Exploration Day

Today was a great start to my official vacation.  I woke up about an hour before the alarm went off and actually got up!  I tried making coffee...blech.  Old Folgers with almond milk...totally not a good combo.  I threw on a pair of cropped sweats with a t-shirt...grabbed my bucket hat and a sweatshirt, tossed my keys and phone in my pocket and headed for the beach.  It was the perfect morning for a long walk on the beach.  A little overcast, windy, cool (but not too cold) and fairly empty. So...off I went.

Other than a few fishermen and a couple of like minded beach walkers, I had the place to myself.

Well, except for some gulls and other assorted beach birds.

I kept walking and walking until I saw a fishing pier in the distance.  I decided to check it out and before I knew it...

I was at the Avalon Fishing Pier in Kill Devil Hills, NC.  Later, I checked and I had walked about a mile and a half.  While that's not generally a great distance, keep in mind I had to do this in the sand...ouch!

Anyway, I finally dragged my butt back to the condo.  The entire meander took about two and a half hours.  That whole time, I managed to keep myself dry, until right at the point that I was to leave the waterline and head to the steps over the dune.  A wave got me and soaked me up to my knees...also soaking the bottom of my sweatshirt as I had, by then, tied it around my waist.  Sandy and salty, I walked across the road and got back to the condo.

By the time I was showered and got dressed, I was starving and dying for a cup of coffee.  I hit the road in search of brunch.  I found Stack 'em High Pancakes and So Forth.  I got a short stack of pancakes with "Crunchy Monkey" topping (bananas and pecans) with an egg on the side, over easy.  Coffee was very good and plentiful.  In fact, the only complaint I had was that it was non-dairy creamer in my coffee...blech! I left the place very full and very satisfied.

One good thing about coming to the beach so late in the season is that all of the beach junk stores have marked down all of their crap fifty percent.  I will probably have OBX gifts for everyone at Christmas...LOL.

Anyway, I decided that I needed to explore.  My goal was pretty much just get the lay of the land and figure out where everything is, so I didn't think to bring my camera.  I headed south toward Hatteras.  In Nags Head, I found the outlet mall and was forced to stop.  Really, truck just made the turn all by itself. Not a great outlet mall...kinda tiny and not much exciting there.  Just picked up some sweats and yoga pants at The Gap and was on my way.

Kept going south and eventually came to the Hatteras National Seashore.  Lots of driving driving driving with sand dunes and scrubby pines and other greenery that goes on forever.  Then I saw the turnoff for Bodie lighthouse.  I had to go.  Haven't seen a lighthouse since I left NJ.

This is when I decided I was under a curse.  No matter where I go, a major attraction that I want to see is undergoing restoration.

I'm sure it's a very nice lighthouse.  The lens with all of its prisms is supposed to be amazing, but that's been disassembled and sent off for restoration work as well.  So, I got scaffolding...

There is also a walkway to a observation deck over the salt marsh behind the lighthouse, so I decided to go check it out.

And I decided to stay on the walkway.  I walked out and was glad I brought my jacket as it was pretty windy and chilly out there.  There were a lot of cool birds further out, lots and lots of snowy egrets, but I didn't have a good camera with a zoom lens, so they are recorded in my memory.  However, looking straight down into the water was cool too.

If you look very closely, you'll see a blue crab down there.   I saw a bunch of them and thought of lunch...LOL.

I hit the road, determined to see a lighthouse unencumbered by scaffolding.  South I go!  I have to say that the Oregon Inlet Bridge is one of the coolest bridges I've ever crossed.  There is the open ocean on one side and Croatan Sound on the other.  At one point, it looks like you're about to drive into the sea.

The scenery right over the bridge, at Pea Island Wildlife Refuge is just amazing and crazy.  Sand dunes looming over the road on the ocean side and between them you can see the the whitecaps on the sea.  In some places, heavy machinery is parked and you can tell that their job is to keep the sand off of the road.  It's almost alien.

I drove and I drove.  Hatteras National Seashore broken up by small towns like Rodanthe, Salvo, Avon...lots of shops and eateries that are less chain and more local.  FINALLY, I saw Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the distance, looming over the town of Buxton.  I got to the lighthouse itself about 20 minutes before closing.

By then, it was getting overcast and had drizzled a few times on the way.  It made for some very dramatic lighting.

I'm glad I have the new crackberry.  It takes much better pictures than the old one.

Here's another one for good measure.  No more tickets were being sold to climb up to the top.  I'm planning to go back later this week and I'm not entirely sure if I want to climb up yet as it's climbing up 12 flights in a narrow spiral staircase.  Will the photos be worth it...we shall see.

I also plan to visit the original site of this lighthouse when I go back.  In the earlier part of this century, it was decided to move the lighthouse further inland as erosion was washing away the beach.  Imagine moving this thing!

Anyway, hit the road back...same fascinating scenery all the way back.  I got to the grocery store for real coffee and milk...wooohoo. Ok, got some food as well.  Got back, made dinner and am now relaxing...sleep very soon.  It was a long day and I wore myself out.  Ouchie feet.

Here I am...The OBX

This is gonna be short because I'm tired and I want to go to sleep.  I got a late start because I screwed up something at work yesterday and didn't leave early enough to finish laundry and pack.  Had to do it this morning.

Lovely drive, but LONG.  Lots of peanut and cotton fields.  Cotton is almost ready for harvesting.  I passed the famous Virginia Diner and plan on stopping there for lunch on my way home.  Maybe I'll pick up a peanut pie for work.

I finally made it here and I'm moved in my condo.  I didn't notice that there was no hairdryer on the rental listing so I'm here hairdryerless.  I'll live...I didn't have one in London a couple of years ago either.

Nice place, and clean.  However, it's one of those places where they don't believe in providing ANY extras. I mentioned no hairdryer, but there are also no bathroom rugs (and slippery tile floors), no trash bags, and very little starter TP.  THAT was a bit of a problem...but I'll stay away from the TMI.

I will do my darnedest to get up early...check out the beach, and maybe do a bit of yoga.  I'm trying to decide between the famous donut place or the famous pancake place for breakfast tomorrow.  Then the plan is to grocery shop and do a bit of exploring.  Funzies!

The Last Day Post is Always Late

So, I did make it home in once piece.  As always, my trip home is an adventure. 

I had planned to leave DC at about 10 am, but did not take into account the fun of moving your car for street cleaning.  Intellectually, I knew about this but as I am not a city dweller it did not take center stage in my departure plans.  I parked on the Monday "move your car by 9:30am" side of the street.

My hostess was kind enough to knock on my door to remind me at a bit after 9, which necessitated my throwing on yesterday's clothes and attempting to tame my terminal bed head before rushing out to move the behemoth. This pushed back my schedule about an hour as it took me 45 minutes to find another space. 

Got back, showered, finished packing, pulled behemoth up to front door to load up, and was on the road about 11am.  If you're curious to see where I stayed, this is the listing for it. I will be back to put up a kind review soon.

I also need to say that I miss my old Garmin GPS.  I now have a Magellan and it's incredibly buggy.  It will verbally tell you to go one direction, but the screen says another.  I got turned around twice by this.

I made my planned side trip to the Springfield Trader Joe's where I stocked up on important provisions like triple ginger cookies and six different bottles of wine made with organic grapes. There are rumors on the Internet that the staff there isn't really all that friendly.  While not rude, I didn't find them as nice as at some of the other Trader Joe's I've visited. 

Second stop was at the Plow and Hearth outlet outside of Charlottesville where I fell in love with an electric stove fireplace. Wanted it in white, but did not buy.  Still thinking about it.  I also saw this birdbath, but it was dinged up and they still wanted over $100 for it.  Notsomuch.

Then on to Whole Foods, where I picked up what I didn't at Trader Joe's (still forgot my oatmeal) and ate dinner.  Their prepared food bars are pricey, but totally yummy.  I got the most amazing smoked mac and cheese, 3 grain tabbouleh,  and their cabbage crunch salad.  I almost couldn't find the cabbage crunch as they made it with red cabbage this time...it was good, but not as good as the fine shred green cabbage I usually get.

Made it home at 8PM and hauled my crap inside through the misty rain.  Did laundry, unloaded groceries, cleaned up kitchen and collapsed into bed.  Good thing I'm on vacation next week!

Becoming Green...an Eye-Opening Experience

So, today was the second day of the Green Festival in Washington DC.  I got up and puttered around the apartment before slowly making my way to the Convention Center.  I know that the Metro is undergoing a buttload of maintenance, but it didn't cause me any problems.  Sure, I had to wait for a train for 10-15 min a time or two...but it wasn't horrible.  The locals were all bent out of shape about it...but maybe they're spoiled?  I love subways...London, Vienna, DC (ok Philly kind of sucks, as it is stinky), because they're cheap, fast modes of transport that don't involve me driving in city traffic.

Anyway, got to the Fest, slapped on my blue armband, and descended to the convention floor.  This time I pretty much headed straight to a workshop, this one on DIY Energy Savers for Your Home.  The speaker was Jason Holstine from Amicus Green Building Center.   I learned some good stuff (I want to go re-insulate my attic with Roxul insulation now...as well as get some draft stopper gaskets.  Oh yeah, and insulate my hot water heater.  We got a free fluorescent light bulb out of the dealie too.

Then I walked around a bit, did some more shopping (some jewelry from India and a wool winter hat from Peru) and half listened to Ralph Nader speak.  I'm not sure I agree 100% with everything he said, but he sure does get passionate about his opinions.

It was a pretty packed crowd and he had them eating out of the palm of his hand.  Afterwards, he went over to sign books.

He drew quite the crowd and the line went on for awhile.  I didn't get in line, but stood nearby to take photos.

I lost track of time and missed the yoga demonstration I was planning to check out, so I wandered about some more, complained to the Hydros people about the bottle I bought yesterday (advice is to try the filter charging process again, then call customer support), and bought some fun free trade crafts and stuff. I caught the very tail end of the workshop about Yoga and the Collective Action (how Yoga can tie into organizing for social change) before heading over for lunch.

The food court was a madhouse again, but the smells were just heavenly.  I decided to brave the Indian food.

I got the one curry (aloo palak) with rice and a samosa.  Oh yeah, let's not forget the most delicious mango lassi I've ever had in my entire life!  The curry was spicy, but not overpoweringly so and the samosa was crispy and yummy.  Fabulous lunch!

Again, with the wandering.  I had stopped at an ATM in the morning as there were a few vendors that did not take credit cards.  I got this most amazingly gorgeous blue hand woven silk scarf that I am in love with. Other things picked up were a Green Festival t-shirt, a Kleen Kanteen insulated bottle, some nifty rechargeable heating pads from Click Heaters including ones for my frosty feet in the winter.   I found that the yummy cup of coffee I got yesterday was Bright Day Brew from Equal Exchange, so I picked up a bag (gotta find my coffee grinder somewhere).

Then I stumbled upon civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Chavis' presentation on the main stage.  I have to say it was a riveting speech.  Dr. Chavis is promoting the idea that we need to take the green movement out of our national arena and expand it globally.  I have to say that I completely agree...it's all the same planet we're mucking up here!  I didn't get a very good photo...

Which was a serious bummer as it was a very memorable and moving speech and I would have liked a photo to remember it by.

A bit more wandering about and I got thirsty, so I went back to the food court.  I decided on the pineapple mango ginger punch.  The lady behind the counter warned me "It's fermented" and added "on purpose!"  I gave her the thumbs up and bought my drink.  I have to say that I did enjoy it and I almost believe I got a bit of a buzz.  It wasn't sweet, and had a little kick of ginger. Quenched the ole thirst...so I was happy.

I have to give another shout out to my friends at Dr. Bronner's (who gave me a free ginger orange lip balm yesterday) because when I snagged a sample size bar of their plain soap and the girl there found out that I love it to do hand laundry when I travel, she reached under the counter to give me another bar in my favorite lavender.

By this time, I was shopped and walked out but I wasn't ready to leave, so I checked out the side stages for another presentation.  I luckily stumbled upon Vanessa King and "Finding Fullness: Mindful Eating" which was perfect for me!  Vanessa is a yoga teacher and nutritionist (with her own website) who did a great presentation and involved the audience.  I have always known that I really need to keep a food diary, but always avoided it.  Vanessa made it clear *why* I need to do it.  I need to do some follow up reading on mindful eating.

Once that was done, about 15 more minutes of wandering about before I decided I was dead tired.  Got another t-shirt, this one from Green America who threw in a kid's t-shirt.  Good thing, because my niece Ashley is ticked off at me for going to Washington DC without her.

Said goodbye to the convention center, waited 10 min for the Metro, and collapsed back into the apartment.  I've done a bit of packing, but hope to get up reasonably early tomorrow.  I think I'll skip the National Gallery as I'm likely to come back next year with a friend for a special exhibit there anyway.

Not a Vacation...but a Trip Nontheless...

So today was the first day of the Green Festival in Washington DC.  This event is organized by Green America and Global Exchange and, while a good way for green minded folk to meet and exchange ideas, it's also a good way for someone like me to learn and get ideas about living a greener and more sustainable life.  If you've ever wondered what all the fuss about "living green" is about and wondered if there was more you can do to decrease your impact on the environment, this is a good place to get started.

Ever since I'd experienced how far ahead of us Europe is in things like sustainable energy, I've been curious about things like solar energy.  I also want to put in an organic garden and need to learn about composting and rain barrels.  Today I got distracted.

I went to a couple of lectures and a pottery demonstration.  I bought some stuff and got some samples.  Lastly, I ate vegan fried "chicken" and mac and cheese.

I got there a bit after the festival started, but the only thing I really missed were the opening ceremonies.  I got a free banana and a shopping bag right inside the door from Mom's Organic Market.  Very nice people, but I had the unfortunate luck to stand next to a man who was mocking the group for wanting free stuff.  I played stupid and offered him my free banana.  Happily, he was the only negative person I met all day long. Maybe he needed his coffee.

I don't remember all of the vendors I visited, but one of the first was Book Publishing Company where I got some good sale books including a stevia cookbook.  I'm pretty excited about that and can hardly wait to try out some of the recipes.

My feet are not really killing me all that much tonight, despite walking around on a concrete floor for most of the day, and I think it's because I bought a pair of Massaging Insoles.   I kind of got sucked into it, and they weren't cheap...but once they were in my shoes, I didn't want to give them back.  They literally massage the soles of your feet with squishiness as you walk.  Happy with that purchase.

Not so happy with the purchase of the Hydros Bottle.  One of my plans for today was to go out and get a jug of bottled water for the apartment.  I drink a lot of water, plus I needed it to make tea.  When I saw this bottle, I thought it would be a good substitute for going out and lugging a jug of water around.  Also, I could use it when I travel, and bring it to work.  I got it back to the apartment tonight, washed it out and prepared the filter per the instructions...and was distressed to find that the filtered water still smelled strongly of chlorine.  Not happy with that purchase.

Another purchase was a 225 mls bottle of laundry detergent which should take care of 80 loads of laundry. Berryplus laundry detergent is made from soapberries from the sapindus mukorossi tree and is 100% plant based, natural, and renewable.  Can't wait to try it out.

I got a clearance t-shirt from Green Label...which is actually in Floyd, VA.  My shirt is close to this one, but is a t-shirt rather than a tank (same color and design though).  They are super nice people and I signed up for their mailing list so that I'll know when they have clearance deals in their store in Floyd.

Memorable exhibitors were Dr. Bronner's (ubiquitous purveyors of castile soap) who gave me an orange ginger lip balm when I told them it is my favorite lip balm EVER and that they're hard to find.  YAY!  Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils had some good samples and coupons.  So did my friends at Earth Balance although the coupons were all gone by the time I found them.  They assured me that I'd love the coconut butter I just bought last week at my local coop.

One of my biggest surprises was the time I spent at the booth of the US Postal Service.  Apparently, the USPS is turning to other ways of making money now that revenue is down from 1st class mail.  Many of those new forms of revenue have to do with recycling.  Things like ink cartridges, pharmaceutical drugs, medical waste (sharps)...all kinds of interesting things.  Very fascinating.

The pottery demonstration by Savitri Khalsa of 3 Green Pears was very cool.  I stayed after and had a nice discussion with her about my concerns about the toxic chemicals and heavy metals in the glazes used.  While quite safe after they are fired, there is a concern about exposure to the potter and releasing these chemicals in to the water supply when doing cleanup.  Like I thought, no alternative to the chemicals in glazes...urgh.

I also attended a good lecture about locally sourced food.  While I knew that only a small percentage of foods purchased by consumers in the US is locally sourced, I was quite shocked to find that it is only about 1%.  The speakers were the director of a large local urban farm group, a local produce distributor, and the owner of a local restaurant that focuses on locally grown and sourced foods.  It made me happy that I do visit my local farmer's market and made me more mindful of trying to eat seasonally.  Fascinating stuff.

The *most* fascinating and upsetting lecture I attended was called "Fair Trade Your Halloween" which ended up being an eye opening account of the horrible abuses going on in the cocoa industry.  Who knew that when I dug into the chocolate bowl at work I was feasting on the end result of child slave labor?  Though sparsely attended,  I found this to be the most eye-opening hour of my day.  Corey Hill (of Global Exchange) was an engaging and passionate speaker.  Later, I went to check out the Global Exchange booth (and not just because Mr. Hill promised me a sample of free trade chocolate!) where I signed up for their mailing list.  I also ended up watching the documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate and I signed a petition asking Hershey's to stop buying cacao harvested with child slave labor.  While not the only company guilty of this, they are the only ones still ignoring the problem.  Other large companies like Ghiradelli, Mars, Nestle, etc...also use this source of cacao.  Horrible stuff.  Please only buy Fair Trade Certified chocolate. Like the Theo Chocolate I bought today.

While you're at it, please try to buy your coffee, tea, bananas, etc...Fair Trade Certified.  October is Fair Trade Month.

And this is what I had for dinner:

Vegan mac and cheese with vegan fried "chicken" and BBQ dipping sauce.  It was actually really yummy.  I was too late to try their kale, which was a bummer.  Tomorrow, I may try the Indian food...but get a mango lassi in case it's too spicy for me.

Ok, I'm typed out.  What I missed today, I'll tell you about tomorrow.  I really need to check out some Yoga and cooking demos.

Mini Adventure

Although this isn't a full blown trip, I'm spending a long weekend in our nation's capitol, Washington DC.  I'm attending the Green Festival and will try to squeeze in some fun as well.

This is a mini adventure by auto.  Ironically, I just got a new gas guzzling Jeep Liberty...for which I traded in my not so guzzling Buick Lucerne.  On top of that...SUVs are really not meant for city driving.  I was fine until I got into the city itself...then the fun started.  I am glad she is safely parked away and won't be on the road again until I leave Monday.

I am staying in a mini-apartment in a private residence in Columbia Heights.  Very convenient and comes with a friendly dog.

This is going to be short because I'm tired.  Went out to dinner with friends at the Cactus Cantina and had a yummy dinner.  Bit of crazy shopping after and to another place for desert.  Maybe more later...sleepy.

Alrighty...so I learned about Rodman's which is, apparently, a Washington DC institution where you can get all sorts of crazy imported food.  Well, that and medical equipment, small appliances, candles, prescription drugs, wine and beer.  I am currently muching on a bag of Vienna Coffee Manner that I got there for 3 bucks.  Also replenished my stash of German marzipan, picked up some stem ginger shortbread and some organic stroopwaffeln.  Oh yeah, and some mango juice and cherry cheese crepes for breakfast.  Crazy fun place.

Afterwards, we went out for desert.  I got a piece of pumpkin spice cheesecake and a cup of Chaucer's Cup tea. I must get some of that tea!

Got home VERY late...hence the sleepiness.

Planning the Trip for 2013

So, I realize I never updated about my missing bag.  It was delivered to my doorstep and, as suspected, items were broken.  Lesson learned.

Still that's not going to stop me from continuing my Groovy Solo Travels!  Coming up in October, I'll be soaking up the sun in the Outer Banks during my annual autumnal beach vacation in Kitty Hawk, NC.  This is where I'll be staying.

I've started planning the big birthday trip to Europe for April 2013 and have decided on the destination of Amsterdam.  I'll be staying here.

Stay tuned for the fun and excitement...and tales of airline travel woe...LOL!