So we left Palmerton under grey skies this morning for our eight-hour drive to The Outer Banks (OBX). We had sunshine and very heavy rain along the way but we are promised sun for tomorrow.

As we’ve spent most of the day in the car, there’s not been a lot of ‘action’ so I’m afraid today’s post is rather thin on the ground.

The day didn’t exactly start very well when at 2.00 a.m. (US time) this morning I tried to book my spinning class for Wednesday next week at my Nuffield gym back in the UK. Basically, it wouldn’t let me book because booking doesn’t start until 7.00 a.m UK time! It didn’t matter that although it was 2.00 a.m. in the US it was was actually 7.00 a.m. in the UK. Just because my phone was saying 2.00 a.m. (five hours time difference) I wasn’t allowed to book! Crazy or what! I will be having a word with them when I get back, that’s for sure. Don’t they realise that people take holidays outside the UK time zone?

During the long drive here I was mulling over one or two things (well there’s nothing else to do except admire the scenery and eat crisps and sweets!) When I spoke with my two besties, Dot and Nat, this week the first questions they asked were (1) had I ordered my new iPhone and (2) which iPhone was I intending to get? Those who know me well know that I like to have the latest gadgets and usually order a new iPhone as soon as it’s released. Well, the thing is, having been away from the UK during the Apple Keynote speech, I haven’t had time to watch it yet, I’m not fully up to speed about the ins and outs of the three new phones, iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X (or ten as it will be known). I only know the basics but for those who are interested, my instinct is to wait for the iPhone X that will be released in November. I really think I just can’t live without the facial recognition capability! 😉

The other thing I was mulling over was the fact that I was overcharged $5 for a book I purchased in Jim Thorpe yesterday! I don’t think it was intentional, the lady was rather elderly, I just think she got confused. It’s a lesson learned, always check your change folks!

Those of you who have followed the blog over the years will know that we do like a

Cracker Barrel restaurant. Well, they’ve been very few and far between this trip. In fact we’ve only seen one and that was today on the way here. We did the usual of arms raised in homage and shouted “Cracker Barrel” out loud. We never got to actually see the restaurant though so was unable to savour its wares as it was off the Interstate.

We saw many interesting sights on our trip here, one of which was this! Nice to find another Harry Potter fan!

Many of you will will remember that when we do a ‘big’ trip to the US we usually like to play the Licence Plate Game and we usually end up with never having seen a Delaware licence plate! Well, as this is a short trip we haven’t bothered with the game but having driven through Delaware today we’ve seen dozens of Delaware plates. How typical is that? Well, I think when we get home we’ll be turning the little wooden plate over as I feel justified in saying we’ve definitely seen a Delaware plate or hundreds!

For our music pleasure today we listened to Brucie (Springsteen) that is and Jackson Brown. Who wouldn’t sing along to Brucie’s Thunder Road and Jackson’s Brown’s Lawless Avenues? Now’s your chance!

A lot of the places we drove through were named after loads of places from the UK, such as Kent, Sussex, Essex and Somerset to name but a few. We also saw Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. It’s all very confusing to the elderly! We even saw the Statue of Liberty in Virginia! Sadly, I was too slow to get the photographic evidence. The world’s gone crazy!

We drove over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on our way here. What a magnificent feat of engineering that is! Due to the very high wind and rain the sea was raging and we were only allowed to drive at 45 mph!

For the engineers among you, the Bridge-Tunnel project is a four-lane 20-mile-long vehicular toll crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay. The facility carries US 13, the main north-south highway on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, and provides the only direct link between Virginia’s Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia.

The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two approximately one-mile-long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels. The manmade islands, each approximately 5.25 acres in size, are located at each end of the two tunnels. There are also high level bridges over two other navigation channels: North Channel Bridge and Fisherman Inlet Bridge.

We eventually rolled in to Carolla, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in the rain and are now staying at The Inn at Carolla Light. What a great find this is! We have a lovely suite that overlooks The Sound. Upon arrival, we were greeted with enthusiasm by JC, a great guy, who very manly carried our two very heavy suitcases up two flights of stairs to our room!

Here are a few miscellaneous photos that we took along the way today!

A ‘friend’ we passed along the way! I just love the wind in my hair!

On the recommendation of JC we dined at North Banks tonight. A small, but lovely restaurant and very busy. Si decided on the full rack of ribs and a beer and I had the Atlantic salmon and a gin julep. All excellent!

We managed to get back to the hotel in time for Si to take a beautiful sunset photo from the deck of our hotel.

More tomorrow from Corolla Light! Night folks.