And we are off!

The trip has officially begun. We got up at 5:15 (and I got up at 5:25 – I needed the extra 10 minutes). We stopped at the Gallop Funeral Home, and after a quick photo op, and then headed to the beach for the wheel dipping ceremony.

We got the police escort out of Nags Head, stopped at the Outer Banks Visitor Center (see photo above), before heading onto US-264 and Swan Quarter, NC. I spent the morning riding with Suze and then later with Angela, Becky and Maura, chilling out and sharing stories and jokes. After going 53 miles on US-264 without seeing a single traffic light (no traffic lights in the county), we arrived at Soule UMC. Total distance was 70 miles. We went at a leisure pace – about 15 mph and it felt good. The pastor was super nice and we got to shower at the high school across the street. There wasn’t any hot water left by the time I got in, but it didn’t matter – the shower felt great. We were then treated to dinner which included home grown sweet corn – delicious. There are a ton of mosquitoes here and I have several bites to prove it. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain in the morning and I will drive the van. Its only 38 miles.