Salamander Springs

We are in middle Georgia now. What is referred to here as the deep south, with a tone that slightly implies that deep actually means real. Its beautiful here even though its winter, we're going through record cold temperatures right now, which means theres frost on the grass in the morning and the wind picks up at night. For the most part though its like springtime in Seattle, with a couple days of summer thrown in here and there.
We live on a farm called Salamander Springs, 50 acres, probably 20 of them actively used by little homes and garden space. Its a great place, we've fallen in love with it and plan to return. Debbie, the owner and mother hen of the farm, is sweet as can be and reminds me of my Mom all the time. They are pretty much the same age, teach english, are Unitarian, were/are hippies, are always busy, always taking care of everyone around them, scatterbrained and wonderful! There have been lots of WWoofers in and out, and we've made some pretty awesome friends already. There are projects galore and we are busy everyday. The only electricity comes from a solar panel, and the only running water is from generator pumped rain water. We cook over open fire and drink fresh spring water. Its kinda the greatest.

Outerbanks, NC

We left the Jersey Shores from the very southern tip and made our way south through what is called the Delmarva peninsula (a long thin stretch that is a little bit of Delaware, a little bit of Maryland, and a touch of Virginia....political boundaries are so weird...). We crossed the Chesapeake bay bridge-tunnel, an interwoven up and down blend of underwater tunnels and overwater bridges that spans the 20 mile stretch of Chesapeake Bay meets Atlantic Ocean. We landed on the tip of Viriginia and cut through Virginia Beach as fast as we could, a scary, slightly nauseating mix of private beach houses, cheesy tourist traps, and military bases. Not really our scene...
Then we reached North Carolina... When you are on the coast of NC, the outerbanks starts pretty much at the Northern state line and follows the coastline down. It is a series of islands linked by bridges and ferries that is known as the graveyard of the Atlantic because of its treacherous sand banks and everchanging shoreline. At the northern point you can just drive across a short bridge to get on the islands, at the southern point its an hour and a half ferry to reach the mainland, and at that point you are almost to SC.
We love these island and spent 4 or 5 days playing on the sand dunes (ahh,Oregon we miss you!), hiking through beach grass, learning the maritime history of lighthouses and sunken ships, and talking to the kind and friendly locals (Thanks to Buffy for letting us use your house for warmth and showers, it was like our prayers had been answered!). We came at the right time of year, it was quiet and beautiful (although cold and gray). From what we heard summers are a mad house of beach parties and kite surfing.
We left the Outerbanks a little regretfully, it had been so peaceful and beautiful, and the first little town we entered in South Carolina, we stopped for coffee at a little country store. A older man stood on the porch welcoming passerbys in, and he squinted a little at our gypsy bus and salty wind blown faces.
"Y'all just come off the ferry?" he asked.
We nodded and Daniel introduced himself.
The man's face softened, "ahh, Daniel, now thats a good biblical name," he said "come on in and get warm".