Rodanthe to Ocracoke: - Outer Banks Loop & a Little More - CycleBlaze

October 22, 2011

Rodanthe to Ocracoke:

Who moved the Lighthouse?

After a good night's sleep in our two person Cliplite backpacker's tent (the two people better get along pretty well) we awakened to gorgeous weather. Rhona likes to hang her drying laundry on the tandem as we cycle in the morning, but I thought it was disrespectful to West Virginia Mountaineers to hang her underwear on our WVU flag.
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Debris pile outside the KOA was typical of damage we saw many places on the Outer Banks. Apparently people were directed to make the piles, just out of the lane of traffic. We saw a dump where the debris was trucked, but it was obviously going to take long time to get rid of the debris and dismantling or repairing many properties had not even begun.
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We cycled to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse which included a nice visitors center. Interestingly, we learned the lighthouse had been moved quite a distance from it's original location because of beach erosion. At the time the County Commission sued the Federal Government to prevent the lighthouse from being moved, citing possible danger to the lighthouse and disruption to the community. It was not clear (to me) that any of the County Commissioners had expertise in the engineering involved in moving historic lighthouses or for that matter ways to stop the rising ocean from further undermining the structure. I wonder how much the county's tax payers spent for the litigation or for that matter how much it cost the National Park Service for the delays and court costs.
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Over the dunes we saw kites circling.
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Scenic view of Hatteras from the ferry.
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Rhona's view of Rt. 12 between the sand dunes.
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Some of her views were a little better.
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Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 323 miles (520 km)

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