Vacation Time

The wife and I took last week off and went to Hatteras Island.  We stayed in a nice little house in Salvo which is just south of Rodanthe.  This year we also took my Mother along who really enjoyed herself. The ride down was especially long thanks to an overload of traffic on 95, but once we got there I forgot all about it.  Here we are crossing the Oregon Inlet Bridge.

Once we got settled in, Donna and I did the celebratory shot of Tequila.

We had a great view from the top deck of the Ocean and Dunes.

I started surf fishing with the hopes of catching a shark or something with some size but the first couple days only yielded a croaker and a clearnose skate. I would end up catching about 10 skates and a few more croakers.

I went and fished under a bridge and caught some cutbait (spot) and a few for the pan.

That night I went back down to surf fish and BAM!!!!!!!!!! 
I caught my first shark.  I know, its a small one but I was fired up.  I caught my first shark a 12" sandshark.

I actually did catch another one the next day, a 24" dogfish shark but I didn't have a camera, but Donna was there and saw it.

I went down to the bridge again and caught some more croakers and spot for bait and the pan the next morning.

I decided instead of throwing away the waste I would go down to the beach in the rain and feed the gulls.  They appreciated it very much.

There is a ship wreck, or some kind of boat part sticking up out of the surf that Donna got a picture of. It is  part of the paddle wheel from the ship "Pocahontas" which wrecked during the Burnside Expidition during the Civil War.  Kind of a cool sight to see.

It was a fun trip, and I can't wait to get back down again.  Now do we go the Colorado next year, or back to the beach.  I know what Donna's vote is......

Here are a few more random pictures.

1st Walk

I am really slacking this year.  I have not stomped one time yet so I decided to hit a quick spot after work yesterday.  We were expecting some rain and snow later in the evening.  About 5 minutes into it I spotted this small 4X.

The picture doesn't really show how small it is so here is another for reference.  hehehe.

Then I spotted a tine sticking out of a tangle.  I snapped a picture and pulled out this skull.

I did pick up one other small one and got back to my truck before the rain and wind started.  Not a bad bounty for the first walk of the year. Its still early yet.

5th Annual Cap-Off Party
The Seasons Over

Going on for about 5 years now I have had a bunch of buds stop by after the season is over to help me get the cap off my truck.  As usual it was a good time with good people and some funny stories. And my dear wife Donna did a super job with the food.  Chili Dogs and Lasagna.  This was probably the coldest one in the low 20's and wind.  But there was plenty of spirit to keep things warm and upbeat.  Also the longest one because I didn't walk into the house until 1:30.  Thanks for the help fella's, and I'll see you in September when we put it back on.

After the work was done it was time to have some fun.

There was some strange hooch there as well from a guy called Redneck Dave.  He said that was a banana floating in there.

Um, Thanks Dave.