Which Way Is Home?

It is 7:15PM and I am sitting in front of Magic Nails in Jacksonville, while Carol is getting her nails and toes done (what ever that means). I've completed the other honey dos so as soon as Carol's nails are done, we get to eat. Considering I only had a couple of home made Mac Muffins around 8ish this morning, that means I am pretty hunger.

Carol suggested going to CiCi's for pizza but I've decided it is time for some place different. We know about CiCi's pizza. They are good and they are quick and they are certainly inexpensive. I found a place called Michaelangelo's Pizza & Subs. I do not recall going there so that settles it. One of our goals on this adventure we are on is to not eat in the common food chains unless that is all that's available. Their menu looks pretty good and they are only about 3 miles from where we are. So as soon as Carol is done, we are headed for dinner.

We ordered a medium and got a large. Not sure what that was about but we do have leftovers for Thursday now.
   
That was one big pizza and it was sure good. It rates right up there next to BJ Pizza in Corpus Christi. 

Time to head home so on a whim, I asked Gertie (our GPS) to take us home. And she directed us home - a different way. Cool, there is another route between Jacksonville and Maysville. WRONG. About 20 miles down the road, it became apparent we were not going to Maysville. Not sure where Gertie thinks home is but I was not going to find out. I redirected Gertie to take us to Safe Harbor Farm. This time, Gertie took us back to Jacksonville where we started and directed us to the only route between Maysville from Jacksonville.

Note to self - before asking Gertie to take us home, make sure our Gertie know where home is. Meanwhile we took a scenic route through the country side in the dark.

Today's deck work progressed very well. The goal was to get the deck material attached to the deck frame. I am not sure which is heavier, 5/4 x 6 x 16 feet composite decking or 5/4 x 6 x 16 treated pine. Both are equally heavy. The treated pine is more rigid thus it is easier to handle. The composite decking has a lot of flex to it which makes it difficult for one person to handle. TJ helped again today. He set the post for the stair support. When he got done he did say this was one job he was glad is over. Digging post holes is never a fun job.
   
After the last deck board was put in place, it was time to trim the edge. TJ made sure I got it trimmed just right. I would say the deck is starting to look like a deck

   

While I worked on the deck today, Carol had the fun job of giving a cat a hair cut. This Persian cat was badly matted and only a buzz cut could get the mattes out. Sorry there is no photo of the cat. You know how touchy they can become.

Sure glad this day is over. We are both tired, and I am pretty sore from all the lifting. Thanks for stopping by.

WARNING! Do Not Swim In Yellow Water!

A hardy howdy to Alicia and Betty who have recently started following our blog. Alicia is half of the duo who are responsible for selling this rig to us. She and her husband Slade own and operated Rolling Retreats in Elk City, OK.  If you are hunting for a travel rig, I highly recommend you visit them. They are the real deal.

Betty is a Texan and her husband Dave is a Scott.  They are currently in NJ on assignment. Betty and Dave are competitive cyclist among other things. Maggie is their fur baby.  Betty writes their blog Phoenix Once Again.

We have had several days of high pollen counts. Most cars in the area are covered with a yellow dust that is the result of the high pollen count. Today, Carol and I went to Jacksonville to get decking boards so I can get the deck finished. When we got back, we unloaded the truck, loaded up the doggies then headed for the beach. Today is our second day off so we wanted to just sit on the beach for a while and enjoy the ocean breeze and listen to the waves.

We found a beach public access parking lot on Emerald Isle about 20 miles from Maysville. The beaches in Texas are open access. In North Carolina, especially where we are on the southern portion of the outer banks, this is not the case. Commercial and residential property line the beaches. There are public access points along the coast but not open beach like you wold find in Padre Island or Galveston.

We parked in a public lot, then walked quiet a distance to the spot where we planted our chairs. There were a few spring breakers on the beach. Nothing like the crowds in Texas or Florida. The sand is very soft. Walking takes a bit of work; good exercise for us. It was funny watching the doggies on the sand. This was a new experience for them. They did OK once they got the hang of it.

     

There are leash laws here so we are not allowed to let the doggies run free. It was a little challenging hanging on to them while the few groups of people walked past. Cody found his groove pretty quickly. I guess he just had to mark his spot on the beach. It was a good thing the sand was not wet or he would have been covered in sand. As dry as it was, he was able to shake it off.

   

I was watching the water, not that I have never seen breakers before. The breakers here are very small and close to shore. That is due to the contour of the shoreline. No sand bars here like in Texas. The water had a noticeable yellow layer on top that had to be related to the high pollen count. The yellow pollen just seem to stay in put. Even though you could see the sand and water mix, the yellow pollen just floated in place. I did get some interesting shots of this.

 

The water kept creeping up on us so we kept moving back. Eventually we were in pretty soft sand and decided to pack up and head back. Considering we are not big beach people, we actually enjoyed the outing. Next time we will bring some different things and perhaps even take a stroll down the beach with the doggies. When we got back to Safe Harbor, I asked Carol to take a couple of photos of the dog park as it is now. This will be a great place for doggies to run free once it completed.

 

Tuesday Carol has early doggie duty and I will fix breakfast. Then I will start installing the deck boards on my deck project. We did get a couple of more Workampers over the past couple of days. It is hard to imagine that our work will wind down in 10 days. This has been an enjoyable experience for us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lazy Day

After a busy week, we had a day off today. That means Carol got to sleep real late. I was up at my usual 0630 while Carol did not get up until 0830. In her defense, she did stay up until 12:30AM finishing a book she just could not put down. Today is Sunday meaning we get to have breakfast at Pop's Diner and then visit First Baptist Church Maysville again. Pop's is sure a cool little diner to go to. The staff there are very friendly and the food is very good. We highly recommend this place to anyone who is traveling through Maysville.

Worship this morning at FBC was supercharged again. Pastor John had another power packed message about Christ like renovation. FBC was also packed this morning. The choir sang enthusiastically while the church did their part in worshipping with a happy heart.

The weather this morning included cloudy skies and a little rain. We had planned to visit the beach this afternoon with the doggies. Due to the weather, we decided to postpone that for another day. After church we just chilled at the farm a bit then decided it was time to get a bite to eat. I found a cool place to go (Kathryn's Bistro and Martini Bar http://www.kathrynsbistro.com/) on Emerald Isle. Unfortunately they were closed today. That is OK. I'll save this for later in the week.

We decided to take a risk and visit a Mexican Restaurant. We found El Zarape on Emerald Isle and found several good reviews of this place. This place was a bit off the beaten path. If it were not for GPS, we probably would have trouble finding it. We backed into the parking slot. I kept a close eye on the back wheels. Good thing there was a parking curb at the end of the asphalt.

 

We took our seats and could have easily imagined we were in Texas. The music, atmosphere and even the aroma of the place made us feel pretty good about the restaurant selection. I chose Camarones Diablo, a spicy shrimp dish while Carol ordered a Chicken Quesadilla and Chicken Chalupa combination. We ordered Shrimp Nachos for an appetizer but never got that. Other than that, I have to say that this place was a hit. The flavor was truly TexMex. The chips were crisp. The salsa was a bit bland but the hot sauce on the table fixed that. If you have the Smell-O-Vision option on your display, you can scratch-n-sniff your monitor to get a sense of our authentic meal.
   
After getting back to Maysville, I gave our truck a drink of diesel at 4.09/gal. Before signing off for tonight, I thought I would show you some of the work that went on at the dog park yesterday. This will be a great place for doggies to run and play in a safe area.

   

 Thanks for stopping by.