After leaving Camp Morehead, we cruised out to the ferry dock on Cedar Island. It was a neat drive through coastal NC – little clusters of homes, but not quite towns, with at least one boat parked in every yard. We passed many abandoned homes that looked like they had suffered through one too many hurricanes. They were accompanied by stands of ragged pines that had their tops sheared off by long-gone winds. It seemed appropriate then, that tropical storm Ana was passing through at the same time we were.
The ferry ride itself was quite uneventful, given our expectations of how rough the waters would be. Cooper and Brooks had a blast running up and down and up and down the indoor passenger area, while Jennifer and I got advice on places to see from a few folks that frequented the Outer Banks.
Once at Ocracoke, we headed for the campground, which is only a few miles from town. After securing a good site on the beach side of the campground, and hiked over the dunes to check it out. What an awesome beach. Not a condo in site. Just vegetation-covered dunes and the water.
While on the beach, we met Cindy, her daughter Breanna, and their three dogs. Cooper actually pet the dogs on her own, which was a first for her; usually, dogs result in her pulling at one of our legs, asking to be held. Cindy and Breanna have been traveling in their camper trailer full-time for 2.5 years. Nice people, and not the last we’d see of them. We experienced rather intense bands of rain and wind that woke us up at 2am and again at 4am; it was the worst of the storm that we’d see.
The next day we woke to batteries that were too weak to start the generator, which we needed to run to charge the batteries. A chicken vs. egg type situation. We went back to town and got the generator jump-started from the local mechanic, and then headed to the museum to kill time while we waited for the weather to improve. The museum itself was an old house, filled with period antiques and neat stories about the island’s past. The best part, however, was the volunteer – and our new friend – working the gift shop, Mrs. Robin Turner.
Casual conversation about where we are from, where we were staying, and the challenges of living out of a campervan soon led to an invite to do a load of laundry at her house. 30 minutes later we arrived at Robin’s Retreat – the name of her Ocracoke house that she spends half the year at. While Jennifer was working on the laundry, Robin played with Cooper and Brooks, made them snacks, gave me beer, and made herself and Jennifer some VTs! T is for tonic. Cooper loved being out on the back porch with Robin’s two big labs (day two of Cooper’s new found fondness of dogs), and Brooks liked climbing the stairs when nobody was watching (nothing new there). While we waited on the dryer to do its thing, Robin had her friend, Connie, stop by to interview us for the local paper of which she is the editor. I think we ended up being at her house for close to three hours before saying our thank you’s and heading back to the campground. Robin is an awesome host, a kind person, and we’re grateful to have met her.
Despite being super conservative with the electricity that evening, we were faced with the same battery problem the next morning. At this point, we knew our batteries were toast, but we also knew that nobody on the island keeps batteries in stock. Robin had mentioned that her husband owned a chain of tire/auto repair stores, and to not hesitate to give them a call if we had any campervan trouble while in the NC area. The camp host jumped us, and after calling her house and leaving a message, we headed into town to try to track down Robin. We went to the museum to see if she was again volunteering there, but she wasn’t scheduled to be back till 4pm. I managed to snag her cell number from the contact list they keep behind the register, so I called and left a message on that voicemail, too. Unsure of what to do next, we pulled into the local general store. As I began to fire up the Google machine on my phone, Robin pulled up next to us honking her horn. A few quick seconds later I was talking to Robin’s husband, Bobby, on her phone. Bobby was coming out to island on the 4pm ferry, and said he’d bring us two new batteries. Perfect. With that issue seemingly settled we were able to enjoy the day a bit better. We drove to see the ponies that the National Park Service maintains, let the kids play on the school playground, stopped at a restaurant so Ryan could take advantage of the early bird $6.99/dozen oyster special, and then walked around the marina area before heading back to make dinner.
With the moon in hiding for the night, the stars were out in full force. Jennifer and I lay on the picnic table and counted shooting stars until we started falling asleep, somewhere around eight. As promised, Bobby and Robin called the next morning and had our batteries. They even delivered them out the campground for us. Bobby is every bit as nice as Robin. After a bit of conversation, they were off to get the boat ready for Bobby’s fishing tournament, which is what he spends most of his free time doing. We got the batteries installed, packed up camp, and headed for the ferry at the other end of the island that takes you to Hatteras. Again, a huge THANK YOU to the Turners for your kindness; our Ocracoke experience would have been totally different without you.