She's Off Her Rocker

Road Trip!

We are headed out in just a few hours to the eastern part of the state, about a five and a half hour drive to a tiny spot on the map, called Aurora, N.C. better known as "The River". This river is actually 3 miles accross, and it is actually right where the river turns into the sound. The water is salty and there are often dolphins around. One year they came right up close to the pier and had babies with them! Jim's parents built a beautiful house right on the water a few years ago, and they spend most every weekend there. They have a big boat, a pier to fish from, crab pots, and there is a phosphate mine nearby. The phosphate mine is great because they drill down 100 feet or more and haul up rubble, fossil, and rock which gets turned into piles and spread on roads, and the coolest thing about this is you can find fossilized shark and dolphin teeth and fossils and bones in the piles! My brother in law and Jim's sister and I will spend hours obsessively sifting through these piles for treasure! Some of these fossils are a million years old. There is a fossil museum nearby, so if you find something really interesting they are happy to have you bring it by and tell you what it is! My brother in law makes necklaces out of the sharks teeth, some are quite large. I think I'll make a few when I get back, too!

Here are the kids last year on the ferry, that you can see form the house as it goes back and forth all day. My my kids are much taller this year! I think Cassie and Ellie have grown atleast 6 inches taller!

Here they are at the little fish cleaning station...you can see the water and neighbor's docks behind them,

Here are some fresh caught blue crab! YUM!!

Pulling them from the pots...

another shot from the ferry...

Jim and I last year on the ferry...

Cassie, who will fish for HOURS! This kid NEVER tires of it. She only stops to eat or swim. The little dog next to her is her Grandmother's, a little spitfire of a yorkie named Maggie! She is a great little sidekick for Cassie.

Here is Jim's dad, with the house he built behind him...I love this picture, he's one of those men that NEVER stops doing!! He loves to drag us on huge innertubes behind the boat till we are bouncing so hard we scream for mercy!!

Oh, and I'll take my net on the pier and try to catch all the beautiful salt water spotted and beautiful colored little fish that pick at the barnacles from the dock's posts down in the water....I have to let them go, though, as I don't have a brackish or salt aquarium. Its like a form of hunting, you have to be very stealthy and quick. If I lived there, I would HAVE to make a salt water tank!! Oh, and there are also tons of water filled ditches all by the road that I CAN catch turtles and fish from and bring home for my aquarium...

Here is another cute shot of the kids last year, they all look so much older now! There is the boat on the lift behind them...

Cassie and Maggie..the sunsets here are exquisite! Maybe I'll try and paint some this time...

Last but not least, here is the moon for this week!!! He's a beauty, one of my favorites in a while. HUGE, too... Here is the link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=260439665280

I'm taking the bikes this time and plan on doing lots of exploring...I'll be sure to post all my adventures upon my return!!

See Ya'll later!!!