We’re Benched in the OBX

Saturday, 16 April 2011

… and it’s not because of the weather today, or the severe storms tonight.  I’ll explain further at the end of this post.

First, thanks to the Zs for caring … your email and phone call alerting us to the impending storm was much appreciated.  Though we were aware of the severe weather heading towards us, it was really nice to know that there was someone out there in Texas thinking of us.

See that line of red over the ocean  in the radar image to the left?  we’re sitting in the middle of it.

As I sit writing this post at 10:15p, the tornado watch has been extended twice; the latest to 11:00p.  The winds have regained strength and we’re being buffeted pretty strongly.  Thunder and lightning is signaling the approach of the storm.  The deluge showing on the radar will be upon us soon.  If the winds get worse, we’ll pull in the slides.  Otherwise there’s nothing to do but monitor the situation.  Our wallets, keys, phone, rain gear, and flashlight are all on the dashboard, ready to be grabbed in the event the worse happens and we need to dash over to the cinderblock restroom for cover.

In the meantime, here’s how our day unfolded.

Heeding forecasts for iffy weather, we had a quiet day at home.  As it turns out, the storm was delayed coming into the area, so we had a better-than-expected day.  It was mostly overcast, but the sun peeked through quite a bit, and the temps were in the mid-60F (15.5 C) range.  We even had some blue skies for a while.

In between perusing OBX brochures and doing a few chores, we managed a walk around the campground after breakfast, and a longer walk on the beach before lunch.  On the way back, we detoured to the landside and walked through a smaller campground down the street from us.  While we prefer smaller, in this case, we’re glad to be at Camp Hatteras.  Yes, it is very big, and it is more expensive, but our front row, dune-facing site affords us a sense of privacy (false though that might be).

The sand and sea-mist whipped up by the wind adds a bit of haze to the beach scene.

Nice day for a walk on the beach.

Despite the light wind, we decided to enjoy our lunch al fresco.  Mui prepared a light meal and we took our plates out to the picnic table on our site.  For entertainment, we watched the newly-arrived campers setting up in nearby sites.  The question is, are they here for the weekend or for Easter break?  I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Mui enjoys the fruits of his labor.

Simple but satisfying.

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon at the picnic table, perusing OBX brochures and planning for the days ahead.  I have a good idea of the things we want to do; the places we want to visit.  Our plans are fluid and we’ll play it by ear based on the weather.  At the moment, it looks like we’ll be in the clear once this storm passes through.  Thursday is looking a bit iffy, but that’s still a few days from now and anything can happen between now and then.

After dinner, we settled down to watch a Netflix DVD — Secretariat, starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich.  What a great, feel-good movie.  For those not familiar with the story of the Triple Crown winning racehorse of 1973, there’s more information here.

Now for the “benched” portion of our day.

Last week at Pohick Bay, we were bemoaning the lack of a place to sit while getting dressed in the bedroom.  Then the light bulb came on.  Why not build a bench seat that we could place at the foot of the bed?  Some measurements before and after the slides were pulled in; a few more discussions.  Before we knew it, the bench idea had developed into a storage chest with a padded top.  Two birds with one stone.  Mui set about building the chest on Wednesday and completed it in time for our trip this week.  The studded trim he wanted to use to hide the seams was no longer available, so he had to be creative, but the end piece turned out quite nicely.

Mui goes about building an upholstered storage bench ...

... that fits nicely at the foot of the bed.

The chest can be slid under the bed entirely, but that doesn’t work when the slides are pulled in.  When we’re on the road, we’ll have to pull the chest around to the side of the bed, but that’s a small price to pay for the comfort and convenience we (Mui, really) just added to our bedroom.

Update … 11:30 pm

Well, that was a doozy of a storm.  We rocked and rolled a bit, and the lightning and thunder show was quite the experience sitting here in the coach.  The deluge gave the coach a well-needed bath.  Though I can still see some lightning in the distance, the storm has moved on and peace once again reigns in the campground.

Time to wrap this post up and get to bed … tomorrow, we go sightseeing.