Category Archives: North Carolina

September 2015 in Instagram

**Flood and Rain update. So far we are doing fine. Our pond is the fullest I’ve ever seen it, and there are large standing puddles around the yard, but so far no actual flooding. I think we should be fine, the nearest river is half a mile away, and is a slow moving river that empties into a large tidal marsh.

Top Row:
Jon’s new garage/workshop. Its pretty awesome.
Tried a few new restaurants locally, Minoda’s sushi and hibachi, and Circa 81 for brunch. Both were very good.

Middle Row:
Fort Macon State Park. A nice tree/driftwood on the beach.
Wildflowers.
A pretty swamp/wetlands area

Bottom Row:
Shrimp Boats in Beaufort Harbor
My lazy, old man, Chewbacca
Tried a new recipe, Tatziki Sauce on a pita with chicken and veggies.

Top Row:
Went for a walk in Lawson Creek Park, in New Bern

Middle Row:
Goldenrod
I climbed the Cape Lookout Lighthouse! The view from the top was amazing!

Bottom Row:
Cape Lookout Lighthouse
Sasha and Panzer playing
A paper collage I started about 6 months ago, then put aside, and have been working on again.

Instagram, August 2015

Top Row:
Pretty grasses and wildflowers in the dunes on Cape Lookout
I love the graphic quality of these fences, also Cape Lookout
Working on one of my scrap yarn blankets

Second Row:
View of the dunes and beach from the cabin on Cape Lookout
Crock pot magic, Strip steak tacos
Enjoying a very relaxing afternoon, Ocracoke Island

Third Row:
Shrimp Boat, Ocracoke Island
Pretty dirt road, Ocracoke Island
Chairs on the porch of our hotel, Ocracoke Island

It was great having a weekend of just Jon and I, no dogs. I actually got to walk around the village of Ocracoke. Usually I can’t because Chewie doesn’t walk far any more, or do well in the heat. And we got to sit in one of the restaurants overlooking the harbor for the afternoon, without worrying about Panzer barking every time someone walks past the truck. We didn’t even make it to the beach this weekend, just enjoyed relaxing and doing very little.

Forth Row:
Sea Oats, Cape Lookout
Panzer and Sasha sharing a bed. They are so cute when the behave.
The beach at Cape Lookout.

Bottom Row:
Onion harvest from my garden. I grew all these in one 16″ pot.
Peppers also in my garden. 4 of these little pepper plants have been putting out pepper pretty steady for most of August
Knitting the Harper Shawl.

New Bern, NC

About a month ago I took a day trip to the “big city” of New Bern about 45 minutes away. Back in colonial times it was the capital of North Carolina and now has a nice historic district, including the former governor’s palace, a nice walkway along the waterfront, and cute downtown area. Its all pretty close and easily walkable.

Top Row:
View of the Trent River from the Visitors Center
An interesting sculpture that moves with the wind, also at the visitor’s center
Walking along the waterfront

Middle Row:
Sailboat on the Neuse River
An adorable family of ducks
Crepe Myrtle and Sphagnum Moss

Bottom Row:
Several views of the historic gardens

Walked 4 miles
This year 44.4

Cape Lookout, South Core Banks

Last week we went camping in the National Seashore again. This time on the South Core Banks, which I prefer to the North Core Banks. The Lighthouse and other historic buildings are on the Southern Island, as well as some great swimming spots, and I find a lot of seashells here too.

First Row:
One of our trucks on the ferry.
Dirt road through the historic village.
Sunset over the Sound.

Second Row:
Sitting in the tide pools. We saw a shark, so we decided not to gout outside the sandbars that afternoon.
A dead puffer fish.
Whelk shells decorating a fence

Third Row:
Blanket flowers.
Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
Sea Oats.

Forth Row:
A beautiful view of the beach from the cabin.
A friends daughter running from the waves. She wasn’t quick enough.
Calm waters inside “the hook.”

Fifth Row:
The beach.
An abandoned home.
Sunrise. Wasn’t it nice of Sasha to wake me up at 6 am so I could see this?

Miles hiked: 17.6
This year: 40.4

Cape Lookout, North Core Banks

About a month ago, we went camping on the North Island of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. We love to go out here because it is so empty. Its basically just a big stretch of beach on the ocean side, and some grass covered sand dunes and marsh on the sound side.

Top Row:
A picture of a dead thing I took to send my sister in law (all in fun, not because I’m sending her a subtle message). I think its a dolphin or a small whale.
Rough seas, it was windy most of the week. We just drive until we find a good tide pool to play in when its like this.
My old man, Chewbacca, taking a nap on the beach.

Bottom Row:
A beautiful sunset over the marsh and Core Sound.
The dunes and beach.
Relaxing on the deck.

Miles hiked: 13.2
This year: 22.8

Although I still have a lot of hiking that I haven’t blogged yet, its recently occurred to me that the year is more than halfway over, and I’m quite far behind on reaching my goal of 500 miles.

52 Photos Project: Black and White

The fishing pier in Emerald Isle. I took this back in November, when my parents visited for Thanksgiving, and we spent an afternoon driving along the barrier island of Bogue Banks. For the most part the beach is actually not visible from the road, because of homes and dunes. But there are a few public fishing piers that allow you to walk out over the ocean for several hundred feet, as well as public town beaches and a state park.

In Black and White, and in color. I think I like the Black and White version better. What do you think?

Check out more Black and White photos

Fort Macon, Again

I love the contrast of the photos taken on a sunny day, in the previous post, and here taken on a cloudy day. As much as I’m looking forward to spring, the warm browns of the dunes in winter does have its own beauty.

The weather may not have been ideal, but it was nice to have the beach to ourselves.

My Sasha and my Panzer, they look so good here, but they were probably jumping all over each other 10 seconds before this photo was taken.

Just a short hike: 2.75 miles

So far in 2015: 9.6 miles

In case anyone was wondering how I measure my milage, I use my pedometer. I’ve found that 2000 steps per mile is pretty accurate

Fort Macon State Park

In spite of the miserable weather I have managed to get out of the house for a few short hikes. Here are some instagrams from a rare nice day, back in January, that Sasha and I were able to take advantage of and go for a hike at Fort Macon State Park. This is a really pretty park, with a beautiful beach to walk on, only about 15 minutes from our house.

Miles hiked: 4, Miles hiked in 2015: 6.85

I still have a long ways to go if I’m going to reach 500 by the end of the year. I had really hoped that once February arrived the weather would start getting nicer, but that just has not happened. I’ve spent most of the last 2 weeks hibernating next to the fireplace.

Patsy Pond Nature Trail

My first hike of 2015, on the Patsy Pond Nature Trail, part of the Croatan National Forest and only about 30 minutes from my house.

The trail was easy and well maintained. It could have been better marked though, there are three short trails that cross each other, and the only trail markings were at these junctions. There were also some fire roads that I’d like to explore in the future, but it will wait until after hunting season.

Really pretty walk through the pine forest. I’ll definitely be back.

My girl Sasha, I haven’t taken here on any more difficult trails yet, but I think she is going to be a good little hiker.

Patsy pond, the trail was a big loop, just under 3 miles around this pond and several smaller ones.

Pinecones, from the longleaf pine, almost as big as my foot.

This was a great hike considering I haven’t been too active recently, and short enough that my boots, which I haven’t worn in months, didn’t hurt me.

Miles in 2015: 2.85

I have a goal of hiking 500 miles this year. Thats about 10 miles a week, which doesn’t seem like much, but that means finding time for several shorter hikes, or one long one every week; I’m not counting my daily walks with my dogs. Plus we don’t have much hiking where I live. There is the national forest, but that is pretty swampy in some places, and I won’t get to explore it much until duck hunting ends in next month. There are also nice beaches on the Outer Banks, and some wildlife refuges within driving distance. And in the spring and fall I can go camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 6 hours away.

Ryan Mcgurl

nature, my dogs, art, knitting, crochet, and gardening in coastal North Carolina