Since we'd been to Cape Lookout in May and hiked the trail to the lookout point, we went on trails that were new to us. One of our hikes took us on the North Trail from the campground. It was so nice, hiking on a bluff overlooking the ocean. The fern lined trail was covered in Sitka Spruce. It lead to a nice swinging bridge. The trail on the other side of the bridge was not next to the ocean but it was still beautiful. It lead to the trail that goes to the point of Cape Lookout. Since we had already done that trail we returned to the campground and spent the rest of the day on the beach. From the campground it was about a 6 mile round trip hike. One morning I got up at my usual time, 5:30, and headed for the beach. (Yes, I still get up early.) I happened to be the first one on the beach that day and watched the sun light up the sky and the fog roll around the bluffs that met the ocean. As I walked on the beach I felt as if I was the first one to enter a new world. It was a refreshing time.
I noticed that ending a vacation while retired is different than it was while I was working. Before it was a dreaded task to pack it all up because there was work, schedules, pressures that were going to have to be dealt with again. And when I returned I had "vacation brain"- trying to grasp the work world and be productive was sometimes a struggle as my brain was somewhere else. Now packing up was okay, it was as if we were leaving one adventure to go to another adventure. And upon arriving home there was no scrambling to catch up on the world I had left. Vacations should always end this way...if it's really called a vacation while you're retired!
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