The morning was overcast and wet, plus I had a flat tire, I wasn't a happy bunny. I sat fixing the tire on the camp bench then went into the shop to pay for the site, $34 poorer.
My bicycle pump is unfortunately not fit for purpose so I made my way to a garage to find an air pump but they advised me to go 100 meters down the road to a trading post, which I did. I found a quaint wooden building with coffee shop and WiFi. I ordered tea and a bagel with cream cheese and strawberry cream and sat on the porch watching all the locals and tourists on bikes,bicycles, and golf carts go by. I even saw Jack and Laurie go by. I spent a few hours on the internet before making my way onto the ferry to Cedar Island.
My bicycle pump is unfortunately not fit for purpose so I made my way to a garage to find an air pump but they advised me to go 100 meters down the road to a trading post, which I did. I found a quaint wooden building with coffee shop and WiFi. I ordered tea and a bagel with cream cheese and strawberry cream and sat on the porch watching all the locals and tourists on bikes,bicycles, and golf carts go by. I even saw Jack and Laurie go by. I spent a few hours on the internet before making my way onto the ferry to Cedar Island.
Leaving Ocracoke ferry port.
Me on board the ferry.
Coming into Cedar Island port. It was a 2.5 hour voyage.
Cedar ferry port was 37.7 miles from Beaufort, I was making good time until I sped over the bridge and lost some air in the rear tire again. Pump as hard as I could, there was no way I was getting enough pressure into the tire. My only solution was to take the big panniers off the back and ride with them hanging on my handlebars. I must have been a sight,a pick-up stopped and the tall thin man pulled out a bottle of cold water and gave it to me. After crawling along slowly,careful not to puncture the soft tire I found a Fire Station,knocked on the office door,there was no response and was about to limp off when Casey arrived in his Ford 250F to do some training.He told me others would arrive in about 20 odd minutes time and I stood a good chance of using their air pump. At 4.30 p.m. they opened the fire station and Casey organised the air pump, thanks for your help. I cycled onto Smyrna, it was getting dark and I still had another 13 miles to go to Beaufort.
I popped into a Corner shop for food and refreshments. Tresa in the pic told me there were no hotdogs for sale but I could have one for free, wasn't that kind of her? I scoffed that in a few bites whilst talking to her. I guess she saw that I was still hungry so offered me another bite of something else.
I told her I was a missionary, her face lit up and she said I'm a Christian too. I prayed for her, I felt virtue leaving my body, she began feeling it all over her body, and said "Ooh,wow". I asked her if she needed healing for anything. She said her hand was sore due to vertebrae in her back. I prayed, she said:"The pain has left my hand." She was just so full of faith, I hadn't seen faith like it since I had arrived, she unwittingly was drawing the dunamis power out of me by her faith. Thanks for the hotdogs.
I told her I was a missionary, her face lit up and she said I'm a Christian too. I prayed for her, I felt virtue leaving my body, she began feeling it all over her body, and said "Ooh,wow". I asked her if she needed healing for anything. She said her hand was sore due to vertebrae in her back. I prayed, she said:"The pain has left my hand." She was just so full of faith, I hadn't seen faith like it since I had arrived, she unwittingly was drawing the dunamis power out of me by her faith. Thanks for the hotdogs.
Realising I was running out of time to get to a campsite, I pulled into the first church I saw. I went around knocking on doors but found no one in, so I left a note for the pastor explaining that I would be camping around the back of the church and hoped he wouldn't mind. I set up tent ,had a wash when a lady with a torch and a Golden Labrador took my by surprise and I know she got a fright when she saw me. The dog wasn't happy with me being there, he showed his discontent by turning his back on me. I explained to Sue what I was doing there, she called the pastor. Rev. Paul Gillikin of the Missionary Baptist Smyrna Church came over to meet me and suggested that I sleep on the couch in the church and have have a nice warm shower. He is a warm big teddy bear type, I could see why he had the calling to pastor. He insisted on giving me food and I asked if we could put the kettle on as we spoke for hours. Eventually he received a call from his daughter, who was concerned at what was taking him so long to get back home which was across the road. We said goodnight and we would chat again in the morning. I slept like a baby for the first time in a long time.
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