Living on the North Beaches of the Outer Banks is like living in a fairytale most of the time. To get to my house you must let the air out of your tires and put your car in 4-wheel drive, and then pull onto the beach. The drive up north is breath taking especially if you catch it at sunrise. The beach is lined with majestic stumps left over from the last ice age. Pelicans fly along the waves as if they were surfing them. The seagulls and sand fiddlers stand at the end of the surf just staring out at the sun rising over the endless ocean. Dolphins can be seen hunting in the still water. If is easy to get lost in the beauty and forget you are driving. Sometimes I am not sure if I am really awake and have to pinch myself to make sure.
Four miles up the beach it is time for me turn behind the dunes and head to my house. I climb over the dune, dodge a few mud holes and make my way back to the sound side house. The house that I live in looks like a doll house that my Grandfather would have made when I was a child. The House is nestled back in the woods with Spanish Moss hanging off the trees.
In the evenings the Spanish Wild Mustangs coming to sneak in the yard and eat our grass. The herd is run by a mule named Alfred. There is nothing better than sitting on the porch and listening to the slow chomp of their teeth. It is truly a magical place until a Nor’easter.
According to Wikipedia.com, nor’easter is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the East Coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extra tropical storms. Nor’easters also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds, and heavy snow. Nor’easters can occur at any time of the year but are mostly known for their presence in the winter season. Nor’easters can be devastating and damaging, especially in the winter months, when most damage and deaths are cold related, as nor’easters are known for bringing extremely cold air down from the Arctic air mass. Nor’easters thrive on the converging air masses; that is, the polar cold air mass and the warmer ocean water of the Gulf Stream.
Chris, the Manager of Beach Jeeps and Bob’s Wild Horse Tours, first experience with one of these storms was a memorable one. He had only been down here for a week and had made a trip back to Richmond to pick up his flat screen TV and some other belongings. It was a Sunday afternoon (St. Patrick’s Day), and he was on due to make it on the Outer Banks around 5:00 PM, when he received a call from a friend who had come to the Outer Banks to see the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Against his better judgment he decided to drive south to Kitty Hawk to meet his friends (who are great people who he had not seen in a while) at Kelly’s. After sharing some laughs he started to make his way North to Corolla. By the time he had reached the end of the road and started out onto the sand it was pitch black, raining cats and dogs, and to make matters even worse it was in the middle of a nor’easter at high tide. At the time he had no clue what a nor’easter entailed, but soon he found himself driving on the side of a dune to avoid ending up in the ocean. He was completely terrified.
Chris decided that he would be safer if he headed behind the dunes. Once arriving behind the dunes he realized there was a whole new problem. There was a mud hole so big behind the dunes that it looked endless in the darkness of the night. He called Bob (the owner of Beach Jeeps and Bob’s Wild Horse Tours) for help; who‘s only advise was to turn around and go back. This was not an option for Chris. He was completely terrified of driving back the way he had come.
For a moment Chris contemplated just sleeping in his car right where he was for the night, but this was not really much of an option either. He got out of his car and looked around for a minute until he found a big stick. He decided to go through the mud hole. He would drive a few feet then get out of his car walk around with the stick checking how deep it was and then drive a few more feet. After a few more terrified phone calls to Bob he finally arrived home. It only took him an 1 ½ hours to go four miles!
I wish it could always be sunny and beautiful on the Outer banks, but I still think fighting the ocean is a lot better than fighting traffic.
Every year the Wild Horse Fund is there behind the scenes protecting the Wild Spanish Mustangs. They work very long hours and their only reward is seeing the horses running free in their natural habitat. 
