DAY 27

DAY 27 JUNE 14

I hated to leave the peace and quiet of Sealevel, but our presence has been requested in Garner, NC.  We were out early at 6 AM.  It is a lovely time of day to ride.

This ship is in Marshalburg.  I was here some time in the last 10 years and this person's dream was progressing nicely.  The boat was covered in probably $10,000 of canvas with windows and scafolding.  The dream has obviously died or as some people might say, the owner woke up and came to his senses.  Someone has even cut the hull in half.

I saw Betty  and her dogs, Barkley and Maggie, riding across the field.  It was a wonderful picture with Barkley sitting up in the back.  By the time I did the U turn he had laid down and we could not get him to pose for me.

Buzzard Corner is an example that a small business can still exist in America.  It has been operating for over 50 years, but not continuously.  It was shut for a short time but Ruth was asked to open and run it again.  She says the main thing that keeps the small store open is she has what people in this area need.  And since she lives here too, she knows what is needed.  In this small store they have everything from pillows to can openers.  The pillows are for people who come to the local campground and forget to bring one.  She still pumps gas for customers if they wish.  I hung out for a while and the place had a steady flow of customers. I finally had to escape as the gentleman with the tractor, who would not stop talking long enough for me to ask his name, had given me the complete mechanical history and all the parts suppliers he had talked to in the last 35 years.

cleaning up america

We rolled into Garner in time for lunch.  We will be off the air for 4 or 5 days as we visit family and friends.


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DAY 25 & 26

DAY 25 JUNE 12

Today is going to be an easy day.  Just a few hours of scooting with Big Red and 5 hours of "yachting". We pulled out of Plymouth, NC about 7:30 headed down the "Sonny Boy" highway to Swan Quarter.  This is mostly drained wetlands that now grow wheat, corn, something that I think to be hops, and lots and lots of tree farms. 

We saved a few turtles today,but just took a picture of "Big Ed".

Jamie stopped to chat on the road as I was taking pictures.  He immediately got the "scooter mentality" by saying " you can really see a lot traveling slow on that" and said that would be something he would love to do.

Swan Quarter is just a small town and the county seat of Hyde County.  Fishing and shrimping is still operating out of here but nothing compared to the past.

We stopped to visit with James, the proud owner of a new 150cc Fly Scooter. With him was Allen and (not pictured)  Simon and Chicken George. James has had a few scooting problems. While riding a 50cc, that is one that will do maybe 35 mph, on I-95 on the shoulder he got blown over by a 18 wheeler and had the elbow and knee scars to prove it.  He had just received a ticket on the 150cc for speeding. He also got a ticket for no tag, no insurance and no motorcycle license. That will teach him to go to the big city of Manteo.  They are all involved in the seafood business in some manner.

We rolled into Swan Quarter to the Ocracoke ferry.  Our first "yacht" trip of the day. We were VIP's so we got our own lane. 

On board I met Randalph Latimore, superintendent of schools for Hyde County.  He and two board members were headed to Ocracoke for the high school graduation. The school would be graduating 9 students, way up from the 2 they graduated last year.  Hyde county on the mainland is a relatively poor area, so the 32k teachers salary is not bad.  On the resort island of Ocracoke 32k does not go far, but he said there is no problem keeping teachers. We discussed the state of education in America.  NC seems to be particularly short sighted in this area. There is 1cent tax that the public voted in in the past for education.  The legislature, in the rush to cut taxes, any tax, mainly for political gain, have decided to cut the tax.  Of course, my home state of Florida is no better in this area.

Two and half hours later and we are in Ocracoke.

A unimpressive lunch on Ocracoke and back to the dock for the next ferry.  I find the dock in a little bit of a frenzy. The ferry that I had come over on from Swan Quarter had loaded and left for the return trip, only to have a mechanical failure about 300 yards out and returned.  They were backing cars off, a real sight to watch, putting them in line for refunds or rescheduling.

 that boat is broke

They finally sorted that mess out and started processing us for our next two and half hour "yacht" trip. We loaded with Chris and Temor.  They had left Calgary Canada, in western Canada, on May 25 and are riding around North America.  They are covering a lot of territory in 5 weeks. Chris was light heartedly teasing Temor that they would never get there since he had planned today's trip and failed to notice the two ferries they had to take ,setting them back several hours.

They followed me off the ferry and across Cedar Island and when we came to the open road of the causeway to the mainland I waved them around and they roared off to their night stop of Myrtle Beach. It was a beautiful sight, that I was unable to capture with the camera, as the road in the marsh made a bend and there were two lone bikes, with a nice golden tint from the low sun,roaring off to distant horizons.

Big Red and I rolled into to Sea Level, NC around 6 pm and popped a well needed cold beer.

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DAY 26

SORRY, GONE FISHING TODAY

DAY 24

DAY 24  JUNE 11


Karen was up early and cooked waffles for my departure.  I really have to rethink this staying consecutively with friends.  Four friends in a row have really added to the waist line.  I don't know if they say "here comes the fat guy break out the food", or they use my visit as reason to pig out, or what. I really think it is that they are just great hosts and want to make my visit special.  That they did and it was all great.

The first photo op came at the "Polish Plantation" (didn't know you guys had those, Marion).

From there we moved on to the White Haven Ferry. It started running in 1762. The captain today is James Farmington. He was so interesting to talk to, I left Big Red on the other bank and rode across the river several times with him. He was born, raised, and lives 4 miles from the ferry. He has been driving the ferry for 37 years and retired 9 years ago, but they called him back to be a relief captain.  In the old days, he worked 13 and a half hours a day. Now the days are a short 10 and a half hours.  He enjoys driving the boat and if he is not driving the boat he is driving the tractor on his farm growing soybeans and a large garden. The good part of his job now is he works when he wants. They called him to work yesterday but he said it was too hot.  And he was right.

On the other side of the river we visited a few fisherman.  They had 2 firsts while we were there. First catch of the day and the first catfish of the season.

We wandered on down to the Chesapeake Bay tunnel and bridge.  First we stopped in Pocomoke City.  We really enjoyed this river when we came with our boat.  The town at that time was just about dead. The owner of the local Ford dealership stopped by to visit us at the dock, like many of the locals did, and told us how downtown had turned into a ghost town when they built the WalMart out on the by pass.  He owned several of the downtown buildings and was renting them out for almost nothing just hoping to get something back in to town. His dad had started the Ford dealership and he remembered as a youngster putting model A Fords together in the building right next to the dock. I am glad to report that downtown seems to be doing pretty good. Not great, but most of the stores are occupied.

 I like roads with no center line, but this was a little rough

this harmless black snake was longer than big red

We paid our $12, no credit cards, and took off on the bridge/tunnel.  It was built during the cold war period and the tunnels were put in to keep them dirty communists from blowing up the bridges and blocking the US Navy from getting out of port.  Lots of people were concerned about me crossing the 13 miles, but it really was a non-event.

Transiting Norfolk was a challenge. A combination of heavy traffic, construction, inattentive drivers, and poorly timed lights kept us on our toes.  Should have broken the rules and taken the interstate around the town and it would have been safer and faster.  We were way south of the area where US17 turned into a four lane before we felt safe.
We rolled into downtown Elizabeth City, NC and took a break at the docks.  There used to be two older gentlemen that would bring all the ladies a rose when the boats docked.  Willard Scott, of TV weather fame (a long time ago), had bought them a golf cart to ride around in.

South of town was the Coast Guard Aviation repair facility and the old blimp hanger from WW II.  These things are huge!!!

these are the corner pillars from a hanger that burnt 10 or 15 years ago

this pointed to one of the hangers. not sure about the name of this outfit.

 crossing the Albermarle

the "whats up gang"

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