Day 14 – Sunny, not a cloud in the sky – 48 degrees at 6:15 a.m. Rob headed back out for the sunrise. I am busy trying to secure campsite reservations for June and August, on our way to & from the land in Maine. We always travel off-season and it hasn’t been a problem in the past. But trying to get sites in June & August has been difficult. Rob came back with another batch of pictures to sort thru.
Today we are going to visit Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. It has a wildlife drive and is known for a large variety of wildlife sightings. To get there, we will be leaving the Outer Banks and crossing over to Roanoke Island (quite the historical place) to visit the new National Wildlife Visitor’s Center which covers all the Refuges in this area. After getting more information, we’ll decide if we have time to also explore Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge – yes, we’re still hoping to get that glimpse of alligators, LOL.
Departed the RV at 10:45, kitties basking in the sun.
Pixie
Headed North then West to Roanoke Island, picked up sandwiches for lunch later, and drove to the Visitor’s Center. Very, very nice place. Great exhibits, informative staff. Picked up brochures and headed West to cross over to the mainland. At the advice of the Refuge volunteer, we skipped Alligator River because the swamp was currently being drained and there wouldn’t be that much to see. (An after thought: Where do the alligators go when they drain the swamp? I should’ve asked that question.) We liked Roanoke Island, quaint and well-kept, you can almost breathe in the history. One of three NC Aquariums is located here. We will come back another time!
It took about an hour to get to Mattamuskeet, driving on roads straight as an arrow, no hills either, farm land. Yawn. Rob was driving; I napped.
Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge was lovely and we really enjoyed the wildlife drive. Beautiful day, 66 degrees. I drove VERY slowly while we watched for signs of wildlife. When either of us saw something of possible interest, we’d stop and one or both of us would very quietly get out of the car and approach, Rob taking pictures. We saw lots! See pictures below.
Then back in the car and drive another few feet. We only encountered 2 other vehicles the whole time we were there. (Our friend, Mark, told us one of the best advantages of retirement was that you could avoid weekends; during the week nothing is crowded. He was right!) A couple of hours later, we headed back to the Outer Banks, stopping to get gas and pick up a few groceries at Nag’s Head. Arrived at the campground around 6 p.m. Greeted by cats that missed us and approaching clouds that looked a bit nasty. Made dinner and read books for awhile. End of Week Two.
Camp Hatteras Campground, 24798 NC Hwy 12, Waves, NC 27968, (252) 987-2777 (http://www.camphatteras.com/). There are lots of campgrounds along the Outer Banks, each is different. Off season, this one worked for us because it was quiet and hardly anyone was here. We tend to look for privacy, peace and quiet, and we don’t care if they have a pool and a playground, miniature golf, etc. Because we were going to be here for more than 3 days, we did want electricity and water; our site also had sewer. We had the closest site to the ocean, but a sand dune blocked the ocean from visibility from the RV. We were also subjected to high winds on windy days. On the other side of the road, there are sites (same campground) right on the Sound and I imagine it would be less windy. They are however, closer to the road and that section was closed in February. It’s basically a very large parking lot here with few trees. During season, with over 400 sites, this place would be a noisy zoo, but there are activities for kids if that’s what one is looking for. Other campgrounds we looked at ranged from Cape Hatteras National Seashore – no water, electric, sewer and not expensive, to the KOA which was also very large and had tons of amenities. We’d like to visit the area again, mainly because of all the National Wildlife Refuges close by, but would not come except off season. There was nothing really wrong with this campground, but next time we’d probably try for a site on the Sound at this, or another campground, one with some trees and more privacy.