The broad Cape Fear River swoops in on Wilmington’s west side, while the ocean carves in from the east, pinching the land into a southward-pointing funnel. Normally such a funnel would be a traffic nightmare where no bicycles should ever go, but in the case of Wilmington’s funnel, the hole at the bottom is extremely… Read more…

Yesterday afternoon we had a momentary introduction to US-17, but today we would fully get to know the Atlantic Coast highway that would be our “friend” for much of the rest of our journey south. The easy ability of the ocean to infiltrate the land in this area means that there are few roads running… Read more…

In 2010, I battled raccoons for three nights in a row while camping in North Carolina. Dennis and I hadn’t been sure what purpose the 7-foot-high hooks posted in each campsite served, but we quickly determined they were for hanging food to protect it from raccoons (eventually all of our panniers ended up hung from… Read more…

It was 66 degrees when we got out of the tent, a degree warmer than last night! Coastal weather is weird, man. They say mosquitoes are worst at dusk and dawn, and they seem to really follow that rule here: bad enough to make Rett barricade herself inside the tent for breakfast, but essentially gone… Read more…

We were up at 7am, early enough to have the sound of the sea be replaced by the sight of the sunrise. It was a beautiful place to witness the new day, with our isolated spot making it feel like we were the only ones camping here. The warmth continued, requiring no bundling up while… Read more…

Rett was sweating in our room when we were packing up, convinced something was wrong with her, but when I stepped out onto the balcony to take my coffee and breakfast, I realized that it was just damn hot. Well, “only” like 73 degrees, but the bigger factor was the 90% humidity. I’ve been concerned… Read more…