Leg 14 - Wilmington, NC to Salisbury, MD

Left Wilmington, NC at 6:15 am. I again packed the bike for rain but left off my rain suit. It was a nice cool 67 degrees. The predicted weather had isolated thunderstorms through the entire leg. About 75 miles into the leg I noticed the traffic on the south bound lanes had water spray coming from the vehicles' tires. The lanes going north were completely dry. It must have rained a short while earlier but there was no evidence of rain in the north bound lanes. Go figure.

My plan was to take US 13 north as far as my energy would carry me. I had to take Interstate 40 for a little while but after about 50 miles I was off the interstate and on US 13, a beautiful secondary road. 

I stopped in a tiny town somewhere in NC for lunch. What was interesting was the decor. There were photos of law enforcement raids on local moonshine stills. I guess a kind of tongue-in-cheek display was the following photo, a photo of a law enforcement raid and a tiny mock-up still right below the photo. Gotta love both sides of the issue.

A tiny mock up still.

The ride was gorgeous right up until I got to Norfolk, VA. Navigating the freeways through Norfolk trying to make it to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel was an exercise in urban survival. There were so many forks, left hand exits and lane changes that I marveled how travelers before Google Maps made their way.

What was interesting was it was 90 degrees at the toll booth before getting on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Less than five minutes later, riding out over the bay, it was 79 degrees. It stayed at 79 degrees all the way over the water until the toll booth on the north end.

I took the following photo at one of the view points on the 20+ mile trek over the Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Bay

The following is a link to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel web site with a lot of interesting facts: http://www.cbbt.com/index.html

A little ways into Maryland I started getting a migraine. I get ocular migraines which do not have any pain associated with them. Ocular migraines are different for different people but mine are kinda like opening your eyes under water. It starts out mild with only a slight effect. But if I ignore it, it will keep getting worse until I am unable to see. Dangerous to be on a bike and have one, so I took note and began to look for a place to hold up for awhile. My migraines usually will last less than an hour so long as I stop what I am doing and simply rest. 

I found a nice seafood cafe, pulled in and ordered a crab cake sandwich, coleslaw, cup of homemade chicken noodle soup and a glass of iced tea. The food and atmosphere must have been magical because not five minute after I sat down the migraine was gone.

I think what brought it on was instead of bottled water at a previous gas stop I drank a half bottle of Gatorade. There must have been some chemicals in the Gatorade that brought on the migraine. It has been the only migraine I have had on this trip and it was quickly cured.

I pulled into Salisbury, MD a little after 5 pm.

Overall, 398 miles and 11 hours of riding. The total miles so far are a little over 5000 miles, over half of the total miles I estimated for entire trip.