We woke up early and I loaded the bikes. Susan was moving really slowly and her back was very stiff. We ate breakfast and I settled up with the inn keeper. I walked out with my biking wallet and my glasses in my hand and laid them on the trailer as I helped Susan get on her bike. I rolled my bike over the yard, across the curb and onto the street. After getting us on the road out of town I let Susan take the lead to set whatever pace she was comfortable with. It was only 8:30 and the ferry left at 4:00 that afternoon. I knew we had plenty of time to go slow and to rest as needed. The weather station had been calling for south west winds 5-10 mph for today, but so far it was completely clam. As we rode along Susan�s back seemed to be loosening up and she cruised along at 12 mph. The day was absolutely beautiful and the scenery was opened fields for as far as you could see. They were broken only by huge silos and grain bins. It seems the fields belonged to seed companies.
After 28 miles we came to the community of Fairfield. Fairfield didn�t have much but they did have a gas station-pantry-grill combo. We ordered three hotdogs with chili and a couple of Gatorades. Fairfield also had a crop dusting company and they were hard at work in the nearby fields. We took our hotdogs and drinks and rode about a mile down the road and sat on a bench and watched them spraying the fields. We were also right where the road starts across Lake Mattamuskeet.
Susan�s back had held out so far but now she really had to mash those pedals and I was worried if she was going to be OK. We slowed down and plugged along. Our last nine miles were tough, but not near as bad as Sunday�s winds, and when we turned onto the road to the ferry terminal we had a nice tailwind to push us home. Now we only had 3 hours to kill before taking two, 2.5 hour ferry rides back to our truck. We managed to catch a nap in the sun before catching the ferry to Ocracoke. The plans were to get something to eat in Ocracoke and then get the last ferry to Cedar Island and our truck. This would put us back at the truck by 10:45 PM. It was going to be a long day.
As we sat on the ferry I kept worrying about our truck. We had not seen it since leaving nine days ago. Susan was also having trouble sitting for long because of her back, the kids were still yelling back and forth, and we still hadn�t eaten since our hotdogs about ten hours ago. It was a really long 2 � hours.
We finally rolled off about 10:45. As I rode pass the terminal it was with great relief I saw our truck sitting there waiting for us. It�s amazing how much a truck can feel like home, even when you are still nine hours away. We quickly loaded up and started down the road. Morehead was just 50 miles down the road and that was as far as we got. We stopped at a Comfort Inn with an all night drive through Hardees next door. A quarter pound Angus burger #6 combo, super sized, really hits the spot.
The next morning we started home in earnest. We did manage to stop in downtown Wilmington and go to the farmers market though, and spend a little of that excess cash we were carrying. Lord forbid we should bring any of that home with us. We also decided it may have taken us four trips, but we have finally exorcised our Outer Banks demons and we can lay the Outer Banks end to end trip to bed. There will be no reason to go back. We will just have to find somewhere else to punish us.
