John and I took a few days off mid-week and went down to North Carolina’s outer banks. This is a beautiful area that has been incredibly built up. And in the summertime, so many people come to visit that there aren’t enough roads for them all.

But mid-week in April, we had the beach pretty much to ourselves.

We went out to Jockey’s Ridge, some huge sand dunes where the Wright brothers made history with the first aircraft flight. But the day was not made for flying. The wind was whipping through the dunes. We decided to take the nature hike at the dunes anyway. And it was nice. Except for the sandblasting we got. As we came over the top of one dune, I watched a little bird struggle to fly against the wind and sand. Just like us.

I was after thrills and adventure—I wanted to get my feet off the ground just like the Wrights. As Aries are known for leaping before they look, and I am not atypical in that regard, I didn’t know until we got there that parasailing season didn’t start until late May. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Flying around above the ocean? But it wasn’t to be. And it was too windy to take a hang gliding lesson.

We settled for paddling around the sound in a kayak. That sounds exciting if you have ever seen those extreme sport videos with people turning flips in their kayak on the rapids. But this was more like a canoe trip through the marshlands and woods.

And that was nice. I do have a nature loving Taurus side. And it was reassuring to see the outer banks weren’t completely ruined by all the development. Unfortunately the camera either choked on sand or ran out of batteries or both, because it didn’t work after the dunes. So no shots of our gorgeous kayak trip.