With a new set of foam earplugs, I was not bothered at all with all the 4th of July local celebrations and random firework explosions last evening. I vaguely remember waking up a couple of times and hearing some smaller explosions. Sounded like a good time was definitely being had for sure.

I met up with Folker this morning in Wilmington and said goodbye to him for a while. We had always planned on stopping at one of his Dutch Marine colleague’s home and taking a day off, but his friend is now leaving earlier than originally planned for a family vacation out west. Folker needs to get there before he departs to be a stopgap for the other colleague flying in from the Netherlands that will be house sitting.

Folker has been planning this expedited schedule for himself for a while and the best solution is for him to not take the extra day it requires to ride the alternative route via the Outer Banks section. Instead, he will remain on the main route and then head straight for Virginia Beach.

I, on the other hand, will continue to the Outer Banks as it is the highlight of the trip for me. My family will be meeting me for a day off in Kill Devil Hills and I will see Folker next Thursday when I make it to his colleague’s house as originally planned.

After leaving Wilmington it was nice for quite a while as it seemed the locals were still sleeping after all the festivities. I had a favorable wind and was just in my groove and enjoying the pine trees and other beautiful flowers.

After some busy traffic with no shoulder a little later while on Highway 17, I was happy to turn south and ride along the beach towns. Crossing the large bridge into Surf City offered some amazing views of the beautiful beach town.

The winds were very favorable and it did not take me long until I was turning off course to make my way to Camp Lejeune to camp on base at Onslow Beach. At the bottom of the bridge crossing the New River, I entered the base and was soon on the back forty with no traffic at all due to the holiday weekend. It seems the little traffic there would have been was already down at the beach.

Thumbs up to the Marines for offering such a beautiful beach up for some recreation and pure relaxation. I have already stopped by the Marine Mart and have found a beach pavilion where the breeze is definitely keeping me nice and cool.

I have decided to stay up tonight and watch the movie being played at the campsite since tomorrow is a super short day. I probably will sleep in and slow roll it anyways. “Jaws” sounds like a good movie to watch again!