Honeymoon Trip – Day 2

False Cape State Park to Kitty Hawk, NC

Route for Day 2

36 miles biking, 7 miles hiking.

A day full of misadventures!

We were up early – falling asleep at 8pm has that effect. The plan was to ride a few miles through the interior of the park on service roads, then struggle for a few miles along the beach before the tide came in. Unfortunately, the high tide was at 11:30, making beach riding impossible from about 9:30 to 1:30 (and even later, as we learned). The ride along the interior roads was calm and pleasant. Surprisingly, there were dunes, small hills, a forest, and a swamp to discover. It was an awful lot of diversity in a tiny little strip of coastal land.

A view of the forest in False Cape State Park

We were back on the beach by 9:00, and limped along the soft sand for a half hour until calling it quits. We tied the bicycles to a sign near the dunes and headed inland on foot to take a hike through the park to pass the hours waiting for the tide.

We were hiking nearly 7 miles! The trails were all flat, but sandy, making the hike tiring. We made it to the North Carolina border on foot, and saw a wild beast running through the forest. Jason insists it was a feral pig, but Daisy thinks it was a more mundane deer. We’ll never know…

After a lunch in the dunes we returned to the bikes at 1:30 and headed back out to the waterline in search of firm sand to ride on.

Tire tracks show just how soft the sand was.

Sections of firm sand existed… but were fleeting. It was tough going, and sometimes we had

The view just after passing the North Carolina border.

to walk. The tide just wasn’t out far enough to reveal a good riding surface. Also, it was getting cold. We excitedly watched the North Caroline border get closer and closer, dreaming of rideable roads. When we got there…. well, the news wasn’t good.

The vacation homes had been built on sand, and the roads inland were soft sand, and the only way to reach this isolated section of North Carolina was… along the beach, in the sand. In fact, the state actually considers this beach to be a highway and has mileposts along the dunes. Just as the ranger said… 10.5 miles of beach riding awaited us.

We were resigned to push, ride, and continue. What other option was there? Well, lady luck was with us. Within a mile of our cold struggle’s beginning the local Sheriff drove up alongside us. With an amused grin he asked what we were doing, and if we wanted a ride to pavement. Our answer was a grateful yes. We loaded up the bikes and gear in his truck and climbed in for a crazy beach ride. The Sheriff seemed pleased to have us, as he was nearing the end of a slow 12 hour shift. He took us inland to see the local ‘wild horses’, supposedly descended from Spanish mustangs that escaped a sinking ship and swam ashore. They were shaggy, and lounging about in the lawns of vacant vacation homes.

Currituck Lighthouse.

He also took us to see the giant sand hill that had supposedly swallowed a town. Finally, he dropped us off on sweet pavement nearby a house that Dave Matthews was rumored to have built. We really got the best tour, free of charge! The Sheriff also told us where to go to see the local lighthouse on our way through town.

We decided to pay to climb the lighthouse and get a view of the narrow strip of sand we had been riding on. It was an impressive vista, with ocean on one side and a large Bay on the other. A row of water towers marked the small towns that awaited us to the south.

The view south from Currituck Lighthouse

We headed south, pushed by a tailwind, and motivated by the rapidly sinking sun. The sun was gone by the time we reached Kitty Hawk, our destination. We had planned to stay in the local hostel, but they were closed. They offered us a deal on the campground – only $10 each… but we found a motel for $20 each, and the extra money was well worth not having to set up the tent in the freezing cold. Our toes were bloodless by the time we checked in to the Buccaneer – a super budget motel.

The Buccaneer

We splurged a bit to get dinner out (fish and chips!). We spent some time de-sanding our belongings, and were asleep by 9, grateful to not be wild-camping in the dunes!

Honeymoon Trip – Days 0 and 1.

Route for Day 1

After the wedding, we limped through a busy week at work trying to wrap up a few projects and prepare for our honeymoon. The plan was to drive down to Virginia beach (a 7 hour drive), park the car at Jason’s grandparents’ house, and start riding south towards the outer banks. The route was to be a 7-day loop planned through a combination of Adventure Cycling maps and Google Maps. Using Google got us into a little bit of trouble at times… more on that later. First, an account of the trip’s beginnings.

Day 0 / 1: Drive to Virginia Beach, Day 1: Virginia Beach to False Cape State Park.

We put both beds in the motel room to good use.

We left State College at 5:00 on Friday, and after an uneventful 4-hour drive we stayed in a motel in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Daisy’s bike got to sleep on it’s own bed.

The next day we were out early and were setting off on bikes before noon. It was a bit chilly, but nothing that good headwear and gloves couldn’t handle.

And we’re off! The trip begins.

We rode south on busy, giant divided roads through Virginia Beach. This place was designed for motor vehicles, not bicycles, which is a shame because it’s a fantastically flat locale and has perfect potential to be a bicycle commuter’s dream. Oh well.

The traffic continued until we were well out of town and reached the seaside. We started to see houses on stilts and sand. As we headed down the dead-end road towards a wildlife refuge traffic was almost non-existent.

Empty road en route to Back Bay Wildlife Refuge.

The plan was to ride through Back Bay Wildlife Refuge to get to False Cape State Park – a park that is only accessible on foot or bicycle. During this time of the year, it is only possible to reach the park by riding along the sand for 3 miles during low tide. We were very concerned that it would not support our fully-loaded bicycles, but it did! It was incredible to ride away from tourist-congested beaches to untouched seashore.

We rode along the sand towards a hidden, untouched jewel of a park.

We were so very pleased to learn we could ride and wouldn’t have to push the bikes for miles!

There was about 4 miles of beach riding before we found the entrance to the State park through the dunes. We saw sandpipers, seagulls, and pelicans as we rode.

The campsite was just off the beach, in a protected grove of live oak trees. We had to push the bikes through some loose sand to get there, but we made it.

We took a stroll around the park after we set up camp, and found the ranger station. The ranger was very friendly, and when we told her of our plan to ride the beach south into North Carolina she warned us that there were 10.5 more miles of beach before we would find pavement. Google had shown us a neighborhood right at the border only a few miles away! We decided to worry about it the next day, and headed off to watch the sunset.

Sunset over Back Bay

We made dinner in the dark, and were ready for bed by 6:00. In fact, the campsite was so spectacularly isolated that we saw the Milky Way at 6:15! We crawled into our warm sleeping bags for a bit of reading, and were asleep by 8:00. A great first day on our Honeymoon!

It’s official – we’re married!

November 16, 2013

We had a small ceremony in Deep Creek, Maryland, where we rented a vacation home and gathered with our closest family and friends. Our ceremony was short and sweet, and the highlight was this video we made telling our story so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc94SJDyrUM&feature=youtu.be

We ate cake.

Our wedding cake and homemade toppers

And we posed for pictures.

Cyclists at our wedding pretend to ride bikes.

Do you see the beautiful arch in background? Daisy refused to have real flowers (being named after a flower made her avoid the real thing). Instead, her mother organized the guests and together we made tissue flowers to decorate the arch we got married under. It was lovely.

Our friend Derek got ordained online and officiated the ceremony.

A friend got ordained online to officiate. He was great!

Jason’s grandmother was an honored guest.

Daisy’s best friend from childhood (And also her senior prom date!) played music for us all evening.

Once the fun was done, we somehow had to fit all the leftover food back in our subcompact car… along with us and Daisy’s parents.

How much can we fit in a tiny car?

It was a tight fit!

We had to pile more stuff around the passengers to fit it all.

We had to pile stuff around the passengers to fit it all.

In all, the wedding was more successful than we had dared to hope. We fed 20 people for four meals, we made our own wedding dinner, and put our own twist on time-honored traditions. Daisy’s wedding dress? A sport dress made in her hometown – we’ll dye it a different color and take it on tour with us. Jason’s wedding outfit? Thank goodness for Amazon prime! Also, it turns out that ‘slim fit’ is not slim enough – we had to have his shirt and vest both taken in. In the end, it was memorable and fun. There was almost no drama, but probably because the house rule was to listen to bridezilla… er… Daisy.

We’ll be taking our ‘honeymoon’ next week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, on our new touring bikes. We’ll keep updating to let you know how the gear holds up and where we stay when all the campgrounds are closed for the season.

The happy couple ready for the next adventure.

P.S. – For those of you who knew Hamlet, the service dog we trained this last year, you’ll be pleased to know that we are welcoming another trainee after the honeymoon!

First S24HO on the new bikes

S24HO is bike slang for Sub-24-Hour-Overnight. It’s like a mini-vacation on your bike that makes the weekend seem about twice as long. This weekend was our fist overnight with the new bicycles, and they did not disappoint!

We left the house at nearly 4:00 in the afternoon, bundled up against the cold. Part of the goal for this mini-trip was to see how prepared we were for cold conditions.

Leaving the apartment for our first overnight on the new bicycles

Within moments of leaving the parking lot we realized we had forgotten the bicycle pump and had to return for it. We were laughing at the ridiculousness of it, but there was no way we would venture into the Pennsylvania forest without it!

The ride out was pleasant, and we soon were on dirt and gravel roads in the nearby state forest. We climbed over a ridge very slowly, enjoying the low gears on our bikes. At the top we met another cyclist as we pulled all our gear back on for the descent. He warned us of a porcupine in the middle of the road ahead, but by the time we got there it had gone. Awaiting us was an even better surprise: a fantastic sunset framed by the valley ahead.

A beautiful sunset was our reward for the climb.

In the waning light we hurried to our designated campsite – a picnic table and firepit in a small field. There are lots of hidden (and free!) sites like this in the State Forests. Technically, you should call ahead and get a permit, but no one is crazy enough to use them in November, so we didn’t bother to. We quickly got a fire going and started cooking our dinner. The fire was slow to light, but surprised us with its vigor once we got it going! It was certainly worth it to have hauled the firewood all the way in…

The fire roared to life, surprising us with its ferocity.

I only lit the picnic table on fire for a brief moment as I prepped the stove for dinner. Oops!

Jason, the bikes, and the tent in the early morning.

We were in the tent early, and our 20 degree down bags were more than adequate. Plus, we

All our tent items packed up and ready for the bikes.

were both wearing two pairs of pants, hats, and multiple shirts. The morning seemed almost warm despite being in the low forties. We rode out of the valley and through the lovely late autumn woods before climbing back out of the ridge and then descending quickly into State College. It turns out that our 30 mile S24HO had 2,350 feet of elevation gain! Not too shabby for the first time on our loaded bikes. We are already looking forward to our next excursion.

Jason enjoys the nearly car-free forest roads

A gradual climb helps wake me up!

The Philtrons Pedal North

Cycling the Americas

Honeymoon Trip – Day 2

Honeymoon Trip – Days 0 and 1.

It’s official – we’re married!

First S24HO on the new bikes