LOL. that's funny. Yeah, we knew we were going to be pretty rural...which was cool. Not complaining. I think we just thought we'd find more swimming holes, waterfalls, etc "close" to us. But "close" in that area seems to be defined differently than it is here.
I wouldn't have wanted it more congested/busy - the laid back, slowness is so much part of the allure. We were laughing because the tourists were the only ones going over the speed limit - here; if you do less than 10mph over the limit, you're likely to get run off the road. ;-)Some of those mountain roads were *scary*! Of course, we're in a 3/4 ton, 4wd, extended cab PU, so it seemed like the truck was much longer than some of the curves. LOL. And I always seemed to be on the side that was 6" from the 1,000 foot drop. ;-)
The wildlife was cool - we had deers walking through our front and back yard. I actually thought the snake was cool (hubby was not so convinced, since it was on it's way *into* the house when he found it.) ;-) It just made us a little more cautious with the kids & dogs trampling around. It's not like we're "city folk" we get deer, moose, fox, & fisher cats in our yard all the time. The spiders & snakes just aren't as creepy here.
We're definitely thinking of the NC coast next summer. First need to find a beach that is at least semi "dog friendly". But yeah, we're likely confined to the summer months - I just can't pull the kids from school for that long. It'll more than likely be July, which I know will be the worst. But what we're "aiming" for (ha!) is a house on the oceanfront that we really won't have to leave. Something where we can stay, swim, boogie board, tan, relax, watch the kids off the deck. But something where it is a relatively short drive (or walk/bicycle) to small restaurants, ice cream shops, etc. Does that exist? I was looking at Topsail - looks pretty dog friendly. It's also pretty far from here, so definitely a stop-over. Anyway, too far away too think about right now, but I want to start researching early.
Again, I appreciate everyone's input. We had a fantastic time. I was going through the pics yesterday, and my husband and I both commented that for being in a place that was so rural, we sure did quite a bit. What an absolutely gorgeous area.
