Ocracoke Island

I’m at Ocracoke campground tonight. It is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. I had to pay $28 dollars for my campsite but I didn’t have a lot of options. I didn’t mind too much. The money goes to the park service and they always have great campgrounds. I got here early, around 1:00. The ferry to Cedar Island departed at 4:30. I had plenty of time to catch it, but it’s nearly a 3 hour trip across the bay. I didn’t want to ride after dark again so I stopped here. Hopefully I will get up on time to get to the dock and get on the 7 am ferry. It’s only about 4 miles away. I had to catch a ferry today as well. I crossed from Hatteras to Ocracoke. It was only about a 45 minute trip and the ferry left every hour on the hour.

Several people had warned me that there was nothing on Pea Island. So before crossing the bridge, I stopped at a gas station to get water. There was pretty long line at the register. A man in chest waders was clearly in a hurry to get fishing. I said he could get in line in front of me and that I was in no hurry. He thanked me and looking at my hi vis vest said that he wouldn’t be in a hurry to go to work either. I explained that I was cycling. When he got to the register he paid for my water and insisted he buy me a breakfast sandwich. I hope he had a great day fishing!

Since the bridge over the Choptank River back in Maryland,I have been apprehensive about long bridges. A quarter mile from the bridge I stopped to eat a peanut butter wrap. A park ranger stopped to talk for a few minutes. After asking all the usual questions she said you’re not going to ride across the bridge are you? I said yes I was planning on it it. She shook her head and said I was braver then her. So with great trepidation I approached the bridge. I was very relieved to see I had a huge shoulder to ride on. It turned out to be a very pleasant ride with beautiful views in all directions. I was so happy about the wide shoulder I didn’t even grumble about big hill to let ships pass under. The bridge curved to the left near the middle and I then had a tail wind.

Pea Island wildlife refuge was awesome. There were thousands of ducks and geese. A lot of other birds too that I could not identify.

It rained quite a bit Friday. In some places the bike path was flooded

Even a few of the streets had water on them. Only a few inches though. At one of the deeper spots, an intersection there was a big snapping turtle crossing the road.

Even though he was using the crosswalk, I thought I would help him. We are kind of kindred spirits. We’re both big, slow and carry our home with us. There was creek a short distance away and think that’s where he had come from. I parked my bike and not wanting to get my shoes wet I took them off. The water was over my ankles. The turtle did not appreciate me trying to pick it up and snapped at me. I’ve always heard that when a turtle bites it won’t let go until it thunders. I really don’t believe that but not knowing much about turtles I figured it was better to be safe then sorry. I can’t imagine trying to bike all day with a 30 pound snapping turtle hanging off my forearm. So instead of carrying the turtle I walked with it and stopped traffic until it reached safety. Surprisingly nobody got mad at me. Or maybe they did but were scared to say something to the crazy guy directing traffic in a bicycle helmet and stocking feet. After the turtle was safe,I hung my freshly washed socks from the handlebars and headed down the road.

I’m pretty tired tonight and I want to get up early in the morning so I’m going to stop writing now. Tomorrow I will try to update my budget. I came pretty close to getting back on track. I have ate a lot of eggs this week! Here are some pictures from the last few days.