Day 2: Made it to the Coast

Bridges: 6

Tunnels: 2

Miles today: 115.9

Miles so far: 325.1

Departure: 11a

Arrival: 5p (the times are opposite from yesterday)

The morning started with a vacation faux pas: Julie's weekday silent alarm went off. Boo. I wasn't able to get back to sleep, which suuucked after that late night. Our bikes were covered in pollen, so we did a little wiping down with a hotel hand towel. 

We started the morning off with a bang, going over 3 bridges and 2 tunnels. That was seriously fucking awesome and exhilarating. Jaron said he enjoyed these bridges because they were not tall like the Bay Bridge. The way Julie's helmet works, it takes two hands to put the sun visor attachment up & down, so going through dark tunnels with a sun visor was exciting. 

Jaron found a restaurant on one of the islands in between the DelMarVa (Delaware/Maryland/Virginia - real name) peninsula and Virginia Beach, so we decided to stop there for lunch. It required a pretty perilous u-turn to the right. I'm glad the car behind me was going that way, because I ended up stopping. The u-turn was right after the second tunnel, so you had all of that engine power coming up out of the tunnel. 

After lunch, I noticed that the road got my 2nd Reese's egg from last night. :( 

After crossing Pleasure House Rd (referring either to the beach houses or the red light district), we detoured to avoid an accident to pick up 168 to NC & the coast. At a gas station, paying for my Red Bull, I was presented with two loyalty club options or "No Loyalty" on the little pay machine. I told the cashier that I had no loyalty. 

The high was forecast at 74*, but as it went over 80 I asked to pull over to remove liners from under my mesh gear. So we had a nice stop on the shoulder while I screwed around with that including taking my boots off, and Jaron managed to fit all of the liners in my small duffel bag. Good thing I did this right before the traffic jam, cause I would have been sweating big-time without the wind helping cool me off. 

There was a big rig with "The Price of Cool ain't Cheap" in decals across the back. I'm going to have to agree with him on that one. 

We made it to they NC coast and route 12 which runs along it. It was pretty cool riding between dunes on both sides of the road. We stopped for ice cream at a fine establishment called Booty Treats and considered our options. We decided to stay in Nag's Head rather than try to make it to Buxton where there would be fewer hotels and restaurants. Jaron found a historic B&B and we decided not to park in the designated area that consisted of a grate filled with sand which sunk Jaron's kick stand. Julie found a seafood restaurant within walking distance, and right now we're chillin' on the balcony. 

We checked out the beach. Turns out motorcycle boots handle well in sand. 

Well, the restaurant within walking distance was closed, so we walked back and called to verify that a different restaurant was open. (In case you were wondering, Julie's motorcycle boots were NOT made for walking.) Decided to go there two-up on Jaron's bike. Pavement must be really expensive, because the restaurant also had gravel and sand parking. Jaron tried putting the kickstand down, it was no good, and then he couldn't back up in the sand. He tried dismounting sans kickstand so that he could pull the bike backwards and I came over to help. He ended up pulling forward *very* close to another car and found somewhere to park across the street. Also, on our walk earlier we noticed several long driveways with only the tire tracks paved. Pavement must be inordinately expensive here. What's up with that? Geez. 

Jaron checked his motorcycle suit at the restaurant. 

I forgot to post this picture last night of Jaron pulling his bike up on the walkway right outside of our room. 

The map is where our bkst/lunch dinner restaurant was.