Day 4: Another Ferry & Laundry Day

Miles today: 63.0

Miles so far: 462.3

Ferries: 1

Bridges: 6+

Departure: 11:15

Arrival: 5:00

Stop the presses--Julie got ready to go before breakfast. Breakfast was bangin'. The housekeeper got a lot of compliments, and I made a point to throw mine in. 

By breakfast, every room on the Ocracoke(?) island was booked, so we made a reservation near Emerald Isle and got going. Apparently Easter is the start of the season here. Some restaurants weren't open yesterday but start opening today or tomorrow. So, no more freewheeling. Destination trip it is. 

At 11:30 we discovered that the next ferry was at 1:00. The next earlier ferry was at 7:30, so it's not like we would have been on it, so that's just how it goes. We were fit on near the end again. One of the staff had us stop on the incline because he forgot to ask for our tickets before waving us on. Jaron tried to tell him to take them out of his front pocket, but he didn't understand and said nevermind. This time they had us park cross-wise and told us to take our time even though they were running behind schedule, which was kind of them. 

We're kinda over ferries now. There is a lot of waiting and it's time not spent riding, and because we are motorcycles, we're basically accommodated  as space available. I kept watching them waving all of these cars on and wondering if we were going to make it or have to wait 3 more hours. It took 2:15 to go 23 miles on this ferry. People were constantly locking their cars (why?) and setting their alarms off, which was loud and annoying. One car's lock sound was 4 short honks and we heard it several times. There were 2 busloads full of rambunctious kids. They were not particularly careful when passing by our bikes, so Jaron took some drastic measures (pictured). There was only one foot between my peg and the grill guard behind me, but people kept wanting to cut thru instead of walking around the next car. People were touching my helmet which was hanging on the handlebar so I moved it. Then people were touching my handlebar and one kid hit my mirror with his shoulder. So Jaron took off his hard cases and set them to block the path and people still walked over them. You can see his creative use of hoses to keep people from passing between his bike and the wall. I thought he should go ahead and hold the axe while he was at it. You can see the white fire hose w/ big handle on his handlebar. One staff member asked him what was up with the hoses but didn't ask him to put them back. Other passengers were narc-ing out the kids for playing under the Coke truck that was behind us to one side. They were outta control. The staff told them to find seats at one point, and it wasn't because we were almost there. 

After exiting the ferry, we finally hit 1.0 miles on the day's tripometer at 3:30. We agreed to stop at the second gas station for a beverage stop, not the first where everyone else would stop. It was a little ways to the second gas station. I paid "nahn-oh-one, baby" for 4 Red Bulls and filled up my water bottle at the proffered sink, which was fine by me. It tastes just like Daddy's water did before he got his new water system -- unfiltered well water, holla! I know that taste. 

Our B&B is not on Emerald Isle proper, but it is right on the water and has a great view and it much more modern than all other B&B's we've been to. Our suite is huge and has a private balcony and a soaking tub. Jaron is really good at finding good places to stay. The host let us start a load of laundry before we went to dinner and we can change it when we get back. For probably the first time in almost 13 years of marriage, we are doing a load of laundry together. It's an emergency. 

I see that soaking tub in our future.