About Corolla's 4-wheel Drive Area

Now here is question that I probably get asked more than any other. A lot of times it's not from strangers either, but people that I know and just seem to keep on checking that I haven't changed my mind on my lifestyle decision.

My usual answer is:

"If I could make my money without going onto the pavement, I would be very happy".

And that is actually my long term goal. Not that I don't like going into the world of paved streets and commercialization. I just want to be able to go because I want to and not because I have to.

I used to think that getting to the grocery store for food was going to be a real pain, but in reality ti turned out not to be much different from when we lived in a college town. I would call my wife up and say "honey, I'm getting ready to head on home." and she would replay "Great! stop at the store on your way and pick up some milk & eggs".

What I have really come to miss, much to my surprise, is KFC. Who would have guessed that having to drive an hour and a half one way for a bucket of original recipe would make me want it so bad? :-)

I get the question asked of me more than any other question by far, both on & off the road. Just driving up the 10 mile stretch of beach and back is no guarantee that you see the Corolla Wild horses. In fact I would give those odds about 20%. The horses are most often grazing, and since there is no grass growing at the shoreline, it is rare to see them out there. Most often you have to brave taking one of the ramps over the dune line and go exploring the back roads. Remember there are about 100 horses and 12,000 acres for them to roam.

they do come out on the beach from time to time. I've been told that they will usually do this to get away from the flies, and are most likely to come out when the wind is blowing from the west. During the summer, the best chance of seeing them "on the beach" is to go early in the morning. By 10:00 a.m. it will usually be either too crowded or too hot for them and they will stay in the shade of the trees and houses on the other side of the dunes.

This is one that I first wondered when I discovered Carova. Do people actually try to raise children in this type of environment? The answer is YES! And, from what I’ve seen, they do a great job. The parents basically have 3 options to them.

The answer is almost always no. I would say that 90% of the time there is plenty of room to drive on the beach at high tide. There is certainly less room than at low tide. Low tide gives you enough beach for about 10 lanes of traffic where high tide gives you enough beach for about 4 lanes, and the sand is going to be looser. I usually don't worry about the tide when driving. The exeption is if I am going to be towing something behind me like a U-Haul trailer or during the other 10% of the time. The other 10% of the time the tide can come as high as the dune line depending a little on the moon and air pressure and a lot on the wind. When there is a Nor'Easter coming in that's when it is best to time your trips more carefully.

It sems to me that there is an abundance of pictures of the ocean and the shoreline but few of the other side of the beach. Maybe it's because at most beaches when you turn around and put your back to the water, all you see are houses and hotels. Not up my way. Althought there are certainly some ocean front houses, there are NO HOTELS and there are some beautiful stretches of beach where all you see when you look West is Nature's Beauty. Here are some pics that I just had to stop and take on my way home the other day.