Nomad Life - Day 13

Almost like a habit, I woke up at about 0600 this morning and started teleworking.  Unlike the previous few days, though, I didn't leave the hotel room at all until after my entire work day was complete.  Instead, I ate breakfast (snacks), had lots of meetings, coordinated some visits with friends/family for later in the month and ate lunch (snacks).  It was hot outside again (mid 80s) but I avoided the worst of that - my car was also parked under the hotel entrance portico.  Finally, at 1615, I was ready for an afternoon excursion!  Feeling hungry, I headed to the nearby Texas Roadhouse (at the Fox Run Mall) that I'd last visited in early 2022.  Before this trip, I found a gift card (from my sister, Katie) and was eager to use it.  Between 1630 and 1715, I enjoyed some dinner (Texas chili, tasty buttered bread) and a beer - it was a nice meal.  After getting done, I departed towards downtown Portsmouth.  Crossing the Piscataqua River on I-95, I made my way back towards the far eastern side of Kittery - I wanted to explore more of York County!  While I was unsuccessful yesterday in finding a place to park my car and visit any beaches in that area, I found a public (and free) lot on Cutts Island (north of Gerrish Island) today.  Though it was almost full when I arrived, I was pleased to be able to get a spot and took a short walk to Seapoint Beach (Crescent Beach was just a little farther away to the south).  Before long, I was standing on the edge of the sand - yes, there really was some!  And there were a lot of birds, hardy locals and several dogs - I learned that they are allowed on the beach any time outside of the hours of 10 AM to 5 PM.  That's better than Cape Cod...  By this point (1730), it was starting to turn a bit overcast to the west, the wind had kicked up and the temperature had already begun dropping into the low 70s.  Unwilling to get too sandy and, instead, hoping to do some hiking on the Cutts Island Trail (in the Rachel Carson NWR), I backtracked down Seapoint Road to an extremely small parking area.  Once I was out of the car, however, I was happy to see that the trail complex was quite extensive, going deep into the woods and following the edge of several inlet marshes.  In the end, I walked almost as far as the edge of Brave Boat Harbor, almost two miles from the road.  At times, the trail was very easy to follow.  At others, I wasn't exactly sure where I was and had to backtrack to stay within range of my certainty.  The mosquitos were out in force but I was able treated to the sight of several interesting birds: ibises, herons, egrets, herons, jaegers and a strange looking owl (I learned later it was called a Northern Saw-whet Owl).  It continued to get darker (from the incoming inclement weather) and the temperatures dropped.  In the distance, I heard the rumble of thunder - with that, I started my backtrack towards the car.  The trail continued to surprise and I encountered an eagle and osprey, along with several kinds of gulls before I was back at the car (1915).  Altogether, I managed to walk almost four miles in the woods and felt really good about that exercise after a long day in front of a computer... Next, I drove back to my hotel (via ME-103, US-1 and NH-16), arriving at around 1930.  Just then, it started to rain...  Fortunately, I was inside very soon (even though I got no "rock star" parking after my late return) and spent the rest of the evening reading, blogging and watching movies.  I ended up going to sleep at 2300, feeling glad to have gotten some time outdoors before the rains came.