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.