Westover, MD to Killens Pond State Park

Last night was a little noisy since we were really close to Route 13. We rested well though and Bill left at 6:45.

While I ate breakfast, I watched the Canada geese on the pond here.

There were about 40 of them! I called Bill at 10 as I hadn’t heard from him. He had stopped by a police station in Salisbury and met Chief Barbara Duncan. In the picture, she has her bicycle that she used when she was bicycle police in Brooklyn, NY.

They traded coins and patches and talked at length.

She was very impressed with what Bill was doing and introduced him to more people in the department so he could share his story. The Chief also shared a bracelet that was in memory of an officer who lost his life in the line of duty.

She asked Bill to share it with another police chief. He thanked them for the jobs they do and headed over to the Sheriff’s Office where he met with Chief Deputy Gary Baker. He showed him an extensive car collection a gentleman had given them

and shared a coin and a patch too.

They showed him their Command Center vehicle and then added that it was a converted Bookmobile. :) You remember those bookmobiles…they were built like tanks! LOL!

This is Lt. Tim Robinson, Bill, Chief Deputy Gary Baker and Lt. Rich Wiersberg. They wanted to take another picture in the conference room so that there would be a nice background.

This is Captain Babe Wilson, Lt. Tim Robinson, Bill, Chief Deputy Gary Baker, and Lt Rich Wiersberg. All of the officers there appreciated what Bill was doing and Bill was able to thank many of the people there. After we talked on the phone, I left the campground about ½ hour later and caught up to him at about 40 miles. By then, he had stopped at the State Police Barracks in Salisbury and met Detective Sergeant Michael Rickard

who also happens to be a “Very Serious Photographer”. :)

He had also recently hiked Mt. St. Helens so Bill gave him the Washington patch that we have been carrying for quite awhile. They enjoyed conversation together and Bill went on his way. Next, he stopped and said Thank-You to Trooper Saylor who was parked on the side of the road.

While he talked to him, he mentioned that there was another State Police Barracks about 10 miles down the road, so Bill said good-bye and headed there next. They welcomed him and provided water and one of the officers had his picture taken with Bill’s bike.

They were very glad that he stopped by and he was able to thank them too. We decided to each go another 20 miles looking for a campground along the way. I pulled over just outside of Harrington, Delaware to wait for him as I had not seen a campground. I found a small pull off on the side of the road and waited for him to cycle up. Bill will have over 60 miles in and we’ll call it a day. When he cycled up, he had 61 miles in! So we loaded up and drove to the nearby Killens Pond State Park to spend the night among the trees. Thanks for reading.

Temperanceville, VA to Westover, MD

After talking about the tires last night, we decided it was time to buy 2 of them for the little beach house on wheels. One was bald about 4 inches in on both sides and was the worst of the 2. One of the gentlemen that worked at the campground told us that Walmart might have the tires we needed. We left about 9 this morning and started for the closest Walmart about 17 miles from the campground. When we arrived, Bill drove the camper around the back to the tire center. The tires would be $100 apiece! Yow! Also, Walmart is not allowed to remove them from your RV. So Bill got out the jack from the pickup and found a way to jack up the camper. After removing the first one, we decided that we could probably get by with it until the end of the trip. The mechanic did a spin balance on it, Bill put it back on, moved the jack to the other side, and removed the bad tire. Bill asked if they could put our new spare on the rim instead of buying another tire, but after much discussion and a little arguing amongst themselves, the answer was "No." So we now have one new shiny tire and we are no longer as concerned about having a flat out on the road.

While all of this was going on, I went in and bought a few groceries. It was almost noon by the time everything was done, so we drove over to Lake Somerset Campground to spend the night. I had found a square frozen pizza in Walmart that I thought might fit in my teeny oven so got the oven lit and heated up to bake it. It looked great but somehow burned in the center of the pizza. Not sure why that happened, but I bet it was because the pizza had thawed before I could bake it. The freezer in here takes awhile to freeze some things...it can take 3-5 days just to freeze Freeze Pops! So I think the pizza will have to wait until we get back home. Thanks for reading.

Kiptopeke, VA to Temperanceville, VA

The state park in Kiptopeke was nice and we woke up amongst the trees. High temperatures were predicted for today as well, so Bill was up and out at dawn.

Then it was pack up and put away any loose items in the little beach house on wheels, get my bad@ss self done up and get ready to go! LOL! Bill called just as I was pulling out of our camp spot to tell me how it was going. It was a tad bit cooler than it has been, so he has been doing well. As I was driving along, I noticed an abandoned school sitting back from the road.

This is the 4th abandoned school we've seen on this trip; some elementary schools but this one a high school. None of them had been repurposed into something else, seems like such a waste of a great building. Route 13 had a nice shoulder but the sections running through the towns had barely anything and that was where the traffic was busiest. It finally petered out to nothing so when Bill called, he had found a back road to ride on. I was headed his way when he called again to say his phone was dying and the cord to the battery (the flask) we had purchased for this purpose was missing. He was going to get back on 13 since he couldn't use his phone for navigation. He would call every few minutes and share what mile marker he was at and hang up. When I was close, he called to say he had pulled over up ahead in a parking lot. Fortunately, when used in very short calls, the phone lasted long enough for me to catch up to him. Without the phone, we would have had no way to find each other. Well, we could have done what we did on the first trip 27 years ago...ask the police to find him! We plugged the phone into the charger in the truck, packed up the bike and headed for our campsite. He had over 54 miles in and told me that he had met a sheriff on the side of the road and shared our story and a New Testament with him and thanked him for the job he does.

Thank-you sir! We drove a few miles to Temperanceville, VA to the Tall Pines Harbor Campground. I was looking through their literature and they have planned events almost every weekend from March to the end of October. They had a beautiful new pool, snack bar and showers with lots of building going on. They were having a cornhole tournament when we arrived and the night was a little noisy but everyone went home on Sunday morning so we had the place practically to ourselves.Bill showed me a picture he had taken of a Statue of Liberty that was alongside the road.

It turned out to be a statue for Liberty tax preparation! LOL! He went outside and took a look at the tires on the camper and that kind of bald one has him concerned. Looks like we might have to pick up a tire tomorrow. Thanks for reading. Oh, I almost forgot! Bill took a video of part of the Great Dismal Swamp to share with you. 

Wiliamston, NC to Kiptopeke, VA

Between no wifi and very slow wifi, we're having to play catch-up! Bill left with the sunrise

and I did my usual morning routine of packing up the little beach house on wheels. I set the Garmin for the next campground and started out about 2.5 hours later. Meanwhile, Bill met a State Trooper who was just finishing up a pull over. Bill waited and when the officer was through, he came over and talked with him.

Bill thanked him for the job he does and the officer expressed concern for our safety. Drivers are busy texting and not paying attention which has caused a rise in cycling deaths. Bill told him to ticket the next texting driver he saw and to say, "Bill sent me!" LOL! We shared a patch and Bill was on his way. Thank-You sir for the job you do! He stopped in Plymouth to see the police there but there were no officers present. The dispatcher took Bill's picture

and gave him patches to share with the police in Plymouth, Massachusetts when we arrive there.

While he was photographing an old building, he met a young man who was taking pictures of the same place. He was on his way to Nags Head to ride his bike there. He commented that he hoped he was still cycling at "Bill's age" LOL! Along the way, he met another cyclist who was along the same route and talked a bit and he told Bill he likes to get out for a 20 mile ride whenever he can...at 79 years old! Bill took his picture 

and continued on crossing a 3.5 mile bridge over the Albemarle Sound. Be careful out there sir! There was a high point in the bridge and he started filming. It was just at that time that I started over the bridge and saw him a long way off. I could tell he was filming and as he turned his back to me, I drove through his shot. Totally unplanned but a fun bit of serendipity. There was a pull off right after the bridge, so I pulled over to catch up with him. We laughed about the planning, since  I had gotten groceries and stopped for gas along the way. It was just so cool to drive by at just the right moment. You can see that video here on Facebook. I continued on in search of that evening's campground and made quite a few turns and ended up down near the water...the Garmin said I arrived, but there was no campground in sight. Fortunately, Bill had written down the phone number for me when he searched it out, so I gave them a quick call. I found out they were across town, they didn't do overnighters, and they were full. I checked the Garmin and found another one and gave them a call. They had room and I was all set. Called Bill to tell him not to go any further as we were going to a different campground. Now the challenge was to backtrack through all those turns and find Bill coming the other way. Just as I was beginning to think I might not have made that last turn right, there was Bill! He had just finished filming a harvester going through a corn field near a fire station. Since he had done his miles and it was starting to get into the 90's, we packed up and drove to Rocky Hock Campground in Edenton, NC. After a quiet evening and rest, it was time to head out again in the morning.

Since we weren't quite level the night before, we had raised the front jack so my head would be level with my feet when I'm in bed. I assured Bill I could manage getting the jack down in the morning and since I had watch him do it quite a few times, I managed it without a snag...:) I left later in the morning and headed down several different highways to get to our goal. Both of us crossed into Virginia

and as we got closer to Virginia Beach, we realized that the traffic was too crazy and the breakdown lane had virtually disappeared so packed Bill up and headed for the Virginia Beach 3rd Precinct police station. There we met Captain Orr

who had a patch and precinct pin for us.

We asked him about the route ahead and he urged us to be careful out there. Thank-you Captain for the job you do! The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel was not too far away,

so we drove there and crossed the bridge. It was a good thing Bill didn't try to cycle across, there wasn't room for bicycles there. It was a beautiful day to cross and I took a series of pictures to share with you on Facebook. Once we were on the other side, we stopped at a campground that was going to be $80 a night! We got back on the road and found a state park only a few miles away at half the cost. They had full hookups, showers, and a laundry room where we did the laundry for the week. It was quiet and we rested well. Thanks for reading. 

New Bern, NC to Williamston, NC

We spent a restful evening at the KOA last night, even got a few minutes in the pool. It felt so good to just drift in the water for a bit. This morning, Bill left about 6:45

and I got a nice shot of the sunrise.

When we are getting him ready to go in the morning, I reload his bag with patches and coins to trade with police and fire along the way. So this is what my table looks like in the aftermath. LOL!

Before I left I wrote in a few more of the New Testaments that we give away.

I left a couple of hours later and set the Garmin for our next campground, Green Acres Family Campground. I talked to Bill on the phone a couple of times and he was traveling on back roads  to the same destination. He was able to refill his water and pick up his mid-morning snack along the way so he was doing good. When I arrived at Green Acres, spoke with a very nice lady named Janice. She was very kind to us and checked us in. Just as we were finished chatting, Bill cycled up. I introduced him and Janice was very appreciative of what we were doing. When we were parked in our spot, Bill had a surprise for me. He found a pretty nice Pony clamp along the highway and picked it up.

With a little cleaning, it will make a nice addition to my shop back home. For supper, I cut up the leftover pork loin we had a couple of days ago and mixed it with some Noodle Roni Parmesan. Not exactly Julia Child, but it was delicious. As I looked out across the campground, I noticed the fire rings at each camping spot.

Recognize some of them? They are old rims! Hmm, I thought that would be a great idea for a fire pit back home. Our spot was near a pond, so we went to sleep to the sound of bullfrogs rumbling away. Thank-you for reading.

Surf City, NC to New Bern, NC

Bill pedaled away at 6:45 this morning as the sun was coming up over the marsh.

There were blue herons,white egrets, and the occasional seagull and I have missed the sounds of the water. The sunrise was beautiful this morning

and after I took pictures, I went inside to have my coffee and start my day. Since there was no wifi, I was able to get all my chores done a little faster. I thought I might find a Walmart and get a little grocery shopping in before catching up to Bill, so packed up and searched the Garmin for the nearest one...19 miles away! Hmm, that won't do. Guess I will just catch up to him a little sooner. When I caught up to him, he told me about his visit with the Jacksonville police. As he was pedaling there, he came to a gate into the Marine base and pedaled by. Then he thought he'd turn around and see if a military person was at the gate so he could thank him. A young Marine was the gate guard so Bill told him what we were doing and gave him a New Testament and our card . He was very intrigued and actually called Bill about 30 minutes later to ask more questions about our journey. As he left, Bill saw a Sheriff's car up ahead and pulled over to say Thank-You. When he told him who he was, the officer said, "You're the one we've been waiting for!" So he headed over to the Sheriff's office first. Since the Sheriff there was busy at the time, he decided to go over to the Police Department which was close by.

There he met Captain Randall Nordstrom, talked at length and traded patches and coins with him.

On his way out of the parking lot, he met another officer leaving in his vehicle and stopped to say Thank-You and tell him what we were doing.

Bill continued back to the Sheriff's Office and met with Brian Bailey (center) and Chris Bradley. (right)

Hopefully, we will get a better picture to post here. Brian exchanged patches and coins

and Chris is an avid cyclist and told Bill how his grandfather was a retired police officer and was instrumental in getting the Marine's symbol, the Globe and Anchor, on their patch because the base is located there. He gave Bill the black and grey police patch and said how they were rare as they had the old building on that patch, The new patch has the new building. Thank-you all so much for the jobs you do! He thanked them again and said his good-byes and they watched him leave. By early afternoon, he had over 71 miles in so it was time to call it a day. I drove to the New Bern KOA where a kind lady there directed me to the camping spot and helped me pull in. When Bill arrived, the air was on and there was chicken in the oven! We enjoyed a nice meal together and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. Thanks for reading.

Shallotte, NC to Surf City, NC

Bill was off at 6:45 this morning

and I got everything done and waited for his call. At about 10, he called and said he was at the Wilmington, NC Police Headquarters.

He said bring bail money....just kidding! There was a journalist due to arrive at 11:30 so I pulled in the slide, unplugged the electrical cord and set the Garmin. When I arrived, There was a nice big area for me to park in and I saw that the journalist from WECT Channel 6 had just arrived and was setting up. While she interviewed Bill,

I spoke with Captain Perkins and found out that he and his wife know Kelley Donahue! Remember her? She was the Lieutenant that was part of an interview with us back in Madison, WI. They had bicycled together in the Police Unity Tour and later Captain Perkins sent us a picture of the group.

It surely is a small world. He also gave Bill one of the bracelets that he makes

and also traded a patch and coin with him.

I took a few pictures of the outside of the building and the memorial there.

There was a blue line down the center of the sidewalk leading up to the memorial that was illuminated at night. I found this night shot of it on the internet.

Such a beautiful memorial. Before I arrived, Bill got a nice shot of Captain Perkins with his bicycle

and pictures of Deputy Chief Mitch Cunningham

and Captain Perkins in front of the memorial.

While Baily Hicks was conducting the interview, Officer Knight arrived and was trying to quietly go around but Bill didn't didn't let him get away and he was heartily thanked. He even made it into the interview on the 6:00 news! (News Story) Thank-you all so much for the job you do! Once everything was done, Bill rode away

and I headed back to the highway, The first campground I stopped at turned me away as they were full and didn't take overnighters. The Garmin listed another one just 1.6 miles away so I gave Bill a call so he could change his route. Once the plan was set, I headed that way and shortly arrived at Lanier's Campground. All the camping spots were back-in which is definitely not one of my talents. I thought, "Well, how hard can it be; guys do it all the time." I so wish someone had been there with a video camera, the film would have gone viral! LOL! I must have tried at least a dozen times to get in there...this way, that way, with very little progress. I took a deep breath and tried a few more time and Shazam! I was in! When Bill cycled up about 45 minutes later, he complimented me on my parking skills. I told him he missed a great show and we laughed together. It was a nice spot, only about 10 feet from the intracoastal waterway. We watched the shorebirds for a bit, then went inside to work. Bill told me that before he arrived at the Wilmington Police Headquarters, he had met three different officers along the side of the road. They were on the lookout for a car that was involved in a hit and run. Bill pedaled up the first one and talked with him and he gave Bill a coin,

then he pedaled a mile up to the second one where they chatted for a bit. Then he pedaled another mile to meet the third one. The second one had called ahead to let the third one know that Bill was headed his way. After crossing the bridge he met the third officer who called the second one back to let him know that Bill had crossed the bridge safely. We are indeed being watched over. Thank-you gentlemen for the job you do! After he left the Wilmington police, he saw three more officers and shared with them our journey. Thank-you all so much for what you do and for your concern for us. So after a very busy day, we enjoyed a peaceful night in our little spot near the water. Thanks for reading.