Oak Island (Southport), NC

Spent a week in Oak Island which is near Southport, NC. A large crowd of family of about 11 people went. Very relaxing place. We do lots of eating out (lots of seafood). My favorite restaurant is called the Provision. It's located on the waterfront in Southport. Fabulous food in an interesting setting. The week was spent playing games, playing in the warm ocean, and eating. Not a bad way to spend the week when you are in a house overlooking the ocean. The beach is not crowded, unless you're very near a pier. If you are going here, enjoy. It's not a huge tourist destination like many places in Florida, so you get a calmer atmosphere, but the beach is still there, and so is a lot more seafood.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

I arrived at Cape Hatteras (outer banks) area starting at the northern end by Whalebone Junction. I went to the visitor center at the start of this area. There I picked up several maps and spoke with the ranger there. I asked if I could go ahead and book a ferry ride from Ocracoke Island (the island furthest south) to the mainland area. This is the only way off the outer banks if your do not come back up to the northern most start point where I currently was. After a brief phone call, I was told that the ferry was booked up for the duration of the day and there was no way of catching a ferry to the mainland. I pondered this for a minute then said that it was okay, I would camp for the night on the outer banks and take the ferry the next day. After a brief moment on the phone again, the ranger told me that I had no chance. The ferry was booked through the weekend and the only way for me to go down the outer banks was to come right back out the way I came in (only to go directly back south on the mainland to get to Wilmington, NC). I accepted my fate and proceeded down the outer banks visting several beach spots along the way. I visited Bodie Island lighthouse, which was my favorite along the chain, only to be greeted rudely because I appeared five minutes after the lighthouse center opened. Apparently the ranger at that station believed that nobody should be allowed in the visotr center when it opened, but would have to wait another 30 minutes or so till he was ready. I went in anyway. It was my vacation. The building stated it opened at 9, I got there at 9:08. I enjoyed the view of the lighthouse, then carried on down the outer banks many more miles for a couple of hours till I reached Cape Hatteras lighthouse. It was very grand and tall, and had been moved from its original location to its present due to the land deteriorating. It was very nice to look at. I reached the end of the island and decided not to take a free ferry to ocracoke due to time constraints. I ate at a local chain crab shack, then proceeded back up the chain. After several more hours of driving, I reached the top and went acros the mainland only to take back roads all the way to Wilmington, NC to pick up Kate at the airport. After picking up Kate, we proceeded to Oak Island near Southport where I currently am.

Thoughts on Outer Banks area: Beautiful scenery, beautiful beach, interesting lighthouses, but very insufficient travel possibilities. The ferry's should run more frequently allowing people to come and go more easily. I don't think this would be too hard to get done. A little effort on the ferry system and everyone could have a much more enjoyable time. But I had fun in the oceanside setting. Very nice.

Assateague Island National Seashore

Assateague Island National Seashore was the next stop on my journey east....finally getting to the coast. Assateague Island stretches north to south along the border of Maryland and Virginia. The unique thing about this sandy seashore is that wild horses live on the island. The horses can sometimes be seen along the roadside going down the island, causing quite the traffic jam. As soon as I got on the island I saw a group of horses off the side of the road, which was very cool to see. I checked in at the ranger station for my campsite and proceeded to my spot. I was in an ocean side campsite, which meant that I had to walk about 100 yards from the car down a boardwalk to where I could set up my tent. I set up my tent at my spot and carried wood for a fire when it got dark and proceeded to the beach which was just over a sand dune from my tent. After a few minutes a storm was quickly approaching that luckily I had advanced warning of. I went to dinner just off the island at some local crab shack. Food was not too bad, but not too fond of dining alone because of everybody looking at you. I returned to camp after the storm was over which was still before dark. I chilled on the beach for the last remaining sunlight and then went for another drive down the island, seeing several more horses. I went back to camp, started a fire and chilled for a while before going to bed. I woke up at about 1 am due to strong winds blowing sand into my tent from under the rain cover. I tried to go back to sleep till 2 am, and after wiping the sand off of me, got out of then tent. A strong wind was blowing sand everywhere ripping some people's tents from the ground stakes they had in place. My tent was holding strong, but the sand being blown in was too much. After seeing many people scrambling to pack up at 2 am, I decided that was also my only option. I did, in fact, have many hours of driving ahead of me the next day. A very cold breeze came over the beach followed by even darker clouds with lightning. I packed in a hurry and headed to the nearest city, Ocean City, Maryland. After trying about 6 hotels, finally found one with vacancy. I paid the overpriced fee and went to sleep after showering to get the sand off of me. It was a restful sleep, as I slept till about 11:30 am. The room was not nice, but it had a bed and that's all that I cared at the time.

Thoughts on Assateague: I liked Assateague very much. You get beach atmosphere which is lovely and a bonus of wild horses roaming about the island. Not too much more to say about the place. Very pretty. I just had quite a bit of bad weather luck (which is my norm when it comes to tent camping). Other than that, very pleasant place.

Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. was my next stop on my journey. Hate it!!!! I don't think I'll go back. Parking was awful, traffic was awful, and the sites were exactly as they appear on any television set or movie screen. Seen it all before. I have nothing good to say about the place. If you're planning a trip to D.C., my first idea is think again! If you decide against my judgement anyway, please do not go it as a lone tourist. Go with some sort of group tour or group that has a good idea of where everything is and has a good plan to get things done. Without these, I think you'll get lost in a see of tourists, never accomplishing the things that you want to do or see. In my journey through D.C., I saw the sites I wanted to see, but from my car with no pictures gained. I saw the White House, Washington Memorial and the reflecting pool and many other federal buildings.

Thought on D.C.: Hate it! Won't go back unforced. Nothing good to say about it. An overcrowded area with lack of parking and lack of good structure for tourists wanting to see the capitol of their nation. Glad I can say I've been there, but glad about nothing else in the place.

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park was the first stop on my journey to the east coast. It was about a 7 hour drive from home to the southern end of the park. The park only has one road that goes through it and it is known as Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive is a famous winding road that stretches 105 miles through Shenandoah from one end to the other. I began at the southern end and worked my way north. Along the way there are overlooks too many to be counted. I began stopping and looking at the landscape of each. I decided that I was early enough to hike a short trail along my route. I hiked a trail known as Jone's Run. It was a 3 1/2 mile hike round trip to a 40 foot waterfall. The trail wound downhill very quickly and after about an hour or so, I reached the waterfall. I have seen much more impressive. There was not a lot of water flowing over the falls due to it being the peak of the summer. After a few minutes and a few pictures, I began the arduous journey back to the car. After about 1.75 hours, I reached my end, very out of breath. Come to find out, the climb back out is approximately 1000 ft within about 1.5 miles. That's steep. I reached my campground at Big Meadows campground around 6-7 p.m. and quickly set up tent and the rest of my camp, seeing deer very nearby in the woods. I met my tent neighbor, later known as Lisa and her 5 year old son Josh. They were very nice. I then went to the lodge bar and listened to some local music (not very good). I went back to camp to find Lisa by herself in front of a campfire, and went over and joined her. We sat by the fire and drank a couple Yuengling's in the course of two hours till midnight. Went to bed, and began the rest of my journey out of the park the next morning, continuing to stop at each overlook along the way. I did no more hiking as I was in somewhat of a hurry to get to my next destination. I found my way out of the park by early noon.

Thoughts on Shenandoah: I believe Shenandoah was a very nice park, especially for those that go there to hike. If you don't have a lot of time to hike, it doesn't seem to be as nice as it could be. It was not crowded when I was there (weekdays) as opposed to what I have heard about the crowds there. The views were nice from the overlooks, but I believe it is a hikers place. If you don't plan to do a lot of hiking, there are other parks I would suggest first. Most trails require several miles to see anything resembling a worthwhile feature. Be prepared for this. But a pretty park nonetheless.

Vacation Time:

I am going on vacation starting early tomorrow. Lots of driving, hiking, and lots of different places are on my route. I plan to see Shenandoah NP, Washington D.C., Assateague Island NS, and several other places along the outer banks. My trip will come to a one week halt in Southport, NC staying in a beach house with many others, then will continue going to Missouri where I get to play in a state soccer tournament. I'm am sure I will have lots to write about when I get back. Keep checking back, cause I don't know if I may find somewhere with Internet in between.

TDI: Tactical Defense Institute

Went to this place for the second time now last week. It is a 186 acre area with many different firing ranges and live fire houses. This place is world renowned for its quality. West Point sends their pistol team to the owner every year. Owner's name is John Benner (spelling may be wrong). He is one of those guys that knows everything, but is very humble about it. He's a very good shooter and good at teaching it.

We started on the beginner range with metal targets from short range doing draws from the holster, timing our shooting. The two instructors went around trying to correct problems they saw. They kept watching me a lot, but never said anything to me. After a couple of hours of this, we moved to different areas. Those that had been to TDI before moved to the "live fire" house. Basically set up with walls like a building and has doors and hallways and everything you may find in these buildings. You go through searching the building (very tactically) with a partner and if you encounter a "bad guy" (target) with a gun, you put a couple rounds into them. Some are very tricky in tight corners. Some targets are tricky (one was pregnant lady with gun pointed at you from her waist). Very tough and stressful going through these houses because it is live fire shooting left, right and forward. Have to make sure you know where your rounds are going.
Then we moved to the upper range which was the most fun. Metal targets set up at the end of the field. At the front of the field is a large ply wood wall with shapes cut out of it (triangles, rectangles, and squares). In between the wall and the targets were obstacles you may be able to hide behind. Instructor calls out a shape and you have to shoot the metal targets at the end of the field through the shape, moving along the wall shooting through each. In the middle of the wall is a staircase going up the wall and ramp going down. This may cause you to lay down shooting, kneel, or stand up depending on the shape and your height. At the end of the wall you run to different obstacles firing up the metal targets at the end of the field. The whole scenario takes about 4-5 minutes and is extremely tiring. That was the end of our day after a couple hours in this field.
It is kind of wonderful that I have a job that not only pays for me to go to these things, but pays me to go. Beautiful day, lots of shooting, what more fun could there be.

Justin's take on "Origins: International Board Gaming Convention"

Yeah, what Josh said.

No, really I had a good time too. It was fun to play a lot of different board games. I don't think I was nearly as into it as one could be to get maximum satisfaction out of the convention as the LARP's were, but fun non-the less. Price was on the very steep side to be going to a place to play board games. Don't think we were able to get enough in in one full day to make it worth the money. Games were fun, but it took quite a while to learn the rules and how to play each, so that took up a while. Each of the games we played had their ups and downs I thought, but were very different from each other. All in all a good time playing games, but price was too high for me to want to try it again. I'd be just as satisfied playing at Josh and Sarah's. But a fun experience regardless. And I got to see some vampire chick's butt.

Traffic Pursuit #2

Responded to assist a bordering agency with a traffic pursuit nearby. Vehicle fled officer's traffic stop after he stepped toward the car. Vehicle soon crashed over an embankment on a residential street. When pursuing officer caught up, driver had fled into the woods. K9 was turned loose to chase, but was unsuccessful in finding culprit. Perimeter was set up to start a track with the K9, but turned no results. Car was impounded with investigation to follow.

Traffic Pursuit

While on a traffic stop, a fellow officer called out that a vehicle was fleeing from him. Let my stop go and responded to the area of the pursuit. Vehicle stopped on a residential street without warning after running stop signs and crashing into one. Myself and fellow officer conducted a felony stop (where you get them out one by one at gunpoint, handcuffing each). Turns out that the driver was a 17 year old with no license and no insurance. That's it. They hadn't killed anyone or been involved in any illicit activities. The pursuing officer only noticed the vehicle after it squealed its tires in reverse, ran over a stop sign, then squealed its tires again trying to get away from the cop. That's when he turned on his lights and siren. Had he not fled so quickly and recklessly, the cop wouldn't have even gone toward the vehicle. Driver was charged with: fleeing and eluding police, reckless operation, stop sign violation, driving without valid license, and failure to obey law enforcement official. The two passengers were released. Had the officer pulled them over without fleeing, the driver would have been cited for having no license and released. Not so lucky now.

Domestic: Don't Mess with My Mom

Responded to a call of a father that had been assaulted by his son. Upon arrival, found "Joe", the father, who had his skull bashed in, causing severe bleeding to the head and neck region. Joe did not realize that his condition was this bad and was requesting that our life squad not respond. We didn't listen. While speaking with Joe, a car pulled into the driveway with a teenage boy, "Mark", and a female,"Mary". Found out that Mary is married to Joe and Mark is Mary's son (Joe's step-son). After attempting to sort the situation out, here's what happened. Joe and Mary were in their bedroom. They began to argue, ending in Joe slapping Mary. Mary yelled "don't hit me." Mark, hearing his mom, entered their bedroom and began beating Joe (who was twice his size) nearly to death. Joe was transported to the hospital where he received numerous stitches/staples and went through cat cans and x-rays finding broken ribs and fractured skull. Mark was arrested at the scene for domestic violence for nearly killing his step-father by beating him. Joe was also later arrested for domestic violence upon release from the hospital for slapping Mary. What did we all learn from this situation. Don't mess with some one's mom. I think Joe will think twice about slapping someone again.

Welcome

Well, to start off with, I just wanted to welcome everyone to my posts. A couple individuals said that I should start writing posts on all the crazy things that happen to me at work, in my life, and write other posts about whatever randomness comes to mind. Because I have such a horrible memory, I figured this would be a good idea in case I forget to include anyone in my storytelling. Any stories that you read will be actual events. Some may have details thrown out and names changed to protect people that have not yet been found guilty in court. However, I will make sure you get the good parts. I have work tomorrow night, so my stories may begin soon. Again, hope everyone enjoys. If you think someone else should be added to my list of people that are able to read my posts, let me know and I can add their email. Enjoy.