random exploring

a nice sunset on my way to walmart.

i thought this building was cool.  not sure what it was.

a night at walmart, then a little driving around.  mmm, green and nice.

i drove through the colonial national historic park.

randomly stopped at busch gardens since it was there.  i figured i'd see if i could somehow do something for free.  but it was closed anyway : (

i spent most of my time at a barnes & noble in newtown, were i found this speed limit!

then found another nearby walmart...   i'd slept at 25 or so walmarts all across the country by this point.

wawa

i grew up having the convenience and pleasure of wawa.  it's a little food store that can be found at almost any major corner as long you are within a couple hundred mile radius of delaware.  i can't claim to be a wawa fanatic, though i know many of them (fanatics And wawas).  but i do miss wawa.  when i was near duke university in north carolina i saw a wawa avenue!

i didn't realize how much i missed the store until i saw one for the first time in over five months on my way out of virginia beach.  wawa!! had i been in a different lane, i might have caused an accident because after my delighted double-take, i swerved right into the lot.

mmmm.  time to celebrate and to splurge.  it was a taste of 'home' and another indication that i was almost back to philadelphia!!!  mmmm.

virginia beach, virginia

this was virginia beach.   i pretty much just drove through...

this is 57th 1/2 street.  for some reason i love finding 1/2 and 1/4 type streets.

sandbridge beach, virginia

virginia beach is a popular beach, and is therefore very touristy and over developed.  i decided to check out its less impacted neighbor to the south, a place called sandbridge beach.   i'm glad i did.  what was particularly cool is that even though the island was full of houses, they were nestled right among the dunes and sands, keeping it as natural as possible.   check out the sand on the street!

the beach was nice, and i was the only one on it.

a chilly wind off the ocean meant one of two things.  get off to stay warm, or pull out my frisbee and run around.  i did the later and enjoyed a great exercise throwing it as hard as i could against the wind.  finally i got to play!  i did so until i was exhausted.

the sand was squeaky when i stomped on it.  i've noticed a couple of beaches like that.  so interesting.

having felt like i had my fill of a real beach, it was time to go ahead and find the more popular/populated one to see what it would look like...

dismal swamp, virginia

welcome to virginia.   yay!   crossing the border into virginia bumped the number of states i've visited on this trip to 32!   that's two thirds of the 48 contiguous states in 5 months.  it includes every state south of michigan except for ohio.  it's not a Goal per se to get to every state, but if all goes well, it could happen by september...  we'll see.

i had stayed in a walmart parkinglot in north carolina.  north carolina and virginia share a dismal swamp area.  i thought that was a cool name.  after i crossed the border, i pulled off and found a little hiking/biking trail next to a canal at the edge of the great dismal swamp national wildlife refuge.

ok, time to use my bike again.   i went for a little spin.

my ears got a little chilly, but otherwise it felt great to get the exercise.

watch out for bears.

and other animals...  i had to look up nutria to figure out what that was.  i wonder if they healthy for eating.

pamlico sound, north carolina

having heard about the recent UFO activity over the pamlico sound, my plans changed for the evening.  instead of working my way up the island and seeing a bunch of beaches, i decided to wait until dark to see if i could find this reported strange UFO glow.  i pulled into a little sound access spot, watched the sunset, waited and watched.

a storm was approaching.

i waited and waited.  i cracked up at myself for doing it, but seriously, how could i pass up the chance to watch for UFOs?

i sat for an hour in the dark looking for the UFOs... but other than one or two distance flashes that looked like lightning...   nothing.  : (   ah well.  it was fun trying : )

i was getting tired and still had 2 plus hours of driving to the nearest walmart.  otherwise i would have stuck around longer.

UFO involvement?

a story:

so there i was, parked and sitting in the driver's seat about ready to go explore the beach.  i was snacking on sliced pears from a can and talking to a friend on the phone.  my van was the only vehicle in the parking lot, until a police cruiser pulled in and slowed to a stop as he passed right behind me.  i turned and glanced through the back window and tried to wave incase he was looking to see if someone was inside.  "yes, i'm in here," i gestured.  i wasn't sure why that mattered.  why would it be a problem if the van was empty?  i was allowed to be parked there, i thought...  especially during full daylight.  

the sheriff rolled another 20 ft and then stopped.  eventually he got out of his vehicle and cautiously approached my vehicle.  uh oh, what's the problem?   i told my friend to hang on.  "hello, sir!" i said to the sheriff.  [i don't remember the actual quotes from our conversation, but this was the gist of it...]  

sheriff: "so, you have an interesting license plate, ay?"

me: "uh...   LEVITY?"

sheriff: "yes, so can you explain to me what that is supposed to mean?"

this tripped me up a bit because i totally didn't expect such a question.

me: "um..   well, like happiness?...   or making someone's day a little brighter?...  or.."

i couldn't tell if he was satisfied with my responses or indifferent...

sheriff: "hmm...   have you been involved in the strange events over the last couple of nights?"

me: "uh, no.  i have no idea what you are talking about."

sheriff: have you been involved with any of the recent occurrences over the pamlico sound?

what could he possibly be talking about?

me: "no.  i really have no idea what you are talking about."

i was starting to chuckle inside because of curiosity, and i'm sure it showed in my face.  but i gathered from his face that he was extremely serious in his questioning and i could totally see fear in his eyes about the issue he was referring to.

me: "i wasn't even around here the last couple of nights because i came across the ferries from the south and was on ocracoke island this morning."

sheriff: "there's been several reports of UFO activity over the sound.   it's a strange glow and no one knows what it is from"

'whoa COOL, UFO activity!!" i thought to myself.

me: "oh...   wow!...   no, i have no idea what that is from.   so, have YOU seen it?"

sheriff: "yes i saw it and so did other people"

me: "hmh..   like maybe it's someone using fireworks or something"

sheriff: "no.   it's really strange"

me: "well, if there's a chance that it may be there again tonight, that might change my plans for the evening.  i might have to hang around to see if i can see it too"

i still couldn't tell if he was completely convinced that i wasn't part of it.

sheriff: "since i was little i've wondered about extraterrestrial beings.  there are a lot of planets out there... [etc]"

me: "yeah, and we've only scratched the surface on our discovery's of what's out there.   i've journeyed to california and back on my trip and almost went to the UFO museum out in roswell, new mexico because i find that stuff really interesting"

sheriff: "so how long did it take you to get here from delaware?"

me: "well, i detoured through california, so i've had a long trip."  i showed him the can i was eating out of and briefly explained my short budget. 

sheriff: "and i see you have aloe plants there"

i think he was still trying to find my connection with aliens.

me: "yeah"

sheriff: "use them for sunburn and such"

me: "yeah, did you know you could eat them too?"

the sheriff stuck his hand forward and said "my name is so&so."  i'm kicking myself for forgetting what his name was...   i shook his hand and told him mine.   part of me wonders if this was a symbol of his coming to grips that i was a normal human who wasn't involved in the strange UFO occurrences, or if maybe he needed to grip my hand to Feel that i was a human.  who knows.   anyway, his phone rang and he claimed it was his wife and that he had to go.

so, as a suspect of UFO activity, i didn't want to arouse anymore suspicion.  you know, like by going out on the beach and standing on my head! : )  ha!  but that's what i had pulled over to do in the first place, so i went about my business and made my up-side-down pose special for the occasion, laughing out loud every ten minute about what had just transpired.  i felt so honored to be accused of UFO involvement!  : )   in my photo, i tried to resemble someone who was involved in UFO activity...  this was the product:

cape hatteras, north carolina

cape hatteras has 70+ miles of shoreline.  a lot of it has big condos on it, but a lot of it is still preserved too.

my plan was to check out several sections of the beach as i progressed north.  i pulled off at a parkinglot near a preserved section of beach in the little kinnakeet section.  i hung out in my van for a while and then checked out the beach.

flocks of geese do their thing.

it was another beautiful beach!

the sand was incredibly soft and thick.  its texture was kind of like raw cookie dough before the eggs are added.

the beach had a steep slope at the shore break which allowed the waves to pound the beach hard.  that kind of wave makes for good grinding action... and loud crashes!   indeed, this is probably the best beach i've ever seen for smooth polished shells.  they were in abundance.

during my time on the beach, i would periodically burst out in laughter because of something that had happened in the parking lot.  something that changed my plans for the evening...   see the story in my next post.

ocracoke, north carolina

ocracoke is a barrier island that is only about 15 miles long and can only be accessed by ferry at each end.  i drove down a 3 mile sand road to get to the southernmost end of the island.

at the beach, i went until the sand was too soft to drive on.

it was a perfect beach day, and the sun was ripe for soaking in.  my main goal was to meditate and roam.  and that's exactly what i did... for three hours.  mmmm.   i think i roamed a few miles in that time.

i really enjoyed the island.  it's part of the national seashore so it's still pristine.  

horse ride anyone?

at the north end, it was ferry time again.  and again i got the front parking spot for the 40 minute ride to cape hatteras.  sweet!