From the mountains to the ocean! We learned a lot of things in the Outer Banks:

1. Our best buds, Mike & Tia, made one crazy cute little girl. Prepare yourself for lots of pictures of Hazel coming down the pipeline. Maddie, in particular, quite enjoyed the extra girl time.
2. S-Town podcast is God’s gift to travelers.
3. If you only have one CD on the road, Steve Earle’s Guitar Town is not a bad choice (Editorial from Trent: We could do without that little man go-to-bed trucker song. (That dig’s for Carll Hayes)).
4. They really love their lighthouses in the Outer Banks (see handpainted evidence below).
5. A lot of people really love the Outer Banks. Like 500,000 of them. According to a local kid at the fishing shop, the population swells from 30,000 to 500,000 in the summer. Wow.
6. They love it for a reason. It’s a pretty fantastic stretch of coastline indeed. Excellent fishing (Editorial from Trent: Mike D. is stepping up his fishing game, but Trent swears he still had the biggest fish of the trip. They both caught a limit of sea trout with their guide, Sneaky Pete, who was for real). The back bay water is heaven– 30 degrees warmer than the ocean water (I’ve always had a nose for a place to swim). And the lighthouses are pretty cool indeed.
   

   Beautiful OBX beaches (with Trent’s fishing rod peeking in the corner)

   

   Hazel arrives! Mike and Tia came, too

   

   Cute stuff

   

   Ferry to Ocracoke Island

   

   Ferry fun

   

   Teaching them early

   

   Lounging in the warm back bay

   

   Heaven on the backbay

   

   The lighthouses of the Outer Banks

   

   And one in real life!