Our Journey To Lands End

This morning Veronica and I got up early and packed us a picnic lunch for a day trip to Hatteras. We ended up driving from our house to where the road, NC12, ends and where you have to take a ferry to Ocracoke Island.

During our travels we stopped along the way to take some photos. There was still plenty of evidence visible of the destruction that Hurricane Irene left behind when it went through the area. 

We went over a new bridge that had to be built because Hurricane Irene had destroyed the road and the ocean had taken over where the road once was.

There were still plenty of damaged houses that had yet to be fixed and we saw lots of people out working on various structures and making repairs that Hurricane Irene had caused.

We also noticed that there were lots of residences up for sale in the area to. 

Below are some of the photos that we took during our travels today:

Photos of the bridge that goes over Oregon Inlet on NC12

  

Below is a photo of a recycle container for used fishing line. 

A dredge that was in operation below the bridge

 

 A Coast Guard chopper that was flying by

Our GPS showing how close water is on both sides of NC12 in certain areas. To the right is the Sound side and to the left is the Atlantic Ocean

Below are photos of the area where Hurricane Irene caused the water to completed overrun the roadway and the damage that it left behind

Below are some photos of damaged property in Salvo caused by Hurricane Irene   

 I believe this is a ramp used for loading a ferry

Workers fixing a roof on top of a business

 I am not sure what was up with this grill sitting in the middle of the road

 Nothing like a little buoy art

 Below are some photos of the Hatteras Lighthouse and some strange dude standing in front of it

 Here some road signs pretty close to where NC 12 ends. To the right would be where you drove to lineup for boarding the ferry and to the left would eventually lead to where the road and land ends

 Where traffic lines up to take the approximately 40 minute ferry ride to Ocracoke Island. There was even an UPS truck lined up to get on the ferry. Those folks in brown go anywhere and everywhere.

 Kind of hard to tell by our GPS that we were at lands end.

 Various photos of damage seen on our return trip home

 Your guess is as good as mine. Hurricane Irene might have dropped some alien beings in the area. The aliens might have thought that they wouldn't be noticed if they landed and lived at the side of the main road.

 It was nice spending the day with Veronica and taking this little trip, although the sights of the damage that still existed from Hurricane Irene saddened us. As we drove around, we could hear the beeping sounds of bulldozers and some heavy equipment backing up while cleaning up and repairing all of the damage. We saw plenty of workers out and about, on roofs and on scaffolding repairing damage from the Hurricane.  And unfortunately we saw the for sale signs on many house and businesses that couldn't rebound from the financial and emotional damage that Hurricane Irene left behind. 

On the way home, Veronica and I stopped at a rest area on Pea Island and ate our picnic lunch as it sprinkled outside, talking about all of the sights that we had seen. 

Here it was 5 1/2 months after Hurricane Irene swept through the area. Seems so long ago but for others, it must seem like only yesterday.