My Paradise

OBX at Dusk

Vacation.
Vacation started Friday evening, but not before the work frenzy.  The week leading up to vacation is typically packed with meetings and last minute requests.  The dread of leaving work for a week slowly seeps into my blood stream as the days progress.  By Thursday or so, I'm emotionally sweating as thoughts of bombed projects and missed deadlines swim between my ears.  I weathered the storm as best as possible; Friday, 4:45 pm I jumped ship and swam for shore.

Ah.  Vacation.

We piled the excited, snoozy girls into the car at 3 am on Saturday, filled up with gas and buzzed through Dunkin' for hot beverages.  As the sun started to peek over the landscape, the girls woke to the excitement of a trip to the beach.  "How much longer?"  Really?  I was better prepared this year for the 7-ish hour road trip with magnets, crayons, road bingo and nirvana's kid playlist.  We sailed south navigating minimal traffic and the highway patrol.

I packed enough snacks to keep the crew satisfied.  The usually forbidden Lucky Charms push the girls to a whole new level of excitement; I thought for a moment that the sight of another 'tasty red balloon' would result in a spontaneous collapse.  My dietary constraints challenge me to be creative when traveling; I held on to hope for a delicious breakfast at Digger's Diner in North Carolina, just 30 or so miles outside OBX.  Thankfully, we were able to make the pit stop.

We entered the small diner only to be directed to the picnic tables under a pavilion.  We were thankful to be seated outside...the warm Carolina breeze breathed new life into our road trip tired bones.  While waiting for breakfast, Ava and I took a few silly pictures to pass the time.

Passing Time w/ My Little Love

We ate and stalled for about an hour, which didn't help our travel situation.  We sat in ridiculous traffic once we hit the Wright Memorial Bridge.  Instead of cruising across the Albemarle with the windows down, Sweet Dee coasted at 2 miles an hour every 30 seconds before being forced to a complete stop.  The remainder of the drive took well over an hour, but I didn't really care.  Too early for check-in, we still stopped by the realtor only to find out the house was ready!

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a rapid car unloading, a grocery store trip for the 'necessities', pool time, pulled pork tacos and a stroll on the beach.  Not a bad agenda in light of the heavy traveling.

Good times this week.