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Issue #203, Epic Road Trip, June 25, 2018: Outer Banks, North Carolina




June 25, 2018 Birds are singing and the sun is coming up over the ‘canal’ that we are parked next to here at the OBX (Outer Banks) RV campground in North Carolina; we arrived here yesterday late afternoon after an epic bout of driving through North Carolina’s Backroads, which for the most part blaze an identical path through deciduous greenery, two lanes for each side of the highway, which becomes monotonous. I drove the whole way. As we approached the “outer banks” portion, where the ocean starts dividing up the land in long fingers and there are several interesting bridges to pass over, we made the kids divert their attention away from their tablet (Phoenix) and iPhone (Orion) so they could at least get a feel for the landscape we are driving through It’s been sobering to realize that they hardly look out the windows at all - Phoenix counters with the correct observation that “it’s all trees”…

Anyway, the campground at Carolina Beach was pretty in the morning as we packed up with light filtering through the trees. We tackled patching Orion’s tire, but right as I was blowing it up, the pump broke. We got another $14 pump at Wal-Mart somewhere along the road later in the day, as well as groceries for our two-day stay here at “OBX”. The Wal-Mart contains the cheapest stuff I’ve ever seen. The prices of things are extremely low, for instance, the same jelly we buy in Boulder for almost $4 is only $1.50 here. It makes getting all our food a bit cheaper, but it’s big-box blueness is weird.



I’m not feeling too great this morning- the air conditioner, while masking the heat, gave me intense head-and-ear ringing. However, perhaps the fact that it rained last night had something to do with that. Our next-door RV neighbors were gone by the time we arrived, but they left a nice note. A few other nearby campers made appearances, such as a guy with two little dogs, a family next door with a large flag, and a friendly woman who walked by and said she liked the Cricket.

billboard pointing out
that to believe “on” the lord
you might just be saved



family now content
inside air-conditioned car
99 outside



For lunch, we pulled off the highway and drove a backroad until we discovered an old cemetery. It was simultaneously sombre and cheerful, as the day was warm and full of color, but the gravestones spoke of lives past and forgotten.



skin stretched like a drum
he asks if we have the time
one-toothed southern drawl



interested to hear
since we are from colorado
why we would come here




solo/group kukai
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen