This year marks somewhere around the 19th out of the past 25 years or so that we've traveled to our favorite destination on earth -- the North Carolina Outer Banks. We rented a lovely house in Duck, where we were joined by our long-time friends Pete and Carole from Powell, Ohio, and Chuck and Joan from Dallas. Our daughter, her husband and two kids are here as well, but they have their own place closer to Old Nags Head where there are more activities of interest to youngsters.
This year, I toted along three digital cameras and a variety of lenses and filters; we were "guided" by our new Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS (as if we didn't already know the way -- but it's fun listening to the lady's voice telling us when to turn which direction. We decided she needs a name, but we hadn't come up with one we agreed on by the time we got back home).
We had a very enjoyable, relaxing time -- the seafood this year seemed to be the best we've had in years -- and it was great to catch up with what's been happening with our friends. Pete and Chuck have seen each other only a couple of times since high school graduation!
On the other hand, we were less than thrilled with 100-degree plus temperatures the first couple of days -- setting heat records (thank goodness our house had a swimming pool). Then, depending on which way the wind was blowing, we suffered through the haze and smells of major fires that were burning out of control inland. Only a couple of days did we see the bright blue skies and white clouds to which we've grown accustomed here.
That meant, unfortunately, that we didn't take nearly as many photos as usual; a bland gray sky as a background just doesn't make for anything special. That said, we managed to get plenty -- and the main reason for taking them, after all, was to save memories of another wonderful vacation. I hope you enjoy them, too!
