Day 3: To Bald Point State Park, FL (932 kms)

I broke camp at dawn and walked off the beach as the sun was rising out of the Atlantic.

There is a series of coastal ferries in North Carolina and taking one would save me backtracking 60kms or so, but I had no information on the schedule. Happily, and seemingly for the first time in my motorcycling career, I arrived at the ferry terminal with four minutes remaining before the 08:30 departure and rolled right on the vessel. The crossing was 30 mins and I spoke the entire time with one of the crewmembers who conveyed facts about the civil war, opinions on seabirds, advice on driving routes and stories about dogsledding near Banff.

After disembarking, I crossed SC and Georgia. As with so many days of riding I contemplated stopping before the intended destination, but as I crossed the state line into Florida I got a second wind. Nearing the Gulf Coast I stopped for dinner at a seafood restaurant; it made me think of previous trips with Yuri and the Barking Crab in Boston and catfish in Louisiana.

Finally, I did the last hit to Bald Point. Like last night, the park was shuttered, but I've found a secluded public beach access and I'll pitch tent here for the night.

Life on the road.

Day 2: Washington to Carolina Beach, NC (740 kms)

My second day of riding started very wet and cold. But my gear is mostly working well, which is a good thing since I think we'll get a lot of rain on this trip. As I rode into North Carolina the sky cleared, just in time for some college football! I rolled into Chapel Hill and watched the first half of the Tar Heels play the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (isn't that the best nick name?!). It was a sloppy but exciting game full of turnovers, blocked punts, long runs and 40+ yard passing plays. At half time, I got back on the bike heading for the coast. The state park at Carolina Beach was closed for the night, but the beach and town were quiet (it's October) so eventually I found a quiet spot to camp on the beach. Medium surf and bright stars.

Day 1: Ottawa to Washington, DC (946kms)

First day went smoothly. Scott Blaylock rode me out of town and all the way to Syracuse, NY. (thanks, Scott!) It was freezing, actually -3. That's cold on a bike. There was even some clumpy wet snow on the ground in some of the higher elevations. Once I descended down into southern Pennsylvania and towards Baltimore, the temps rose and so did my spirits. It was nice to be on the road finally, but my mind and body slow down with prolonged exposure to the wind chill of a moto at speed. I rolled into DC around 8pm and went straight to rendezvous with Niall O'Dea and his friend Brian. Today's photo shows them enjoying the final out of Game 7 of the World Series.

Goodbye ride

The second phase of the trip is starting: Nathan left from Vancouver today; and I'm leaving from Ottawa in four days. Yuri organized a goodbye party for me on Friday night and today I went for a goodbye ride with my Ottawa moto crew (video below).