Before Jack and I said our “So long’s”, we had one more adventure to embark upon. I had kind of twisted his arm into helping me with a refuge chore. (It didn’t take much twisting, by the way.) After dropping off my toad at the Ford dealer in Manteo for an oil change and general check-up, Jack met me at the dealer’s and I hopped into his truck with some supplies for our mission.
A couple of the information boxes at the entrances to Alligator River NWR needed to be replaced. Like this one, for instance. The brown sign was dangling, the front of the box had been ripped off, and the post was askew.
Can you guess what caused this destruction? Nope, it wasn’t wild teenagers, but one of the bears on the refuge. He had pretty well gnawed and scraped the post, and undoubtedly messed up the sign and box. The bears do the same thing with the wooden road sign posts on the refuge. They like to lean on them to scratch an itchy spot as well.
Jack had brought along a machete to hack away at the tall growth around the post. If he didn’t do that, we would be standing in the middle of it and it would be an open invitation for the blasted chiggers to have a hay day with us. 
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Jack flattened out the sign and reinstalled it. Mostly I supervised this operation, but he did allow me to remove one screw. Sheesh!
It looked pretty good when we finished. I just wonder how long the bears will leave it alone. The next box we replaced was in Stumpy Point, and the rain had begun again so we got pretty well soaked with that one. After checking a few more boxes, we headed in to Nags Head for some lunch at a stone oven pizza place I had picked out. I don’t like the red sauce that is on pizzas, and this place advertised white pizzas. There is a white garlic and pepper sauce instead of the usual. We had the spinach pizza, and it was very tasty.
By then, the Ford dealer had called, and we said our goodbyes until the next time in the parking lot. Since Jack will be spending the winter in Florida, he may make a trip up to Okefenokee sometime while I’m there. Who knows what adventures we’ll have then.
One of Jack’s hobbies is making long-leafed pine needle baskets. The little basket on the right is one he gave me in Mississippi. The one on the left is the basket he gave me this trip. It is gorgeous!
I love the incorporation of the black walnut slices into the bottom and handles, but the most special thing about this basket is that it is made entirely out of the needles that Jack and I collected together while I was volunteering at Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR.
You can see how he has progressed in his basket making skills. Jack doesn’t sell these baskets, but gives them away as gifts. I guess I’m just lucky to have two of them. 
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
