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Published: June 19th 2018
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This morning started with the usual wake up sore & exhausted in a dark corner, shimmy into shams, roll up the therm & sleeping bag, and finish getting everything packed and out to the trailer. As breakfast crew, we were pleased that we had another host provided breakfast that was deeeelicious & filled the room with the smell of biscuits and bacon—so many people said “It smells amazing in here!” We grabbed our biscuits (except for Beth who volunteered to not have one since there was only 15–sweetheart) and plates full of bacon, eggs, and potatoes with a side of orange juice. No coffee today so we were on a mission after route meeting, where Noah shared town facts and we laugh the whole way through it bc “were all getting older.”
During breakfast I had asked NJ is she would like to ride with me and since there was no coffee @ Sarah knew I would of course be stopping for some, she asked to join us, along with Magpie. The four of us rolled out and got lost at cue 1–already off to a great start! We turned around & found outselves on a busy road with no
shoulder and lots of cars flying past us. Luckily it only lasted for a mile or two, but by the time we pulled into the parking lot, we already needed a debrief. Hopefully I can ride my bike not like a drunk person swerving all over the place! ?After grabbing an iced hazelnut Starbucks turbo shot can for myself and a cold coke for NJ, we debriefed and got our heads straight while the other groups joined us. After hanging for a bit, we rolled on more roads that were pretty busy with fast cars, thus not allowing for us to talk too much.
We got to lunch at the SC welcome center and enjoyed left over cold lasagna & filled up on water and/or Gatorade. I cranked out some push-ups and we went on a mission for a tourist with Air Monarchs for the sweep challenge video with the snap anklets. Though we were unsuccessful in creating a funny video, the other two team nailed it with a snap bracelet hoagie from subway (bonus pints for local involvement!) and an accidental dumping of a 5 gallon water cooler on a crazy Mikey. These kids are creative & I
love it!
After lunch, we got lost again after a disastttt changing of lanes and decline down a hill, which called for another debriefing. All with the goal of safety and better riding practices in mind, we rolled on to our Stateline sign just outside of Calabash. We posted up for some pics and of course took as a pyramid. After Sarah got yelled at for being “classy” we rolled on with more miles to complete.
As we came around the bend at Sunset Beach, we found a pop up market and just had to stop! I hastily bought a compass keychain before they closed in 10 minutes and then we walked on in search of a succulent for NJ/the team. Finding the perfect one & chatting about our trip, we got a $1 discount and covered NJ since she still hasn’t retrieved her lost wallet yet. We then continued to the lemonade tent run by Jim and his wife Chris where they fresh squeezed some lemonade for us—free of charge! They, and many others at the tents around, were impressed by our trip and while we took a picture with the free dressing guys, we received a
donation from a stranger from another vendor who was inspired by our trip and wished us the best of luck. Feeling fired up about our dragon l’s mouth succulent (who we named Sunny since we got him at Sunset Beach!) and our fresh lemonade, we geared up and rolled on.
Of course that didn’t last long since Sarah had to pee (again!) and then we rolled on talking about One Tree Hill and stopping to consider go carting. Since it was late and the hosts were waiting to escort us to our home stays, we decided to pass this time and continued to ride on. And good thing we did since the hosts were all eager waiting and eager to take us home. It’s not very often we have home stays (sleeping at someone’s house rather than on the floor at a church!), but they are always a very special treat!
Sarah and I got matched up with Molly and we gathered our things and drove a few miles down the street to her lovely home on water. We took our time showering and were excited to do our laundry in a home and not on a laundry
loop! We enjoyed snacking on some apples with peanut butter and local honey and chatting until we had to leave for dinner. At dinner we had a potluck with the church members and we make an effort to spread out and talk with the various church members. Though I wasn’t joined by anyone on my team, I enjoyed talking with Lantz, Peggy, Carol, John, and Ann while enjoying some fried chicken, lots of different fixings, delicious banana pie and fresh warm pound cake made by Peggy—an 11.5 our of 10 according to one of the church ladies! Lantz shared his & Peggy’s love story with me and it was just my favorite—college lovers, married other people, and after both widowed, married each other!
Dinner crew quickly presented (Lantz couldn’t stay away from Peggy, moving to her pew just to be able to sit by her!) and then we decided that route meeting would not happen tonight. We all went home with our families and Molly, Sarah, and I headed for to Ocean Isle Beach! Though a storm threatened to come, it was off shore enough and allowed us to have a wonderful time enjoying the beach and taking pictures.
Back at home, we enjoyed some deck sunset views and rocked the evening away on the front porch—one of my favorite summer pass times and took me back to those times rocking away on Christine’s porch ?
Beyond exhausted, Sarah and I went inside to fold our laundry and I shared with her how I was sad bc it was the anniversary of when Grandmom died. Getting a tad upset, it was nice to just be able to talk about it out loud. Seriously debating writing the blog or getting sleep (this is always my struggle—that and not having WiFi and/or wanting to hang with the team) I opted for sleep since it was probably my only opportunity on the trip to go to bed quietly and in a bed! With a later wake up time, I was pumped to be settling in for 7.5 hours of sleep in a bed! I guess my freak out & wishes from the other night came to pass & I was oh so grateful...!
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