Day Ride To Manteo, NC

Debbie and I want to plan a bike trip to Manteo in the next few weeks. Leave New Bern at 8:00 and travel through Washington to Hwy 264, Pantego, Englehard, Stumpy Point and Manns Harbor. With a stop along the way, or two if needed, we can be in Manteo between 12:00 and 1:00, have lunch and head back on Hwy 64. There is the NC Aquarium in Manteo and of course the gun shop at Mackey’s Ferry if that can be added to the itinerary. Looks like about 3 hours down(155 miles) and 2.5 hours back(135 miles) I’ve made the trip many times in years past by car and the ride up is through some really back country with interesting views. Just to get started, how does Saturday, May 29th work? Please leave comment below.

Geocaching

What brought this on you ask?  Debbie mentioned this some time back and after using the small handheld GPS on our kayak trip we decided to give it a try. from www.wikipedia.com  : Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (usually a tupperware or ammo box) containing a logbook. Larger containers can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value. Geocaching is most often described as a, "game of high-tech hide and seek," sharing many aspects with orienteering, treasure-hunting, and waymarking. www.geocaching.com We set up a free account at the above site and downloaded five waypoints to our GPS. There are hundreds of cache sites in our area.  We located the five sites we transferred to the GPS in an hour and a half.  The one at Union Point eluded our efforts on the first try so we returned once we sharpened our skills. Each location included a list of when the cache was first hidden and each subsequent find.  It was really interesting to see who found the site previously. Sorry for the picture quality but all we had available was Debbie’s cell phone camera.  At least we had that!

Map of our overall trip.

Close up of the cache area.

When you’re in eastern NC NASCAR is bound to show up.

This is actually more difficult than we first imagined.  Some of these folks are are quite creative in their hiding methods.  Hint: not everything is at ground level and some things are hidden in plain sight. All of these were in the easy range both for location and terrain.  We’re ready to go one level up. Next time maybe we can combine the Harley in the outing.

A Kayak Trip?

Debbie and I have been talking about a kayak for weeks.  Every since we moved in October we have access to the lake near our house.  Being the way I am I spent quite a lot of time stalking message boards, manufacturer web sites, local outfitter shops and the like to determine what type of kayak suited us best.  We settled on a Wilderness Systems Pamlico 135T.  And as luck would have it Pirate Queen Paddling in Beaufort and Atlantic Beach rented the very one we are interested in. http://www.piratequeenpaddling.com/

Tom met us at 10:00 in Beaufort with the kayak, PFD’s and paddles. He furnished a map of the area and gave us a run down on the kayak, gear and assisted with the proper adjustment of the PFD’s. It was a bit cool and windy but Tom said the wind would be slowing and it would warm to the mid 60’s.

We have a hand held GPS and carried it along to track our speed and location.

With our small pocket camera, GPS and drybag we were in good shape.  A few bottles of water and some cereal bars would ward off hunger at least until we could get to El’s Drive Inn!

We leave the launch site and head under the Gallants Channel bridge on the way to the Beaufort water front and on to Carrot Island.

Nearing one of the many shallow creeks on Carrot Island

You can get really close to wildlife from a kayak.

We were within a 25 feet of feeding bottle nosed dolphin in the channel.  You could clearly hear them breathe.

I really need some sun on these legs.

A high point on Carrot Island

Peaceful and a view as well.

After a couple of stops along Carrot Island we decided to stretch our legs on the Beaufort water front.

A convenient access point near the post office allows you to walk the water front.

I was concerned about a rudder for the kayak, seems to me to track quite well without it.  I also discovered that the 13.5 foot length will work well in the bed of our Dodge Ram.  The kayak easily converts to a single and handles very well.  At least as far as this beginner is concerned.

We made it back to the launch point by 1:15 in order to have the kayak picked up at 2:00.  There were some muscles worked out that the gym didn’t know about and we were a bit tired.  We traveled just over four miles and thoroughly enjoyed every minute.  Enough so that after we had lunch at El’s we went the the Atlantic Station (just west of Atlantic Beach) store and ordered a bright yellow kayak.

Parting Shots

Fourth Annual Relay For Life Charity Ride. Stonewall, NC

We missed this one last year but rode in ‘08 We started out by meeting Mike K. and his wife, Kathy at the Handy Mart on Hwy 55 and then headed to Bayboro for breakfast at Charlie’s. We met Mike’s mom and dad and his dad paid for breakfast.  Off to a good start I’d say!

Stonewall United Methodist Church We lined up at around 9:15 ready for the 10:00 launch.

Before the end of the day there were to be approximately 110 bikes.

Chad and Ashley smile for the camera. This young lady is the future bride of Chad and Lynn’s son, Lucas.  Lucas is currently in Afghanistan helping to keep us all free at home.

Lynn and Linda. Whatever these two are cooking up, I want no part of it!

Kathy and Mike.(left) He’s one of those guys that everybody knows and always has a story.

Riding through rural Pamlico County.

The view from the bridge at Oriental.

Pulling in to  Bethany Christian Church. The Pamlico Sheriff and NC Highway Patrol did a great job of blocking traffic and adding that extra layer of safety.  That is most important with a large group of bikes.

The folks at the church certainly enjoyed our arrival and we certainly enjoyed the water, soft drinks and snacks.

Near Kennels Beach as we travel to Goose Creek Island Community Center, in a round about way.

On Hwy 55 between Bayboro and Bridgeton.

The view from the bridge at Hobucken. Hobucken not Hoboken.  I use a Southern spell check!

The three musketeers as they arrive at Goose Creek.

Inside the Community center.

Mirror, mirror..

A little shade, a little water and everyone is looking at the bikes.

A good meal a the end of the ride.  Eastern Carolina Barbeque with all the fixin’s.

Doug Carrey wraps up the event with the prize drawings. Doug said Pamlico County is one of the top ten contributors, per capita, in the nation. With Doug himself being a cancer survivor, I know it makes him proud.

I noticed several things on this trip.  The majority of the people we passed stopped what they were doing and waved.  Some were taking pictures and videos and many motorists, on either side of the road, pulled onto the shoulder.  A few, or at least the few I saw, became frustrated and hit the steering wheel of their car.  To those few, I present the following vanity plate.   Maybe the irritated ones were unaware of the cause for which we rode.  The folks in attendance were obviously happy and content, it was a wonderful sunny day and there was a great lunch at the end of our journey. We seem to be very lucky with the weather cooperating as it does with the rides we participate in.  This was no exception. Thanks to all the good folks at Stonewall United Methodist Church,  Bethany Christian Church and the Goose Creek Island Community Center for their help and support. For us it was 165 miles door to door and another memorable ride in the digital scrapbook.

Parting Shots

And yea, I’m entitled to put a picture of our bike on here every now and again!