Cedar Point campground, Croatan National Forest
Tomorrow is the first day of work on the road. I tested Starlink today, the satellite internet from Elon Musk, and it worked great. I hate giving that guy money, but there aren’t other reliable options. I found a campsite with limited tree coverage, which is key, and also unfortunate because I prefer trees. But I prefer outdoors anywhere more than I like 4 degrees.
I’ll be working from here all week. The camp host told me she’s been moving around since her husband died 18 months ago, living out of her camper and playing host at various campgrounds. She rides a Harley Davidson. Since May, she’s been at Croatan and got a part-time job on a road crew nearby because they only give her 100 bucks a month and a free campsite here. When it’s busy she works 30 hours a week or more. I like this place, but I would tell them to find a new campsite host pretty quick.
Today it was sunny and close to 70 degrees. I went to Lowe’s, only a few miles away for the propane part, but found out I bought the wrong damn thing when I got back. I’ll have to try again tomorrow. In Cape Carteret I stopped for a slice of pizza and the counter girl gave me a free slice, so I had two. This place only sold really big slices, she said, and this one had been cut too small. “Otherwise I got to throw it away,” she said. The free slice was still bigger than an average pizza slice, but you have to stay on brand. I also got a slice of cheesecake, which is on brand for me. I sat outside in a rocking chair in front of a yogurt shop next door and squinted into the sun while I ate.
After that I went to Lowe’s foods, which is a thing down here. I looked it up and it was started by one of the Lowe’s brothers many decades ago, but then was sold a number of times. I asked the kid working the register if Lowe’s was owned by Lowe’s the hardware store and he said it was owned by this company that owns 46% of all companies in the United States. “They run everything,” he said. I told him I would be sure to look that up, but I’m not going to look that up because that is absurd and I’d already looked it up anyway. He probably had some other wild ideas but I didn’t have time and a lady with a full cart was behind me. They do a really brisk business at this place and it even has a bar inside. Every register was 10 people deep.
I decided I’d skip working on the camper electrical and propane and I drove to Emerald Isle and found the beach. Google maps couldn’t find it and the lady voice kept repeating directions. It showed me on the map as a blue dot driving right through houses, where there were no streets at all. After awhile it sounded like the Google lady started to panic, rapidly updating the same directions every time I missed a non-existent turn, over and over again. I felt bad for her.
I walked a mile or two up and down the beach and collected a bunch of shells. The varied colors and patterns are just incredible. I can’t believe what goes on in the ocean. Then I came across an old guy fishing with a big glass of wine. It was his first time ocean fishing, even though he was from San Francisco, and pretty soon his wife walked down and talked about the 49ers game, and that wasn’t looking good at all, she said. They were retirees and were renting a beach house.
As the sun went down it started to get colder, and then I noticed I was the only person wearing shorts, flip-flops, and a t-shirt. Everyone else had pants and a sweater or jacket. David Sedaris has a vacation home here, but I didn’t see him. I came back to the camper and now it’s raining lightly and it’s a nice sound on the roof to go to bed to.
It’s 4 degrees in Minnesota.
Issue: When I got to Croatan last night, the propane connection had broken off inside the propane regulator. The line must not have had enough give and all the bumps did it in. So no propane heat, hot water, or stove, but I have electric at the site and a little 1200 watt heater for backup. I brought a backup for a few crucial things: heat, cooking, coffee (electric and teapot).
I still haven’t fixed the camper electrical.
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