After Richmond, hills became non existent and we started making good time, which is nice since we were now in no-mans land. We headed east from Richmond, and stayed a night in the Okechobe State Park, the other side of the James from... Jamestown. Here's us on the Jamestown ferry.
After Okechobe, we headed west and were hit with intense winds that we found were coming off of former-hurricane Noel. Early that day we hit 1000 miles, Huzzah! This is where it went down.
We stopped our wind blown weary selves in a super8 in Chesapeake, on some god awful highway/stripmall we were travelling on. We went out that night to find a place to celebrate, with like hopes of finding anything but a chain restaurant. Low and behold however, right smackdab next to the super8 was a nice japanese restaurant. Noodles and warm sake could not have been better celebration! Next day we headed South toward Cape Hatteras, as the remnants of the hurricane were heading North. We found a nice campsite on Pamlico Sound in Kill Devil Hills.
Kill Devil Hills is not nearly as cool as it sounds. That town and Kitty Hawk are succumbing to rediculous condo developements and cheesy restuarants plopped on beautiful land like bug bites. I really don't understand how it's a selling point for restaurants to imply that their customers are morbidly obese yokels. Names like "FatBoys", "Tubby's", and "The Pigman" abound, with pictures of goggly eyed, portulent dunces, drooling over fried crab and what not. Not for snobbity ole me. Soon however, Hatteras turned into protected seashore, miles and miles of it untouched, with water on either side of the road, protected by dunes on either side, some which had broken on the ocean side in the Hurricane, covering roads with water. Our bikes got a bit too much salt on them our second day in Hatteras. We reached the elbow of hatteras and stayed at another campsite. After setting up camp, we went out to the light house, where apparently some of the best surfing on the east coast occurrs. That day was apparently a good day, because surfers were everywhere, and there folks with very nice cameras and tripods, I assume taking pictures for magazines. As we watch surfers get up on waves to the the left of us, they would be popping out of the surf on the right, as if the armies of Atlantis had finally staged an assault. After some hemming and hawing, Sam and I got down to our skeevies, to the chagrin of the fishermen next to us, and hopped in the trememdous surf. We could only get as far as our waists before the waves would knock us back twenty feet. Muy divertido!
Next day we made it to Ocracoke, but the ferry was leaving to late for us, so we stayed the night at a madcap redneck RV park. The front desk doubled as an outdoor bar, located under the owner's second floor deck, where he and his friends would have a few drinks at night. Fourty ounce bottles of malt liquor were under everybody's deck chair, and the neighborhood kids tooled around the park packed into a golf cart, being chased by the dogs. Our campsite was nice, and had tree that apparently had been used as target practice by circular sawblade throwers.
Once we set up, I had pry sam out of the tree with a stick. He hissed like a wild animal, but a few good whacks set him straight!
We woke up at 5:30 in the morning the next day and hopped on the 7 o'clock ferry, to Cedar Island. We made good time that day and got to the Cedar Point National Park or some-ott. More camping in the cold, the chills were really setting in, and we and our clothes were getting sour. The next day we hauled some more ass and got to Wilmington, NC, where a friend of Sam's, Dave Gessner, had agreed to leave a key in the door for us. At first we went the wrong house and checking under their mat. Fortunately no one was home, we looked rather suspicious, dressed all in black with black gloves..... hmmmm. But we found the place alright and weathered a cold night inside. Next day, we made it to the Hunington Beach State Park, a little South of Myrtle Beach, (another stripmall blackhole) after exactly 100 miles! Personal Records Rock! The few tents sites were all available, what with the cold, and they were very nice and secluded, a beautiful area in general. I was thinking that I would give it the best Campsite Award, but was conflicted, as were harrassed throught the night by some audacious Raccoon, Pokey, Okey, and Bert. Pokey and Okey would walk right up to me as if I was handing out food, and shooing them would only get them to move a few feet.
After hanging up our food and going to bed, the raccoons immediately set to work demolishing our handiwork. Finally I had to get up in my underwear and chase them off, and bring the food in.
The next day was our last to get to Sam's Uncle Chauncey's, our stated destination. We didn't have far to go, so we stopped in Georgetown, and ate at the Rice Paddy, which we found out later, Sam's cousin Whitney works at some nights. Then we got some coffee at a cool upstairs shop called the humidor, which was just a refurbished apartment with a beautiful porch over the water. We got into Mclellanville in the Afternoon, Finally! Chauncey's house and property is awesome. Horses, dogs cats, giant Live Oaks, and plenty of land. Sam and I are now taking it easy until Saturday, when we fly home from Charleston. I'll probably update a few more times, keep checking!
The Old House
Live Oaks
The Tool Shed
The new house, almost done.
My little Pony
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