Exploring

I love the beach but I can't sit out there all day. So during our stay in Emerald Isle, NC we went on a few expeditions of sorts. I would call them hikes except that we didn't actually get to hike a few of them. The Great Dismal Swamp, for example, turned out to be difficult to access. We spent at least an hour driving around closed roads and other obstacles (like closed gates) before we found a small hike. At that point we didn't have much time anyway but you get the idea.

So one morning in Emerald Isle I decided I wanted to explore the area around "Great Lake" in the Croatan Forest. The Croatan Forest is home to bears, alligators, and five kinds of poisonous snakes. For some reason Matt didn't want to camp there. Anyway, we drove on towards the lake. Not easy to do if you miss the tiny little sign pointing you towards the lake since none of our maps agreed on the roads. We passed several signs with towing information. That did give me pause as we headed off the paved road and onto the dirt one. I had visions of last years hour of digging the car out of the sand on the Navajo reservation but this time with cougars (I forgot those in the list), alligators, and bears offering assistance. Not to mention the diamond back rattlers. And FOUS. (Flies of Unusual Size)

We made it safely to the lake which would have been great if we'd had a boat. Couldn't see a thing but what looked like lots of great places for an alligator to hide. This is the last thing we saw before we realized we might not have enough gas to get back out.