we all piled into the Pilot with so much trash in it you would have thought we were living out of it. We drove down 12 towards the National Seashore. The ride is so pretty and the land and sea is perfection. We always see something new and something that makes us stop the car. This time, it was Pea Island. I am so glad we stopped. We first saw the Coast Guard Station, and from a far, it looked pretty abandoned. It was indeed. After parking the car in a virtually empty lot, we walked through some plants and pearl white sand towards the sound. How beautiful!! We then turned around and went right for the building. Up dunes, following a path and there it was. It was pretty, not very old, abandoned and then sadly, untouchable. They had removed the steps and porch flooring, so we could only walk around it and attempt to climb up the slats to see inside. Little Adventure Girl got underneath the building through the slats. She liked playing in the sand, finding shells and rocks.
One turn around, and we realized that Daddy Bear was missing. He had wondered off and with typical Baby Bear fashion, the wee one took off to find him. she traversed dunes higher than I had seen in a while, jumping off concrete blocks, stopping here and there to pick up a shell, until she reached her dad. I just love seeing the two of them together; little and big, such love for each other. I watched in amazement at the two of them until they were out of sight. Then I took the journey solo.
We all saw the beautiful bird sanctuary and the nests of various birds. While the only male of our group headed right towards the deep blue sea, the two ladies wandered the beach looking for shells. So many, too many, OVERWHELMING!!! FANTASTICO!!!!!! After further exploration, we headed back to the car...only to begin adventure 2!!!
On our way back to the house, we stopped at the Bodie Lighthouse. Only the ladies were choosing to climb the 219 steps. That was perfectly fine, and so much fun. At exactly 42 inches, little girl barely squeaked by the acceptable height for the climb. After a 20 minute wait, and a group of 10 others, we headed up. The journey up was rather easy. The littlest member of the 12 man group was first in line. We climbed 25 steps, then we rested a little, 25, rest...and so the cycle continued...until...a flip flop fell. How hilarious? A tiny pink flip flop fell to the ground only t o be snatched mid air by a very nice French Canadian. We waited until they met up with us and then continued. Once up, we had a wonderful view, beautiful cool breeze, a perfect photo op up and down and then we came down. We ran through the grassy field towards the Pilot, happy to meet our driver with smiles and a detailed account of our follies. Another successful adventure for our book.