When I left off last, we had just arrived at Ocean Waves Campground in Waves, NC.  Waves is a tiny little town, part of 3 tiny towns in a row, Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo, which are locally called the “tri-villages”.  These towns are located on Hatteras Island and are part of Hatteras National Seashore.  We are right on the other side of the dunes and I think I mentioned last time how I’ve been loving falling asleep and also waking to the sound of the waves crashing.  There is just something about that sound that is so soothing and calming, peaceful and “home” to me.  Having been raised on the shore, it is “home” to both Bill and I.  If we were to ever settle back down, it would have to be near the water, and I don’t mean a quiet lake somewhere, I mean near BIG water, the ocean, maybe a bay or sound.  Right across the street from where we are is Pamlico Sound, which is HUGE.  Bill brought his sailboat, a 16′ daysailer, down here a few times and taught Boy Scouts how to sail on Pamlico Sound.

We are here with friends, Jo & Craig, Tracy & Lee and Cori & Greg.  We all originally met through RV Dreams forum, which is dedicated to helping educate and encourage people who want to live this crazy lifestyle called full-time RV’ing.  We have others joining us later, Sue & Guy, Eileen & Gene and (hopefully) Pam & Red.  Another couple we haven’t met yet, Diane & Glyn, will also be joining us here and some of us are taking driving lessons from them.  Tracy, Cori, Sue and myself.  We will be learning how to drive our BIG RIG homes!  Glyn is a former ice road trucker and taught Jo to drive her rig.  She hardly ever lets Craig drive she loves it so much!

Bill and I have been very much enjoying our time here.  Between the ocean within a 3 minute walk and being with our friends, life doesn’t get much better than this!  The only thing that could make it better is if our kids were closer, but we are planning our time to be near them in the summer!

My friend Tracy is working from  her rig while on the road, and she gets the best lunch breaks!

Our group decided to do this trip to OBX in part to be together to celebrate Cori and Greg’s “launch” into this new lifestyle.  They arrived on Friday and Jo made a yummy dinner – but the real party started Saturday!

During our first couple of meals together, it was decided that we all should have designated jobs, in the interest of being goofy and silly.  It started with me actually b/c I had the first job, which was initially called “Director of RV Deployments” since I (ok, Bill and I) found this place for us all to meet up.  My “job” title has been upgraded to “Director of Logistics”.  I kind of like the sound of that, don’t you?

The second one to receive her job title was Cori, and she is our official “Party Planner”.  She takes this job very seriously and has set us up with a calendar to keep track of group dinners, etc.  We are having pot-luck dinners, a progressive dinner, and a few theme nights.  We have already had Mexican Night – thanks to Jo (our “Master Chef”)- who made us very yummy homemade tortillas, pico, guacomole and fajitas.  Tracy & Lee headed up Italian night, serving up Tracy’s grandmothers special spaghetti with meatballs and homemade sauce, and Jo’s homemade fresh bread!  We have also already had Seafood Night; I made what is being called “Kelly’s Famous Chowder”, Cori & Greg brought bacon wrapped shrimp and Tracy & Lee made scallop skewers with mushrooms and pineapple!  Cori & Greg hosted American Night, we ate hamburgers, hot dogs, and cole slaw.  Jo also made a delish breakfast of baked french toast and bacon one morning.  I can tell you this, it is VERY difficult to keep the scale under control with all these awesome cooks in one locale!

It was decided that Craig should be our Fireman – in charge of all things fire, since he is a retired fireman.  He built us a great fire on night on the beach one night – kept us nice and toasty warm!  We cannot have fire’s at our sites (a rule of Hatteras National Seashore), but we can have them on the beach below the high-tide line.

Greg’s job is Security Director – which basically means he watches while others do stuff and makes sure it’s ok.  I don’t know if you will remember, but he was cool as a cucumber under pressure during the swift water rescue we were a part of during our time in Arcadia, FL.  Lee is our Media Consultant and takes great pics of all our gatherings. I put these two together b/c I think they each should have an additional co-job title, that being “Class Clowns” b/c between the 2 of them, we are usually laughing until we have tears running down our faces.

Tracy is in charge of Safety and First Aid.  Here she is taking that new job title very seriously.  Also, take note of Lee doing taking care of his job at the same time – documenting Craig’s boo boo.

Bill has not been forgotten!  He is our officialy Bartender!  He was awarded this job in consideration of his extensive experience in the distilled spirits/beverage  industry – plus everyone just loves all the drinks he serves up!  He’s got Jo hooked on Bloody Mary’s, Tracy loves the Rum Sour’s, while Lee and I both love the SoCo Sours.  The one night Bill didn’t get the drinks out fast enough and Lee poured himself a pre-made Long Island Ice Tea.

So far we have had a few nice days mixed in with rainy/chilly weather.  One of those days, Bill and I spent the afternoon on the beach and after a little while Jo & Craig came down and tried to catch us some dinner.

My sister, Shannon, stopped by on her way to see my parents in FL.  A couple of long walks on the beach and a beautiful sunset overlooking the sound went a long way to a restful break from her long drive south.

Look what Jo and I came across while taking a walk one day

We saw this the same day

So far I’ve only gotten up once to see the sunrise – I need to remember to set my alarm

Our pets have been getting some needed veterinary attention since we arrived in OBX.  The CG owners recommended Roanoke Island Animal Hospital.  Callie has the beginnings of kidney disease and needed a change in her food.  Raskal is just old and has arthritis and we got him a supplement to take to help with that.  Cocoa has low thyroid and needs meds for that, plus a steroid for this issue she has been having with her eyes and nose.  She is also still taking Tramodol for her arthritis.

One Sunday, Bill & I and Tracy & Lee went to see Bodie Island Lighthouse and the Wright Brothers Memorial.  It was really cool, got an amazing feeling to be standing where these two brothers forever changed the course of history.  We just visited Kennedy Space Center while in FL and I couldn’t help but think this is where it started.   Tracy made the comment that she felt like it was hallowed ground and I had to agree.

Afterward we stopped for lunch at Millers Waterfront in Nags Head.  It was very good!  I will get a review of it done ASAP.

That’s all for today folks!  See ya next time!