In 2010, I battled raccoons for three nights in a row while camping in North Carolina. Dennis and I hadn’t been sure what purpose the 7-foot-high hooks posted in each campsite served, but we quickly determined they were for hanging food to protect it from raccoons (eventually all of our panniers ended up hung from… Read more…

It was 66 degrees when we got out of the tent, a degree warmer than last night! Coastal weather is weird, man. They say mosquitoes are worst at dusk and dawn, and they seem to really follow that rule here: bad enough to make Rett barricade herself inside the tent for breakfast, but essentially gone… Read more…

We were up at 7am, early enough to have the sound of the sea be replaced by the sight of the sunrise. It was a beautiful place to witness the new day, with our isolated spot making it feel like we were the only ones camping here. The warmth continued, requiring no bundling up while… Read more…

Rett was sweating in our room when we were packing up, convinced something was wrong with her, but when I stepped out onto the balcony to take my coffee and breakfast, I realized that it was just damn hot. Well, “only” like 73 degrees, but the bigger factor was the 90% humidity. I’ve been concerned… Read more…

As the wind whips over the hillsideTwenty knots over Kill Devil HillSteady wind blows over the sandTwenty knots over Kill Devil HillAs the breeze went straight as an arrowIt begun over Kill Devil HillGasoline and the wind in the wiresKill Devil Hill and the way to the sky “Kill Devil Hill”, a song about the… Read more…

Steady and unchanging, or rising and falling. Two different ways to get from Point A to Point B, either literally across the surface of our planet, or metaphorically, across the surface of our lives. In terms of our personalities, I’ve always been the steady one, while Rett swings both higher and lower than me (though… Read more…