NYC -2- ATL

Today we awoke in Morehead City and ate our hotel breakfasts as we packed the bikes. Minutes later, we were up on top of a tall bridge to bring us out to the barrier island, into Atlantic Beach. The route here is along the East Coast Greenway’s costal route, and we followed it for most of the day.

We stopped a few times at boardwalks and walked up to the beaches. The sand here is loose and golden, and the beaches are exquisite. Your mind drifts around on long rides like today. I thought a lot about my late friend Richard Smiley who we lost last year. I had traveled with him many times and camped with him during the solar eclipse before his second stint on the Appalachian Trail, and I know he would have been so stoked to follow along with this trip. I can’t honestly say that if he were still with us that he wouldn’t be on this trip. Through my thoughts and memories this morning, he is here with me now.

Along the trail this morning, my dad told me an anecdote about my grandfather that I don’t remember ever hearing previously. He said Papa’s default answer whenever someone would ask “How are you?” would always be “Great—I’m getting younger every day!” I’ve heard my dad say it before, especially to his siblings, but I never knew he was referencing his own father, or exactly what it meant. Until now, maybe.

The day was long. The ride was great. The weather held up. I used the remainder of my sunscreen and will refill tomorrow morning. We rode, we talked, we made wrong turns, we stopped to rest in the shady places. I sent messages home and chatted with some friends. We talked to strangers and got local info from positive sources on pressing matters such as route closures. We had two small lunches, each incredible in their own right.

Late in the day we neared our target in Jacksonville near Marine Corps Camp Lejeune. We met a really nice and super fit 83 year-old Marine who entered the Corps in 1953 and gave us all sorts of good info. We’ve got a nice hotel with a refreshing pool in a typical commercial area. A quick walk to an Outback Steakhouse for dinner. I’m doing laundry in the hotel now.

There are literally too many stories to tell them all. I am the best kind of exhausted, but I am getting younger every day.