The Outer Banks, part 2

There is a lot of history in the Outer Banks. We had a great time learning about the area and that the beach used to be 13 miles off what is now the coast. There was a deciduous forest lining the coast of northern North Carolina hundreds of years ago, and at late tide we were able to see what was left of thousands of tree stumps. Fascinating!!

But the most amazing part of the Outer Banks is that there are wild horses that live there. Their breed line goes back to when the Spanish settled in America. Some of the ships crashed into the trees that were hidden by the ocean, and many of the horses survived by swimming to shore. Landon's absolute favorite movie is Spirit, and since the Outer Banks protects the population of the wild horses, and we knew that we had to go on a tour to see them.

It was easily the highlight of our vacation, and Landon was mesmerized! We took a 3 hour tour in an open Hummer on the Outer Banks Preserve. People are allowed to build homes there (for quite the pretty penny!), but they are not allowed to intrude on the horses.

Our tour was insanely bumpy. There were many times when our guide said, "Hold on. This is going to be a roller coaster!" And he was right!! If I had had any inclination of how the ride was going to be I would never have taken Porter.

But, since we were clueless of just how "off road" we were going, he came along. And I am telling you that this tiny fella FELL ASLEEP! As we were literally bouncing out of our seats and squealing our heads off, Porter slept. (This picture was taken as we loaded up. I was too busy worrying about him being jostled to take a picture of him while we were on the tour!)

We saw some of the prettiest scenery on our tour. It's hard to imagine waking up to the sights of the ocean and beautiful horses just outside your windows each day, but there are some mighty lucky (i.e. rich) people in this world. (Side note: Tom Cruise vacations here regularly...in a house with 28 bedrooms, 3 kitchens, a bowling alley, and 5 pools. So that's the kind of "pretty penny" I'm talking about!)

Our guide said to put our hands up because it was about to feel like a roller coaster!

And it did!!

We were told how rare it is to see horses actually walking the beach, but as our tour was ending we spotted two horses taking a stroll. These pictures were taken at almost dark so there was no way to capture the beauty in a picture, but it was truly a majestic moment. God's creation is simply breathtaking at times.

We ended the night celebrating Scott's dad for his birthday. He had a pretty amazing birthday celebration if you ask me. One he's not likely to ever forget!