We both had a much needed good nights sleep and while Marty fixed the trailers lights I went for a bike ride along the canal. It warned of wild animals, snakes and the like but I never saw any or anybody. By the time I returned (a nice easy 6 mile ride) the Welcome Centre was open 
and we soon left armed with half a forest and the knowledge that the canal was part of the network that links Maine with Florida. Part of the canal was originally hand dug by slaves but over the years it has been widened and extended by machines to make it into the very busy boating highway it is today.
We made our way to Pettigrew State Park in the eastern corner of North Carolina. It is situated on Lake Phelps and we were amazed to discover that we could actually swim here. The Lake is 16600 acres and the average depth is 4½ feet deep so we did have to walk out quite a long way to have a decent swim. But it was worth it. We were the only ones swimming while we were there.
Next to the camp was Somerset House. This is the former home of a very wealthy Plantation owner and one of the areas biggest owners of slaves in the area during the days of slavery. We went on a
guided tour (again just us) of the property which was really interesting. The house was amazing. The guy was loaded but by the end of the civil war he was dead and the family was broke. A not uncommon scenario for plantation owners it seems.
We decided we would ride out to the Outer Banks catching the ferry from Swan Quarter to Ocracoke then ride up to Kittyhawk and back to camp. We were a little late leaving (no more than 10 minutes) but the back roads down to Swan Quarter were empty so we were able to get along at a good pace. We arrived in Swan Quarter but couldn’t find the road to the ferry. Turns out it
was closed and there was a detour but this was not very well signposted from the way we had come. It was nearly departure time so we sped up but the bike was having none of this and did another “Memphis”. By the time we arrived at the terminal the ferry was on its way. The next one wouldn’t be leaving till 1pm which wasn’t practical so we decided to head down to the historic town of Bath and see what that had to offer. Nothing really but Blackbeard did live there for a while. A lady we were talking to a little further down the track said the most interesting thing to see in Bath is the Information Centre and we didn’t go there. By the time we had meandered our way home we had clocked up just over 200 miles. We decided to go for a swim but rather than go at the boat ramp in the camp we decided to check out another swimming beach the ranger told us about that had a sandy bottom. (it was a bit sludgy where we were). A nice ride and we had the area to ourselves except for the odd snapping turtle. By the time we got back to camp we had ridden another 40 miles and just about needed another swim it was so warm.
Next morning we were on the road in good time and actually made it to the ferry with 20 minutes to spare. As we pulled up I said to Marty that I hoped we hadn’t missed it again
because it was not to be seen. He said it probably hasn’t quite arrived and will just be a quick turn around type ferry. Wrong!! It had broken down and hadn’t even left the other side so we were fated not to get to Ocracoke. We decided to ride up to Manns Harbour and take the bridge over to Kittyhawk and if time permitted ride down to Ocracoke and catch the ferry back to Swan Quarter. The road to Mann Harbour was straight and boring but we could scoot along so that helped. We went to the Wright Brothers Museum and had a look around and listened to the historical lecture then at the question and answer time asked the guy where he thought 
Richard Pearce fitted in to the picture. He really didn’t want to go there but we had a fun time winding him up.
Left there and began our descent to Ocracoke. 20 miles later and having seen nothing but sand hills we stopped at Pea Island and walked out to have a look at the Atlantic Ocean. I was disappointed not to see any surf but at least there were people on the beach and you could swim. We asked a couple what the next 40 miles of road was like scenery wise and as it was more of the same we didn’t fancy it so headed back the way we had come and then took the Inter State back to Camp. I saw a Black Bear along the road but by the time Marty had stopped and turned around it had gone. Despite signs promising alligator sightings we never saw any. Found a nice little café in Columbia where we stopped for a very late lunch. Another 250 miles clocked up.
Next day we loaded the backpack with the laundry and headed back to Columbia. It was not a pleasant ride as at 70 odd mph the wind was catching the top of the pack and trying to pull me off. I had to ask Marty to slow down for the return trip. We revisited the café (they made a really yummy strawberry and cream cheese croissant) and had a good old yak to the owner. Before we left he gave us a packet of freshly baked pecan cookies for the trip so if anybody travels through Columbia you must go to the Scuppernong Mill House Café.
I
had convinced Marty that we really should hang around in Nth Carolina and attend the Jampot Rally in Maggie Valley. He doesn’t do hanging around well and to have to do it for three weeks was not easy for him. After 4 days at Lake Phelps he was getting twitchy so we headed off towards the west and Falls Lake Park that also offered swimming. He wasn’t amused when I somehow had us heading back to the east coast and Virginia Beach St Park on the coast when we were only about 40 miles from our destination. Don’t know what happened there as I was watching the map. The west just seemed to say east!! No real harm done just gas down the gurgler and 
we did make camp before dark. The lake level was so low here that the designated swimming area had no water in it at all and I didn’t fancy my chances further out amongst the many speeding boats and jet skis so we had to be content with a couple of small hikes instead. After a couple of days a twitch was detected so we made our way to Hanging Rock State Park. Disappointment again as the swimming beach was closed here as summer had ended 2 days previously. I thought we could still sneak in a swim but the beach was inaccessible due to a high wooden fence and locked gate. We did a small hike to a waterfall but the drought had taken care of that and not a drop of water to be seen. The cave on the same trail was merely a hole in the rock. An outing on the bike around some of the back roads was fun. We stopped in the historic town of Danbury. We didn’t find anything historic to look at but it must be one hell of a party town on Friday and Saturday nights because the biggest advertising signs were for the AA meeting on a Thursday night and the Bail Bond Centre. Unfortunately we were there during the week so we never did find out for sure.
Rumblings of boredom and discontent were being heard as we headed towards Lake Norman State Park. Here we found what we were looking for. A nice camp, swimming, fishing, biking and centrally located so that we could visit some AJS & Matchless Owners we knew. We finally succumbed and bought ourselves a couple of cheap fishing rods (or poles as they say here) and licenses and hit the water. Our camp hostess was a keen fisherman so it wasn’t long before we had convinced her to join us. We fished most nights with little success. Patsy managed to catch quite a few little fish and Marty the odd small catfish. I never caught anything till the last night and all three are hardly worth mentioning. Patsy and I had a deal. She would put the horrible wriggly worms on my hook and I would taker the fish off hers. It worked very well. Marty had to do all the untangling and remove any catfish as there was no way Patsy and I were going to get “horned” by one.
I biked most every morning, even venturing onto the mountain bike track but I didn’t really enjoy doing that on my own so stuck to the park roads. I had a nice 7 mile circuit to ride. One morning I crossed paths with a coyote so that convinced me even more not to go onto the mountain bike trail alone.
We spent a day with Horace and Susan at Hickory. Horace has a large collection of old bikes, mainly BSA, Triumph and Harley waiting to be restored. Also has several BMW’s. His shed was a real treasure trove and it was hard to get Marty out. Another enjoyable day was spent with Kevin (ex kiwi) and his wife Susan in Charlotte. Kevin gave Marty some NZ, UK and American Jampot magazines to read so I was spared my nightly thrashings for a few nights while he read them. That is at cards in case you were wondering. The hat trick of visits ended with a ride over to John and Diana’s place a little further round the lake. John has a very impressive line up of AMC machinery. His shed kept Marty occupied for almost as long as Horace’s had. We all went to a seafood restaurant for dinner and had a great time. Even the waitress was a bit of humour. She would be good value at a party.
Time had flown by and before we knew a week had passed and the Jampot was only 3 days away so we packed up and said our goodbyes to Kurt and Patsy and set sail for Maggie Valley. This was the first time I had really felt sad to be leaving. Patsy and I both had tears in our eyes as we had a final goodbye hug. But as per normal nothing is ever that easy and we only got as far as the dump station. It was locked so we had to go back to their site to get the combination. While parked there I discovered that one of the trailer tyres was way past it’s used by date so Marty had to do a tyre change. Luckily we have 2 spares onboard so it wasn’t a drama. Curt and Patsy both came down and we got yarning again and nearly an hour past before we finally hit the road.
We had a straight through run to the campsite at Maggie Valley. From here we plan to do lots of motorcycling including the Jampot Rally and judging from the number of bikes that are here tearing around the roads there is no shortage of fun to be had.
and we soon left armed with half a forest and the knowledge that the canal was part of the network that links Maine with Florida. Part of the canal was originally hand dug by slaves but over the years it has been widened and extended by machines to make it into the very busy boating highway it is today.We made our way to Pettigrew State Park in the eastern corner of North Carolina. It is situated on Lake Phelps and we were amazed to discover that we could actually swim here. The Lake is 16600 acres and the average depth is 4½ feet deep so we did have to walk out quite a long way to have a decent swim. But it was worth it. We were the only ones swimming while we were there.
Next to the camp was Somerset House. This is the former home of a very wealthy Plantation owner and one of the areas biggest owners of slaves in the area during the days of slavery. We went on a
guided tour (again just us) of the property which was really interesting. The house was amazing. The guy was loaded but by the end of the civil war he was dead and the family was broke. A not uncommon scenario for plantation owners it seems.We decided we would ride out to the Outer Banks catching the ferry from Swan Quarter to Ocracoke then ride up to Kittyhawk and back to camp. We were a little late leaving (no more than 10 minutes) but the back roads down to Swan Quarter were empty so we were able to get along at a good pace. We arrived in Swan Quarter but couldn’t find the road to the ferry. Turns out it
was closed and there was a detour but this was not very well signposted from the way we had come. It was nearly departure time so we sped up but the bike was having none of this and did another “Memphis”. By the time we arrived at the terminal the ferry was on its way. The next one wouldn’t be leaving till 1pm which wasn’t practical so we decided to head down to the historic town of Bath and see what that had to offer. Nothing really but Blackbeard did live there for a while. A lady we were talking to a little further down the track said the most interesting thing to see in Bath is the Information Centre and we didn’t go there. By the time we had meandered our way home we had clocked up just over 200 miles. We decided to go for a swim but rather than go at the boat ramp in the camp we decided to check out another swimming beach the ranger told us about that had a sandy bottom. (it was a bit sludgy where we were). A nice ride and we had the area to ourselves except for the odd snapping turtle. By the time we got back to camp we had ridden another 40 miles and just about needed another swim it was so warm.Next morning we were on the road in good time and actually made it to the ferry with 20 minutes to spare. As we pulled up I said to Marty that I hoped we hadn’t missed it again
because it was not to be seen. He said it probably hasn’t quite arrived and will just be a quick turn around type ferry. Wrong!! It had broken down and hadn’t even left the other side so we were fated not to get to Ocracoke. We decided to ride up to Manns Harbour and take the bridge over to Kittyhawk and if time permitted ride down to Ocracoke and catch the ferry back to Swan Quarter. The road to Mann Harbour was straight and boring but we could scoot along so that helped. We went to the Wright Brothers Museum and had a look around and listened to the historical lecture then at the question and answer time asked the guy where he thought 
Richard Pearce fitted in to the picture. He really didn’t want to go there but we had a fun time winding him up.Left there and began our descent to Ocracoke. 20 miles later and having seen nothing but sand hills we stopped at Pea Island and walked out to have a look at the Atlantic Ocean. I was disappointed not to see any surf but at least there were people on the beach and you could swim. We asked a couple what the next 40 miles of road was like scenery wise and as it was more of the same we didn’t fancy it so headed back the way we had come and then took the Inter State back to Camp. I saw a Black Bear along the road but by the time Marty had stopped and turned around it had gone. Despite signs promising alligator sightings we never saw any. Found a nice little café in Columbia where we stopped for a very late lunch. Another 250 miles clocked up.
Next day we loaded the backpack with the laundry and headed back to Columbia. It was not a pleasant ride as at 70 odd mph the wind was catching the top of the pack and trying to pull me off. I had to ask Marty to slow down for the return trip. We revisited the café (they made a really yummy strawberry and cream cheese croissant) and had a good old yak to the owner. Before we left he gave us a packet of freshly baked pecan cookies for the trip so if anybody travels through Columbia you must go to the Scuppernong Mill House Café.I
had convinced Marty that we really should hang around in Nth Carolina and attend the Jampot Rally in Maggie Valley. He doesn’t do hanging around well and to have to do it for three weeks was not easy for him. After 4 days at Lake Phelps he was getting twitchy so we headed off towards the west and Falls Lake Park that also offered swimming. He wasn’t amused when I somehow had us heading back to the east coast and Virginia Beach St Park on the coast when we were only about 40 miles from our destination. Don’t know what happened there as I was watching the map. The west just seemed to say east!! No real harm done just gas down the gurgler and 
we did make camp before dark. The lake level was so low here that the designated swimming area had no water in it at all and I didn’t fancy my chances further out amongst the many speeding boats and jet skis so we had to be content with a couple of small hikes instead. After a couple of days a twitch was detected so we made our way to Hanging Rock State Park. Disappointment again as the swimming beach was closed here as summer had ended 2 days previously. I thought we could still sneak in a swim but the beach was inaccessible due to a high wooden fence and locked gate. We did a small hike to a waterfall but the drought had taken care of that and not a drop of water to be seen. The cave on the same trail was merely a hole in the rock. An outing on the bike around some of the back roads was fun. We stopped in the historic town of Danbury. We didn’t find anything historic to look at but it must be one hell of a party town on Friday and Saturday nights because the biggest advertising signs were for the AA meeting on a Thursday night and the Bail Bond Centre. Unfortunately we were there during the week so we never did find out for sure.
Rumblings of boredom and discontent were being heard as we headed towards Lake Norman State Park. Here we found what we were looking for. A nice camp, swimming, fishing, biking and centrally located so that we could visit some AJS & Matchless Owners we knew. We finally succumbed and bought ourselves a couple of cheap fishing rods (or poles as they say here) and licenses and hit the water. Our camp hostess was a keen fisherman so it wasn’t long before we had convinced her to join us. We fished most nights with little success. Patsy managed to catch quite a few little fish and Marty the odd small catfish. I never caught anything till the last night and all three are hardly worth mentioning. Patsy and I had a deal. She would put the horrible wriggly worms on my hook and I would taker the fish off hers. It worked very well. Marty had to do all the untangling and remove any catfish as there was no way Patsy and I were going to get “horned” by one.I biked most every morning, even venturing onto the mountain bike track but I didn’t really enjoy doing that on my own so stuck to the park roads. I had a nice 7 mile circuit to ride. One morning I crossed paths with a coyote so that convinced me even more not to go onto the mountain bike trail alone.
We spent a day with Horace and Susan at Hickory. Horace has a large collection of old bikes, mainly BSA, Triumph and Harley waiting to be restored. Also has several BMW’s. His shed was a real treasure trove and it was hard to get Marty out. Another enjoyable day was spent with Kevin (ex kiwi) and his wife Susan in Charlotte. Kevin gave Marty some NZ, UK and American Jampot magazines to read so I was spared my nightly thrashings for a few nights while he read them. That is at cards in case you were wondering. The hat trick of visits ended with a ride over to John and Diana’s place a little further round the lake. John has a very impressive line up of AMC machinery. His shed kept Marty occupied for almost as long as Horace’s had. We all went to a seafood restaurant for dinner and had a great time. Even the waitress was a bit of humour. She would be good value at a party.
Time had flown by and before we knew a week had passed and the Jampot was only 3 days away so we packed up and said our goodbyes to Kurt and Patsy and set sail for Maggie Valley. This was the first time I had really felt sad to be leaving. Patsy and I both had tears in our eyes as we had a final goodbye hug. But as per normal nothing is ever that easy and we only got as far as the dump station. It was locked so we had to go back to their site to get the combination. While parked there I discovered that one of the trailer tyres was way past it’s used by date so Marty had to do a tyre change. Luckily we have 2 spares onboard so it wasn’t a drama. Curt and Patsy both came down and we got yarning again and nearly an hour past before we finally hit the road.We had a straight through run to the campsite at Maggie Valley. From here we plan to do lots of motorcycling including the Jampot Rally and judging from the number of bikes that are here tearing around the roads there is no shortage of fun to be had.
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