 with Kevin Walker Photography by Ken Earles and Derek Schwab Zunami
|
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  The first wave of Suzukis started arriving on Friday. This
included Rob and Melissa Feehley with The Chewman, Mike and Pam Nagle,
Derek Schwab, Ken and Karen Earles, Chris Loyd, David Johnson, and our
gracious host, Roy, Waneta and Peanut.
Sandpipers Subs was the unanimous choice for dinner.
Cruising the beach and sitting around a lantern, telling zook
stories finished out the night. Normally
it would have been a campfire, but due to the temperature, a fire was out
of the question. |
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  As the sun came up Saturday morning, 4 wheel drive vehicles began
to line the edge of the beach. By
the early afternoon, the beach line was made up entirely of 4wd vehicles
that were having to park 2 deep. As
the tide rose all afternoon, the vehicles mocked the approaching
shoreline. The Suzukis
claimed their spot on the beach and had a blast.
Peanut and the Chewman were busy fetching and burying balls and
chasing the water. The early
morning hours brought beautiful clear water and calm waves.
  As the afternoon progressed, the waves grew and provided some great
surfing. We were surrounded
by sailboarders and kite boarders doing all sorts of tricks, and lets
not forget about the bikinis walking up and down the beach.
Shall we say the American flag was quite beautifully displayed that
day? |
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  There were several beach rides that afternoon.
The Suzukis filed down the beach and played in and out of the
ruts in the sand that grew as the day progressed.
The beach came to a point where the bay started.
We drove around the point and along the bay. The trail then winds through the grassy sand dunes and
eventually released us back on to the beach.
Between riding on the beach and body surfing, everyone relaxed on
the beach, soaking up the sun and talking shop.
Hoods were constantly up with crowds inspecting engine bays and
people bent down peeking at each others suspensions and running gear.
  Ideas and imaginations were going wild.
Several people made guest appearances that afternoon including Todd
and Heather Dowless, Grady and Pop Gray, Justin and Donna Fender, Sam and
Sara Blanton, Jeff and Frankie Young, and lets not forget Tom and Ben
Weirs. |
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  We camped in the sand dunes about 300 feet from the ocean. That evening Chef R/T and Rob grilled hamburgers and hot dogs
while Sam and Sara Blanton prepared 2 gallons of baked beans.
After this clam bake we took a ride into town and had ice
cream at the infamous Squigleys. If you are ever at Kure beach, you have to stop here for some
ice cream. As we returned to
the beach, the wind started blowing hard and the sand dunes that we
thought would provide protection actually acted like wind tunnels.
Little did we know that there was a storm starting to brew off the
coast. All of a sudden we
started feeling the raindrops.
  Some
of us started putting our rain covers on the tents. Unfortunately with the
strong winds, they acted like a parachute and were starting to lift the
tents out of the sand. Mike
and Pam were able to move their tent to safety, but some of the larger
condo tents had to stay put and take the beating.
Luckily the rain stopped as quickly as it began, but the wind was
not as nice. It felt like you
were being sand blasted. Not
wanting to be sandblasted, a group of us went out on the beach to see what
the receding water line had left. In
the ebbing tide we found several things including a crab, a jellyfish and
several shells. We came
across hundreds of sand fleas and clams buried in the sand.
We returned to the campsite and by this time it was almost
unbearable in the sand dunes. Most
people went to bed while a few sat around the lantern and talked. |
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  The wind blew all night and I can only imagine that this is what it
would be like in a tent on the Himalayan Mountains with a heated tent. The wind attacked the tent throughout the night like a boxer
training on a punching bag. The
sand was so fine that it came into the tents through the screened vents.
I awoke that morning to find everything in the tent, including me,
covered in sand. |
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  Chris was the only person lucky enough to get up and actually see
the sunrise. As the rest of
us finally woke up, we all noticed the huge black clouds looming off the
coast. We all immediately started packing up and headed off the
beach. No sooner than the
last vehicle got off the beach, the rain came.
Some people headed home and the rest of us went to eat. After eating, some of us checked out some of the local shops
and a civil war museum and Fort Fisher. |
||
  Zunami was a great event. It
was nice to be surrounded by zooks in the relaxing atmosphere of the
beach. Its nice to get
away for a weekend and actually get to relax.
Special thanks to R/T, Waneta, and everyone else that made Zunami
possible. Zunami is
definitely an event that you need to mark on the calendar and attend. |
08/11/10 15:29
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