Day 144 - Swansboro, NC

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Last night was interesting....I had a great place to camp, and electricity inside the tent, but at times thought I was being invaded. Helicopters seemed close enough that they were right over the tent, and more than once I jumped off the sleeping bag pad when a loud "boom" sounded from one of the big artillery pieces across the river. It was not real cold when I got into the tent, but during the night seemed to get more so. I woke up before 5......wasn't going to be late for my 7am appointment at the south back gate on Camp Lejeune. My goal today is get through the camp (15 miles) without any incidents, and then go as far as I can after that. It now appears I will beat the Saturday stagecoach to Emerald Isle, so maybe I'll just chill for a day.

The amount of traffic going into the base between 6-8 is amazing......it's backed up at least a half mile, and maybe farther. But I'm walking in the "out" lane, so not much stopping me. Frank passed me on the bridge and said he'd meet me at the main gate. The security people were expecting me, and directed me to a place where I would be safe from the traffic. Frank had the guest pass ready, but we had to wait a few minutes for the waiver form to come that releases the armed forces from any responsibility in case of an accident. With all forms signed and in place, the security officer asked me to wait a few more minutes until the sun rose a little more. I finally headed out around 730.

For the first mile or so the traffic was pretty heavy, but soon it had thinned out and only a few vehicles were passing me. It's a nice road, tree lined, clean, and little traffic. I could hear and see the helicopters overhead, and the loud sounds of both small arm and artillery fire. Occasionally there would be a wide strip of concrete across the blacktop......this is where the tanks cross the road, and the concrete keeps them from tearing up the pavement. I was a little apprehensive about getting on the wrong road, but the roads are well marked......almost no risk of getting lost. Frank came out to check on my progress, and we talked a while, and he went back to work. I passed a sign for Onslow Beach along the way.....don't think I've ever been there. I only stopped to rest once, and then for a short time, and was at the other gate at 12 noon......at least 1 - 1.5 hrs sooner than I expected.

I talked a while with the security people, then called Frank to let him know I was off base. Many thanks to Frank Accevedo, Head of Base Operations, for handling the logistics of the walk, and to Commanding Officer Col. Lecci for approving the request. It was just a walk down Hwy 172, but being in Camp Lejeune made it a special part of the trip. I turned onto Bear Creek Rd, a 3 mile walk to Queen Creek Rd. I saw 4 horses in a field and they came to the fence. I happened to have some mints, and offered one to the biggest horse. He knew how to eat it, and was soon crunching away. When I tried to give one to the other horses, the big one would push them away. So, he was the only one to get mints today.

I called Ken Schroder, who lives with wife Betty east of Selma. Ken had given me his number and asked that I call sometime to update him on the walk. He said they were just talking about me today, and Ken told me Betty had asked, "do you think we will hear from him again?" Well, Betty has her answer now. Betty had seen me in Subway, started to ask what I was doing, but didn't. Then she went home and told Ken to find me and see what was going on. A very nice couple. I've also passed some cotton fields today......now have seen cotton being grown in every state from AZ to NC. And I thought cotton was no longer grown in the USA. I haven't seen armadillo in NC, nor coyote....and that's a good thing. In the past couple of days I've lost my coyote stick, so have no defense against them except bare hands! Not sure where I left it, but it's not the first thing left behind on the trip.

I turned on Queen's Creek Rd for the final 4 miles to Swansboro. Saw a group of guys doing utility work, and one of them stopped me and said he'd seen an article in the paper about the walk, and they were just talking about it......and I walk up. We talked a while, and I moved on. Queen's Creek Rd is busier than Bear Creek, and the school buses were running. The walk into Swansboro was not as pleasant as the rest of the day. I soon came to Hwy 24, and stopped at Burger King to have lunch. Noticed a booth with an outlet, asked if I could use it, and settled in to work on the computer. I met a nice young man working there named Sebastian, and he came over to talk for a while. Sebastian graduated from high school at age 15 (!), and has lived in Hawaii previously. His shift had just ended and he was waiting for a ride home.....which never seemed to come. He had a car, but his mother wrecked it (his story!)......that's a switch.

It was getting late and I needed to find a camp site, so started looking around in the immediate area. There was a business nearby that sells carports and storage buildings.......Carolina Carports. It has some nice grassy areas in among the buildings, so I asked the owner if I could put a tent in there. "That's fine, but I have an empty building in back, and you can use that if you want," was her response. Is this going to be another Greyhound bus deal?) I checked out the building and decided to take her up on that.) So, will be inside tonight, right beside Burger King. I'll let you know tomorrow how that works out.

I probably have less than 15 miles left to walk. Will do a very short day tomorrow, and finish on Saturday. Can you believe it?

About the pictures:
My guest house for tonight;
A scene on Queen's Creek;
The evening crew at BK, Swansboro.