My apologies for the delay of this blog and the lack of blogging in general but, Life. Has. Been. Busy! And now, on with the show...
On Thursday, May 31st, Mom and I left Yakima for North Carolina at 6 AM. We took the puddle jumper plane over to Seattle and had a nice layover before our flight took off for Minneapolis, where we would once again change plans to get to Raleigh-Duram, NC. We of course made the best of this and got breakfast at a Starbucks stand (as you know there is one on practically every corner) and watched the little carts going to and fro from under the terminal and planes take off. I never tire of watching giant metal objects rise into the air and personally love the smell of airports, but I digress. We had checked our baggage all the way through to NC but since my ticket had been booked by the company whose instrument I was truly going to North Carolina for and Mom's had been done through Expedia, we checked in at the Delta counter to see if our seats could be moved together. The attendant said that she could get us together to Minneapolis, but not to Raleigh, and we said whatever we could get would be fine. On that flight the seats were 3 by 3 on each side of the aisle, so we ended up with a nice lady who was flying to Minneapolis to see family. Mom and I had knitting to keep us busy on the flight and I recently got an Audible account, so we listened to Jane Eyre with only one earbud each and knitted for quite some time. Eventually the lady and I got to talking and she asked the usual questions, what I was knitting, how long I had been knitting, etc. Then she pulled out some knitting that she had with her, but I think was a bit afraid to pull out lest the flight attendants man-handle it away from you. So there was our row, all knitting and chatting amiably like we were having a coffee clutch.
In Minneapolis, Mom and I had 30 minutes from the time one flight landed until the next took off, so we booked it down to the next gate, which was for the same airline and was conveniently located pretty close to each other. A note is due here that apparently "Caribou Coffee" is the Starbucks of Minnesota because there was one of those on every corner in the Minneapolis airport. As I was boarding the plane the attendant asked if I was flying with another "Menke" and I said "Yes!" She had moved us so that our seats were together! Delta definitely gets my vote for excellent service. Mom and I continued knitting on that flight, but about halfway through Mom fell asleep. We had been up since 3 AM, so naps were bound to happen. As we were coming into Raleigh-Durham we flew really close to some huge clouds! I mean ginormously tall and so close to the plane you could practically touch them! They were all pink and yellow and blue because the sun was getting low in the sky. Really beautiful, but do you think I had my camera? No!
After we landed in North Carolina we thought we'd pick up some fast food, grab our bags and catch the shuttle to the car rental place. Only problem there is that the RDU airport has NO fast food places. Seriously. We could have sat and ate at an oyster bar but couldn't pick up some McDonald's. So after finding an "A&W" on the map and going to it's location only to find something else in it's place that wasn't fast food either, we went to get our bags. They were already riding the carousel around and most of the other bags were gone. That was fast! So we grabbed them and headed out the waiting area for the shuttles. As soon as we exited the airport we were hit with a wall of hot, muggy weather. Welcome to North Carolina! We made it to the Enterprise rent-a-car and they graciously gave us water and a cheesy, but helpful, map of the area and we headed out to pick out a car. The one that had been reserved for us was a Ford Focus and Ford's and I aren't compatible. For a few more dollars we could have a Toyota Camry and I was like "Yes! That one!" It was a cute little car, with good gas mileage and man did it have the guts to get up and go when it needed to! Since we were going to be driving so far Mom had me put on as a second driver, so that we could relieve each other when it got to be too much driving. Bags were thrown in the back, AC turned to the max and we were ready to go. But we missed the turn we were supposed to make to hit the freeway going the direction we needed to go. I had a bunch of Google Map instructions and the cheesy Enterprise map. The freeways go in a circle around Raleigh-Durham, so I figured we'd end up getting there eventually. But then we took an unexpected exit to another freeway....heading away from the city...in the complete opposite direction of where we wanted to go. There was moderate cursing on my part and a "We should have just paid more for the damn GPS!", but Mom found an overpass with an entrance on the other side and we made it back to I-40. We found a McDonalds, ate and took the car information manual in to figure out how to turn the cruise control on.
At 8:30 PM Eastern Time we finally headed out on our 3 hour drive to the Outer Banks. This was not too terrible to us, because we were still on Pacific Time making it only 5:30. I thought that we would get to see the countryside as we went, but it turns out North Carolina is not only flat but also very wooded, so you get to see nothing but trees like a wall to your right and left as you are driving. Which is very boring. But as we we drove and the night closed in I saw a spark on the side of the road in the brush. An errant cigarette butt? But then there was another! Omigosh! Lightning bugs!! They were so cool. I spent a good hour watching them flash one to another all along the side of the road. That was the first of many things I wish I could have taken home with me. Mom mostly saw them getting smacked on the windshield or going up and over the car. When we finally turned onto a smaller highway it had gotten quite dark out but there was more to see like houses and towns we'd pass through. I saw my first Piggly Wiggly grocery store that night and plenty of funny signs. Like "Bridge Ices Before Road". Okay logically this makes sense to people who live in a place where it freezes 6 or more months out of the year, but not to those who don't see it so often? Or "Watch for Bears". You know I'd think there were more bears in the Northwest, but we never have any signs to watch out for them. I watched the moon and stars for a while and then suddenly there was a bright flash in the sky. Lightning? With the moon out? Yes. There was a small cloud out ahead of us that was sparking lightning in it, with nothing hitting the ground. Ooookkaaay. As many of you know I just LOVE thunderstorms (for those that don't, that was in sarcasm font). But soon we knew we were getting close because there were billboards, one after another, advertising "Nags Head Hammocks" and "Kitty Hawk Kites", "Soundfront Dining" and "Come See the Wild Horses of Corolla". We went over a couple of very long bridges and everything had been so flat that when Mom saw a car coming down a tall part of one bridge she was like, "What is that?!" The bridges would have an occasional "hill" to allow for boats to pass under. When we turned down the main highway that goes up and down the Outer Banks, I started looking for the road to turn on. As we'd get close to an intersection the car lights would be on the sign but it would be too far away to read and when we'd get close enough the lights would be passed it and you couldn't read it. So I was leaning forward reading the names off out loud, "Baltic, Driftwood, Elghth...wait! Elghth? No! It's Eighth!" I laughed so hard I almost missed the road we were supposed to turn down. When we got out of the car the air was about 78 degrees and it smelled like Hawaii, that warm water smell the ocean gives off. We'd made it from literally one coast to the other in a day and we were exhausted. We fell into bed to sleep for a few hours before the sun would come up again.
Day 2 coming tomorrow! With flair (aka-pictures)!
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