I was driving down the road from Cape Carteret to Morehead City this afternoon. There was a blazing sun in my rear view mirror as I headed east.
It immediately brought back memories of driving on the Dulles Toll Road in the morning and evenings.
While I could not stop and take a picture this afternoon, I did choose picture of a sunset over Bogue Sound that I took earlier in the week.
The sun had that same intense laser quality.
Our weather for the last few weeks on the Southern Outer Banks has been stellar. The pristine blue skies and humidity free air have made for wonderful sunsets.
Still the sun today reminded me of the challenge of driving into the sun on the Dulles Toll Road. I guess the years in Northern Virginia are far enough removed that I cannot remember the worst months. Right now there is a good chunk of Highway 24 in Carteret County is like a bowling ball for the sun
The section from where Highways 24 and 58 intersect (just zoom in for a better view) before going through Cedar Point is especially bad in the afternoons.
Of course there are a couple of big differences, our traffic moves at about 45 miles per hour in that section, and the Dulles Toll Road probably sees more traffic in an afternoon than we see in a year or two.
I can still remember the Toll Road slowing to stop and go traffic as the setting sun attacked traffic heading home in the afternoon. Of course there were many morning that I got on the Toll Road in Reston and headed to Tyson's Corner in the slow moving wave that could take 45 minutes to go just a few miles.
Because of the density of humans, the Reston area suffers from environmental magnification. A problem which is insignificant in an almost rural area like ours can become a huge problem in Reston. Just look at the traffic problems when it rains around Reston. Accidents caused by rain cause highways to come to a near stop.
Actually the thought of a sunset induced traffic jam is a little funny. It is hard to believe that the margin for error is so low that sun induced decreased visibility from a bright sun can bring on a traffic jam.
Perhaps it is not that far out of line now that I remember all the traffic jams from people looking a wreck on the other side of the highway.
Well we also have our traffic jams on the coast this time of year. I counted seventeen boats in Swansboro Harbor as I worked my way over to the water leading to my favorite fishing spot.
When we got there, we also found a crowd. There were over 30 White Herons spread around the marsh. That is the most that I have ever seen in one spot.
Just imagine the traffic jam in Reston if the area were lucky enough to have a Lobster Fest at one of the local churches like we are having. Twenty two dollar lobster dinners might cause pure panic and make the sunset traffic jams look like a picnic. I am expecting this year's event to be just as much fun as last year's Lobster Fest.
Being on the coast in the fall is a pretty good way to avoid the crowds as you can see from these pictures.
If those city crowds have pushed you over the edge, there is a spot for you here on the Carolina coast. Your sanity will come back pretty quickly. Mine certainly did. I did lose the tanless stripe where my watch used to be, but I am not very upset over that.
There is much more information about living along the coast at my Sea Salt Blog.
