Currituck Co. couple delivers mail on NC beach
COROLLA, N.C. - COROLLA, N.C. (AP) —John and Kim Roberson don't so much fight "sleet, hail and dark of night" to deliver mail on a small stretch of beach in North Carolina.
It's more a matter of working around waves, sand, tourists and the occasional wild horse in Currituck County.
The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk reported that the couple navigates the four-wheel-drive beach to the Corolla post office six days a week. They pick up the mail, drive back down the beach about 12 miles and deliver mail to 144 outdoor boxes in front of the Carova Beach fire station.
Then they head back to drop off outgoing mail at the post office.
"To be honest with you, of all the jobs I've had, I love this job the best," John Roberson said.
The Robersons, who have had the route a little over a year, got the job after the U.S. Postal Service backed off a decision to discontinue the route because it was difficult and dangerous. USPA spokesman Carl Walton said the route could be the only one in the state without a paved or unpaved road to follow.
During the winter, when storms whip up the surf, he will park his Dodge pickup at a high spot, wait for the waves to recede, then move quickly to the next high spot.
At high tides or when tourists crowd the beach, the Robersons have to drive on deeper sand by the dunes — not the hard-packed sand near the surf — where it's easy to get stuck.
Tourists are supposed to avoid setting up their gear near the surf, but the rule is often broken. On a recent day, as Roberson left the surf area to avoid a family, a child started to dart across his path. The child stopped, started again, then stopped.
"Now that's dangerous," Roberson said. "It can be dangerous up here if you're not paying attention."
And when wild horses grazing near the mail boxes block delivery, the Robersons wait for them to mosey along.
No matter what obstacles they face, Roberson said he and his wife must deliver the mail. Some of the approximately 150 permanent residents in the four-wheel-drive communities are elderly people who depend on mail-order medicines.
"A lot of folks up here are of that age," said longtime resident Bill Vann, who serves as the Carova Beach volunteer fire chief. He gets his medicine by mail. "They do a great job."
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