posted 9/14/06
WD8CJD's Euchre group decided to take an Outer Banks ocean side condo vacation this year. Spouses were invited to go along as well. WA8ZWJ was quite excited when he heard about it because the selected condo was only about 15 minutes drive from the elusive W8JUK's home QTH! What a great opportunity to visit with the president of the I.O.O.K.! The couple chatted with El Presidente on one of the local repeaters as soon as they crossed the state line into North Carolina. It turns out KBob must have been excited about their visit as well because he had been watching their progress via APRS and knew when they had come within repeater range! The couple elected to forego a visit on the way in as the time was quickly approaching when folks would be able to get into the condo.
Below you see a couple shots of the condo - first roadside and then ocean side. Of course, once the gang arrived, the first order of business was to go to the grocery and as soon as the grocery goers arrived back at the condo with the groceries it was time for the groceries to be put away! (see below left) Afterwards the gang relaxed on the deck and later ordered pizza for dinner.
Sunday morning found the group admiring the sunrise. There was a couple doing yoga on the beach. Cecilia demonstrated one of the poses for us.
Before too long ZWJ and CJD headed off to the I.O.O.K. Presidential Manor and brunch with KBob and Rosie. Below you see KBob receiving his gift saved from the "Gathering" back in May - IOOK Collectable Cigars! Then ZWJ and JUK checked into the 20 meter and 40 meter nets. Bottom left you see KBob's receiver for the ATV station that monitors traffic over the bridge to the Outer Banks. Bottom right you see Marian, Rosie and Bogie visiting while KBob and Keith play radio.
The group ended their Sunday visit with a "his and her" photo session. Once we returned to the condo we found most of the gang on the beach soaking up the sun and relaxing. Later some of the gang played cards while some others shot pool! Bottom right has John holding the refrigerator door open while he makes his shot because the fridge was in his way to make the shot!
Monday the condo gang starts getting into their routine of each couple "doing there own thing" during the day and then coming together for the evening meal. Evening meals were prepared on a rotating basis. Marian's meal preparation day was Monday. So we hung around the condo making minor preparations before ZWJ headed out to join KBob and Rosie for a ham radio luncheon. Below you see Marian at the computer checking her e-mail. Below right you see the kitchen, breakfast nook and living room looking towards ocean side. Bottom left you see the dining room and kitchen looking roadside. Bottom right you see the living room and computer niche on the right with the breakfast nook in the foreground.
The ham radio gang meets each Monday for an informal luncheon at the Black Pelican Cafe where it has been purported that the Wright Brothers ate there! As you can see, KBob was quite photogenic that day! As it turned out, this particular Monday was also Labor Day, so, attendance at the luncheon was different from usual. A fun time was had! Yes, all the folks at the table are hams! The club has monthly evening meetings. One interesting tidbit about the luncheon gang - they had never been introduced to the IOOK. Imagine what some folks must have thought when they found out that KBob was the president of the IOOK AND the IOOK had it's own web site! Wait until they learn about Flat KBob! Hoohaw!
After lunch Kbob got to meet Flat KBob up close and personal! If you look closely, you can see the one without the drink is the "real" KBob. However, Rosie wasn't sure, so, she had to try out the Flat KBob for a kiss! She says they kiss about the same! Then ZWJ went back to the condo for more fun in the sun and a beautiful sunset!
Tuesday morning found ZWJ up before the sun taking a morning walk on the beach. Below left you see a sand castle that our north neighbors had built in front of our condo. Why didn't they build it in front of their own condo? No one knows! At the bottom of this panel you see dolphins playing in the surf. It became a morning ritual to watch the dolphins go south in the mornings and then go north in the evenings.
Tuesday's activity for CJD and ZWJ was to visit the Bodie (pronounced body) Island Lighthouse. We also found more information about other sights of interest within fairly close proximity.
The first shot below is from our dinner together Tuesday evening. During our week's visit to the Outer Banks the moon turned full. Top right below you can see a shot of the moon shining on the ocean out from our condo. Remember me telling you about the folks that built their sand castle in front of our condo? Well, since the folks had the audacity to come out and sit in front of our gang on the beach by their sand castle instead of sitting in front of their own condo, we had a Sand Castle Commando Squad go out after dark and knock down the sand castle. The next day the neighbors built a new sand castle in front of their own condo. So, the Commando Squad done good! Later in the evening a rain storm developed over the ocean to the southeast and ZWJ was fortunate enough to catch a lightning bolt on his digital camera! The bottom right shows the gang putting away dishes out of the dishwasher after the day's dishes had been washed.
Wednesday was our rainy day. However, it stopped about noon in time for ZWJ and CJD to take in the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk in KBob and Rosie's back yard. The main part of the memorial sits atop a large hill in the middle of some fairly flat land.
The info below tells about this sculpture. It really is a neat part of the exhibits at the memorial. The bottom right is a copy of the original photo taken during the historic first flight!
The building shown in the top left below is one part of the museum. The track on the middle right shows the four markers which indicate the distances of each of the flights that historic day (yes, there were four flights - each of them longer than the last). You can imagine our surprise when we entered another display building to see KBob standing there is his flight suit in front of the "100 Years Of Powered Flight" display!
After ZWJ and CJD left the memorial they went to KBob and Rosie's for the photo session that will hopefully result in a new "Flat Kbob"! Below are some digital snap shots taken to commemorate this auspicious occasion.
After the photo shoot, we went to dinner and then came back and got on the Wednesday evening 40 meter net. When ZWJ and CJD returned to the condo, the neighbors two doors south of our condo entertained the folks on the beach with a fireworks display. Pretty cool!
Thursday morning found ZWJ and CJD at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This lighthouse is open to the public and is the tallest brick lighthouse in the USA (210 feet tall). They say that the climb to the railing viewing area is equivalent to a 12 story climb. The photo on the middle left shows the path that the lighthouse traveled back in 1999 when it was moved to it's present location. They also claim that due to the natural shift in the beach that in another 70 years or so it will have to be moved again.
Below you see the circular staircase inside the lighthouse. Included in an adjacent museum building is the information about the first voice radio transmissions ever broadcast from a point near Cape Hatteras back in 1901! Neat stuff!
When we returned to the condo, Flat KBob was at the window looking for us! Thursday afternoon was spent poolside. You can see CJD modeling her new pool robe!
Thursday evening was the night for the condo gang to eat out! This restaurant had a view of the "Sound" (the area between the island and the mainland). On the middle right you can see Butch's 16 layer cake! Butch is serious about his deserts! On the bottom right you can see ZWJ in the pool cooling off after spending some time with a cigar in the hot tub.
While ZWJ was in the hot tub and pool, a ransom note had been shoved under the door to ZWJ and CJD's room. It seems the "Puzzle Group" had finished their puzzle and were missing some pieces. They had taken Flat KBob and hidden him and were holding him ransom for the missing puzzle pieces.
Below you see ZWJ's response to the puzzle caper.
The moon continued to shine. The girls played canasta. The others shot pool. Another wonderful day in paradise!
Friday morning found ZWJ up and out for his walk just prior to sunrise. Below are a couple of sunrise shots from the walk. Below middle left you can see the completed puzzle that is actually missing three (3) pieces. Because of the discrepancy in the number of missing pieces and because of the fact that ZWJ's MO was only one (1) puzzle piece, the case was thrown out of "court" and Flat KBob's location was revealed. It turned out he had been hidden in the elevator which only one couple of the six actually used. As you can well imagine, ZWJ was quite relieved to find Flat KBob still totally intact! Knowing that Tom and Arlene (the couple using the elevator) would soon be departing on their last shopping spree of the week, Flat KBob was left in the elevator - just for fun! Arlene had forgotten that Flat KBob had been hidden there, so, when she opened the door and saw him staring at her it gave her quite a fright! See the bottom right photo. Of course, the rest of us got quite a laugh from her surprise!
Arlene quickly recovered and got in the elevator and gave Flat KBob a big hug! Flat KBob was then moved to the corner of the breakfast nook for a while. Later in the day ZWJ was caught doing laundry (see middle left). On the middle right and the two bottom shots you can see some "kite boarders" who were having fun in the surf in front of the condo.
A little later Cecelia and Butch returned from their shopping spree (all the shops were having fall clearance specials with 50% off) with a couple of new kites. Below you can see one of the kites flying and CJD helping while Butch assembled the second kite on the beach. It turns out that CJD's birthday was Friday as well, so, at dinner the gang presented her with a surprise cake and some gifts! Quite a nice surprise!
Below you see some of the gang around the table awaiting cake and ice cream to be served. After dinner, ZWJ set up a slide show of the week's snap shots for the gang to view. During the slide show KBob and Rosie made a surprise birthday visit (surprise to CJD that is - everyone else knew they were coming). Our final evening on the beach was met with yet another beautiful view of the moon shining over the ocean! What a delightful week!
Below the gang watches the slide show of the week's photos.
We would be remiss of we did not include these informal shots of KBob taken at the end of our photo shoot on Wednesday. There were a number of shots still available on the 36 exposure roll of film, so, ZWJ took a few "natural" KBob shots! Top left is "KBob the thinker". Top right is "KBob the Who? Me?" Middle left is the "Right On KBob". Middle right is the "I'm KBob the sailor man!" Bottom left is "KBob does the IOOK salute". Finally on the bottom right is "I am KBob the magnificent!" Work it KBob! WORK IT!
Many thanks to Cecelia for all her efforts in coordinating all the scheduling with the gang and the condo.
Many thanks to the gang for making the week such an enjoyable time.
Many thanks to KBob and Rosie for their fantastic hospitality!
Many thanks to the hams of the Outer Banks for the use of their repeater system.
Many thanks to KBob for supplying some of the snap shots seen above.
Best 73 & 88, WA8ZWJ & WD8CJD
