Day 50. The Outer Banks!! Ocracoke, NC

 Leaving Belhaven at 6:25am in time for a quick breakfast before riding  off to catch the 10am Swan Quarter Ferry to Ocracoke, Outer Banks, NC. Great weather, sunny with a bit of head wind to push when we turned south, arriving at the ferry about 9:30 which took us to Ocracoke across the Pamlico Sound arriving at the Blackbeard Hotel at 1pm.

 

Gathering our bikes and assembling our gear before departing Belhaven. 

 But not before breakfast at the Gingerbread Bakery. The Senior Center was next door and it seemed a more appopriate banner for this "mature group". 

 A quiet road to ride on this morning with not too much traffic and a beautiful day to ride into. Today was the day we arrive on the Outer Banks!

 Pushing a steady pace to not miss the ferry and have to wait in the middle of no where for the next ferry 3 hours later, we were eager to get to Ocracoke on the Outer Banks. 

 

Riding a tight formation into Swan Quarter. 

Arriving at the ferry with enough time to ask for some help from Syed on his motorcycle to take a few group pictures of us. 

 

Here we go, the last to get on the ferry are those on only two wheels. 

 

On our way to Ocracoke, our bikes leaning precariously on the webbing at the stern of the ferry as we churn across the sound. 

John provided us one more picnic before our bike touring trip ends, this one on the ferry. Sandwiches, fruit, cheese, nuts, crackers, ham and pepperoni. Very tasty and enjoyable. John also had last nights Fetticcini Alfredo left overs too!

 

Time out on the stern of the ferry to listen to music and contemplate our adventure. Today was a big day for me, 50 days after starting on April 23, 2,500 miles later, I feel satisfied, happy, and at peace. Today is essentially the end of our trip with only a 30 mile ride to Buxton to meet my Rochdale House brothers from 40 years ago tomorrow. Finishing this challenging trip, enjoying it so much, sharing it with my wife and many old and new friends as well as complete strangers along the way has been very fulfilling. Crossing the Pamlico Sound on the ferry today wasn't necessarily transformative like I expected crossing the Mississippi River on Day 21 to be, but it was a sort of a check point for my life. At 58 years old a lot of things have been going on the last few years: Seeing my daughter, Michelle, and son, Ryan, marry the loves of there lives, Adam and Mattie, our first grandson, Graham, born 20 months ago to Michelle and Adam with their next son due in less than a month,  quitting corporate America last September after 33 years, celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary May 9th, during this bike tour and also reconnecting with old friends like my Purdue buddies, and today, last but not insignificant, completing this 50 day bike adventure from Niwot, CO to the Outer Banks of North Carolina! It all reinforces something Angela and I often tell each other, that we are truly blessed and fortunate people, to have lived the life that we have lived.

Celebrating the moment as we pull into the ferry dock at Ocracoke. 

 And here we are, back on two wheels on the Outer Banks cruising along the busy, sandy, narrow two lane road that tomorrow will take us to our end point for the week, the Rochdale Reunion in Buxton. 

 

Dinner on the docks by the sea surrounded by all the charter fishing boats. We have finally found the big water we've been searching for!!