Since we have a new granddaughter only four months old, we figured the less time on the road for her, the more time we would get to spend with her and work on our skills as grandparents.
Given the weather we have been having here on the coast, I fully expected to be snowed in on our mountain overlooking Roanoke, Virginia.
Fortunately all we saw were snow showers and a little snow collecting on our neighbor’s roof. However, it was very cool, and we stayed pretty close to home.
The weather cleared on Monday, and we drove back to the coast later that afternoon. There was very little traffic.
On Tuesday we drove down to the Eastern Regional Access where I snapped the first picture in the post.
It was cool enough to keep me from going for a walk on the beach, but I did take some video for my stressed out friends who find it hard to avoid the holiday frenzy of the cities.
You can find my December Beach Day video on YouTube. Make certain you watch in high quality if you have the bandwidth.
In late fall sunsets are my favorite time of day so missing one makes me feel deprived.
I enjoy chasing sunsets and sharing them so I was pleased when we got back this week that Marvin Daughtery of WITN used two of my previously submitted sunset photos. One was from my most recent post here.
Thursday I was determined to catch a sunset so we went over to Emerald Isle for some gasoline and to figure out where the best light would be. After riding over the bridge, I determined that we might catch the best sunlight at the Cedar Point Croatan National Forest boat ramp and trail access.
So we headed there after picking up a roasted chicken for dinner at the Food Lion.
These two sunset pictures on this page are both from the Croatan boat ramp in Cedar Point. They were taken Thursday, December 4.
I was surprised to find the dock empty but there were several people hiking and taking advantage of the close to sixty degree weather. Often in the summer we will find campers there enjoying a glass of wine as the sun sinks below the horizon.
It would have been nice to catch the sunset from the trail but the few chores that we did around the house earlier and our preliminary shopping for our Toys for Tots purchases kept us away until it was too late to start a hike.
With cooler weather coming in tomorrow, we will probably stay close to home or finish up some shopping. I had thought that coming back from the cold temperatures in Roanoke would make enduring this abnormally cold fall a little easier. It has not helped.
However, the gas logs have done a great job taking the chill off in the evening. I will also admit to having a sip of Grand Marnier on a couple of the cool evenings. There is nothing like fire on the inside and outside to keep you warm.
I continue to be amazed at how beautiful the sky can be on these winter evenings. I have not been very successful getting out into the early morning cold to capture any sunrises.
Somehow, the frosty walk to the mailbox in the morning is about as much before-sunlight time as I want to devote to the outside. I am really missing those warm mornings when I would poke around the dock, go for a bike ride, or walk around Raymond’s Gut.
My consolation is that we have less than three weeks to the shortest day of the year, and then sunlight will start increasing.
As a native North Carolinian, I know if we can make it to the middle of February, the sun will start making some progress in warming us back up.
I did talk to one of my Canadian friends this week. They have had some snow and some cold weather, but so far their winter has not started out as cold as last year which ended up being labelled an old fashioned winter.
There are rumors that the long range forecast is for cold weather in the early part of the winter and then we might warm up a little earlier this year. While I believe our weathermen do a great job, I think a forecast that far out is hardly worth the digital ink that makes it visible.
We will just have to take whatever winter dishes out to us. It might keep the beach a little more peaceful and perhaps make for an even quieter holiday here on the coast.
I will not complain very much about that.
I have archived a few of my posts about warmer times on the beach from last year at this link.
You can also find larger sunset images on my Croatan December 4 Picasa Web Album.
Why we love it here?
It is hard to say that any place is perfect. There always a balance between what you like and what you don't like. That also changes as you age. At one time I was close to homesteading in Newfoundland.
Today we live in a small subdivision called Bluewater Cove near Cape Carteret. It is what we were looking for in a place to live. It's close to services and close to the beach but not on the beach. We have a dock behind the house and are close to some great trails. I can ride my bike in the neighborhood and not face a lot of traffic.
I can also use my Kayak on the White Oak River and hopefully soon try our new skiff there. The area also has some great festivals like the Newport Pig Cookoff, the Emerald Isle Saint Patrick's Day, and the Swansboro Oyster Roast. We were also impressed with the Emerald Isle Christmas Parade.
It is a friendly area with a great future. So right now it is the spot for us. I often write about the area in my other websites. If you are a very avid reader, you might find some content on multiple sites, but usually the content is fairly specific to the sites.
View from the Mountain
Ocracoke Waves
Active Rain Blog
More Crystal Coast Info
Crystal Coast Blog