Day Twenty-Eight

I drove to North Carolina which rivals North Dakota for "the most miserable drive yet" award. The temperature was about 100 degrees with probably the same in humidity, and I finally hit really ugly traffic. However, being as dangerous as I am on my GPS, I skillfully rerouted into what I believe was “Hill Billy Mecca,” where tractors were a kinder change of pace. The South is gloriously awesome. Needless to say, I have begun counting Confederate flags.

I drove through Kitty Hawk and am working my way south through the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina. I stopped on the first island where I grabbed a camp site, didn’t set up a thing, and ran and jumped into the Atlantic. This was an amazing feeling and the accomplishment of the last four weeks hit me hard. So I threw my hands in the air, let out some man-yells, and did some body surfing at sunset. On my walk back to my site I met John and his wife Kelly. John is the most incredible redneck I’ve met, and his wife Kelly is being converted to his ways, as she is a native Yankee and John's redneckedness is far too overwhelming for her to have any chance at all. John is about 6 foot 5 with one of the gruffest man voices I have ever been jealous of, so naturally I hung out with these two for about three hours. He told stories of his friends “BobCat” “Hound Dog” and “Dan Boone” and they all had something to do with drinking, farming, hunting bears, or heavy machinery. John is a 3rd generation farmer on the same land and has never been past Kansas, he says he has friends that have never left the county they grew up in, nor do they have electricity or running water. His stories often were littered with “reckon so” and “He dun shot his nephew” and some really creative swearing. I laughed and laughed and tomorrow morning the three of us will go into town for what he promises is a real Southern breakfast. He also wants me to make sure I don’t leave town without a Confederate flag. I can’t even begin to retell his stories, some because of the language barrier, and others because I laughed so hard I missed most of important information.

John and Kelly have an open invitation to the West coast.


Here was my view of the Atlantic. Odd that the sun sets over the land.


This is the South.


Just some pretty beach with houses in Kitty Hawk.



Here is Dismal Swamp, North Carolina. In another section of the swamp there was a Confederate flag posted in the middle but I was driving and couldn't get out my camera fast enough.