Saturday a great day with a tail wind 86 miles to Wilmington

We slept late in New Bern and departed reluctantly from the best hosts ever.

And headed down route 17 toward Wilmington for our last night in the Tar-heal state. The wind was behind us and we mostly stuck with the main road since there were few usable backroads since several large military basses occupied much of the area including Camp Lejeune. 

But the pavement was smooth, the shoulder was wide and the wind at our backs.

A rest stop at this "cat house" for some lunch at a roadside shack occupied by about 6 cats that someone had kept fed and had left housing and a scratching post. 

Tonight was Nicks night to provide sleeping so with a clear sky and no forecast for rain we slept out on the outskirts of town. In was a fairly upscale suburban area ....

.....and we found a deserted wooded area behind a corporate campus which included a bank as a tennant, conveniently located across the street from a Starbucks. We did have some local officers pay us an after dark visit which resulted in a secure worry free nights sleep. Exciting details to follow.

Tomorrow another ferry ride (our 7th) and hopefully SC.