October 19, 2016. Nags Head to Corolla, NC. 38 miles.

This morning several of us walked down to the beach to watch the sunrise. There were a lot of people setting up tripods to photograph the sunrise. There were also surfers just south of us, riding the waves into shore as the sun rose behind them.

Kathie took a test ride on her bike and all is well.

Doris and Bill are going to be our drivers the rest of this trip. We could not do this without them!

Here we are, ready to ride to breakfast: Dennis, Kathie, me, Diana, Fred and Tom. Kathie found a spot nearby that has breakfast sandwiches and coffee. It was perfect once we finally got there--we have to remember not to let Fred lead when he has no idea where we're going!

It was not long until we saw the damage caused by hurricane Matthew. There were several roads closed, including the one we'd planned to ride.

After a short detour inland, we were back on Virginia Dare Trail, which runs right along the eastern shore of the Outer Banks. Notice the sand on the roof of the house on the right--it's hard to imagine the hurricane force that piled all that sand on top of a three-story house!

We stopped a few places along the way to enjoy the fresh salty air and view, including Avalon Pier at Kill Devil Hills. There were people trying to surf here too.

There was another road closure as we headed north to Kitty Hawk. And this is 2 weeks after the hurricane!

We stopped for a photo op at the pink shark--gotta have fun after all!

As we neared Corolla Bill passed us pulling the trailer, with Doris in the car right behind him. We kept on biking until we got to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. We walked around the grounds and marveled at the detailed brickwork, but did not climb the stairs. I bet I'm going to regret this! Some of the other Outer Banks lighthouses are already closed for the season.

We followed the road to the very end, just north of Corolla. The fence at the right (below) is the southern end of the sanctuary that has been created to protect the remaining Outer Banks wild horses. Horses have lived here for hundreds of years, but traffic is so heavy now that the remaining horses were rounded up and forced into this remote section at the north end of the Outer Banks. The road ends here, and the only access is by 4-wheel drive vehicle. Unfortunately we did not see any horses.

Meanwhile, Bill and Doris had missed us; they were waiting for us in a parking lot just south of the lighthouse. We rode back there, loaded the bikes into the trailer and  went to lunch. After lunch Bill and I drove the trailer back to the hotel while the rest of the group the stopped at Wright Brothers National Monument. After a quick stop at the scrapbook store we joined them there.

We stayed until they were ready to close the site. I walked up to the monument on top of Kill Devil Hill, stopped in the visitors center, and walked around the site of the first powered flight. There are markers denoting the take off point and landing points of the first four flights. I could have spent the entire day here!

We all went back to the hotel until dinner, when we walked to the Nags Head Fishing Pier one more time. After dinner I made the ferry reservations for 2 days from now. The adventure continues!