored Matamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge and saw flocks and flocks of swans, ducks of all sorts and some deer.
• Bought a new space-age memory foam mattress (like a Tempurpedic only different). This replaces the inflatable "bounce house" Eddie Bauer mattress we've been sleeping on for four, yes four, months.
• Went to a hunting camp near Windsor, NC for the weekend. Robin shot a deer and we've been eating it ... yum!
• Entered Robin in my family's annual Christmas Sock Contest and he won! (Photos to come.)
• Endured our first Nor'easter (sort of) ... it was blowing about 40, much like a typical winter day at Dry Tortugas.

Celebration of First Flight

Today in my new neighborhood is the 106th annual celebration of the Wright Brothers' first flight.

Robin will be an official Park Service Represenative and I'll be attending as a spectator.

This will be my first visit to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, which includes a 60-foot tall granite monument on top of a 90-foot hill.

Cheesers

I learned that "cheesers" is the nickname for people who live in my village, Wanchese.

Today we will get our very own post office box. I am truly looking forward to being able to receive mail, especially without having to rely on 4 or 5 other people to coordinate getting the mailbox key and manage to get the mail to the appropriate recipient.

Where in the world...

is Wanchese, NC? (I tried to find more web info about the area but that is the best I could do.) Our place is just south and east of Mann's Red and White, a local store.

After a whirlwind week packing, loading, driving and finally arriving in North Carolina, we went on a whirlwind search for temporary housing. Although we had a temporary Park Service house on the beach, we decided to get our truck out of the pelting sand and seasalt.

We looked at more than 25 places, including a foreclosed house that would have been a fantastic deal (if most of the floor joists not been rotted out).

Our new home is in Wanchese (a village, not a town because it is not incorporated). "It's about as close to Alaska as you get around here," said one local resident who lived in Alaska for a while. They even had a community luncheon last weekend with free fish, ribs, beer and wine!

I can't believe how excited I am to clean and unpack.

Scenic South Carolina

We are officially on the road and spent the night in scenic Santee, South Carolina...with free WiFi for guests. Wow, what a luxury!

Traveling with us is always an adventure. We have a loaded down 16-ft trailer in tow and a chest freezer in the back of the truck. The freezer is filled with Alaskan halibut and salmon. An extension cord snakes through the parking lot from the truck to our hotel room.

We expect to make it to Columbia, North Carolina tonight.