Ron showing a soft shell crab (our dinner).Being given the title "Dutchess of Arizona" by Queen Elizabeth.
I got off the plane on Saturday the 6th from Mexico and went home, unpacked and did laundry and repacked most of the same clothes for my trip to North Carolina. I left on Tuesday the 9th for Kill Devil Hills, NC for a Farm Bureau Safety Conference. I love these conferences because the people are so cool! I flew into Richmond because it was a shorter drive for me to NC than from Raleigh or Charlotte. This also gave me the opportunity to spend Friday evening through Sunday afternoon with Cari, Vance and the kids in Fredericksburg, VA (just 30 minutes north of Richmond).
I landed and picked up my rental car. I got a convertible because it wasn’t anymore money and they asked me if I wanted it. Why would I pass that up. The problem was, I didn’t know how to put the top down till I got to NC! The drive was amazing and it was so green and beautiful there. I passed through probably 10 counties on my drive there in 3 hours- in Arizona, I would have only passed through maybe 3 counties, if I was lucky. The hotel was cute and right on the beach. Kill Devil Hills is right next to Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Bros first flew a plane. I got there pretty late and just went to bed. I got up early the next morning and went down to the beach to put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, something I had never done. The Ocean was so nice and the water was warm. The beach was amazing and I took pictures of my feet in the ocean. I was so occupied by taking the picture, I forgot about the waves till a big one came and soaked me almost to my knees. After that, I sat up on the deck of the hotel, right on the beach and sat in a rocker, put my feet up on the rail and took a nap in the sun with the ocean sounds. It was perfect!!!
Our conference started at 1:00 p.m., and it was really great to catch up and see everyone. I missed last year’s conference so I had a lot to catch up on. It was nice to see the guys from NC as well. I had met some of their field staff when they were out here and so it was good to see them again. That evening after our meeting, a few of us went to dinner and then Kristin and I took the convertible, with the top down, to get a t-shirt from a billboard we saw on our way down to the conference. They whole way down, there were these billboards we saw (we talked about it later with a few others) that said “I got crabs from Dirty Dick’s” crab house. It was so funny it made us laugh. Kristin wanted a t-shirt for her husband and I couldn’t bring myself to buy one but I did buy a shot glass!! We had so much fun in the little store next to the restaurant that tears were coming down our faces!
The next morning, I met Kristin and Marsha at 5:30 for a walk on the beach. We walked out for about 20 or 30 minutes and then turned back to the hotel. It was a real calorie burner. I was sweating and I’m not sure if it was from walking in the sand or from the humidity but I felt better when I was finished. That afternoon we took some tours and saw some soft-shell crab that we were having for dinner later. I doubt the ones we looked at were the same ones we ate but they were really good. We also toured a boat building company and the lost colony as well as the Elizabeth II (a boat the pilgrims came over on). We then met with the local county Farm Bureau board and had dinner which was yummy. It was pork, crab, shrimp, catfish and a whole bunch of over things.
We had a special guest for dinner, Queen Elizabeth (the first). She came to welcome us to North Carolina and then proceeded to “knight” a few people. Darrell from Ohio was “knighted” as well as three individuals from the North Carolina Farm Bureau and myself!! I was “knighted” the Duchess of Arizona!! It was quite fun and entertaining. We all got some great laughs out of that.
On Friday we wrapped up our conference and I headed out around 1:00 to head back towards Richmond and then on to Fredericksburg for my visit with Cari and the kids.
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