Well of course! Clever boy.

Being a confirmed cut bend and pound guy myself, I approve!

Original one is top. Clue is pliers/vise dents in the tight bend.

Truth. I'm glad we weren't still laying about. I saw later that a tornado warning had been issued but we never heard any warning sirens, just wanted to pack up before the rain.

That is an impressive chess board. They also have a giant Connect 4 board, a game I have a better chance of winning.

You will still have plenty of beauty on your ride. Looks like you'll pass within a few miles of our house on the way to Kirkwood. Wish we could be there to meet up. We'll cross our fingers that our schedules might align in MD when you're back home.

I have the Sporty model that's a little narrower all around than the Classic; hoping it will be usable more often than not. We shall see.

Good thing you already had the tent down!

I'll miss seeing this spot: my friend and I will depart the Katy before it reaches St. Charles, to head for my cousin's place (where my car will be) in Kirkwood at the end of our ride.

I also found Da Brim to be unpleasant to unusable in a breeze. In fact, despite that my touring pace is only 10-12 mph, even that amount of airflow moved my helmet around more than I could stand, so I abandoned the brim. It eventually got sent to someone else who may find it to be of use.

Yikes!

Nice to see the huge chess board is still there. I remember it from when I camped at that park while on my New Orleans to Lake Superior tour.

Thanks for the tips Bob. We're hoping to score a campsite on Jekyll Island. I'm excited to hear your impressions of the Outer Banks and will study up on ferry schedules to be sure we don't miss the boat.

I wish for you only pleasant miles on empty roads. Will look forward to hearing all about it.

"Reading up on the East Coast Greenway, I came away with the idea that much of it is aspirational. It could be great someday but there's a fair amount of bellyaching in blogs and forums about busy shoulderless roads on the ECG route."

Well that's mildly alarming to me, since (as you already know) I've got plans to ride a chunk of the ECG next month. You'll learn how it goes in my Falls Line journal, of course.

Bon route to you!

I can offer some comments on just a couple of areas.

I have vacationed in the area around Brunswick, GA (actually out on Jekyll Island), and explored that area by bike. That section through Brunswick is doable but will be a bit challenging, with narrow shoulders and inconveniently placed rumble strips on Rt 17.

We just drove up the entire length of the Outer Banks on a recent road trip, and I spent the entire time thinking how fun it would be to be doing it by bike (although not on the particular day I was driving since it was extremely cold and windy). We did encounter some minor flooding, since there had been recent heavy rains, as well as occasional drifting of sand across the road. It was just spectacular scenery though. Should be a great part of your trip. Keep an eye on the ferry schedules. The one from Cedar Island to Ocracoke only runs twice a day so you'll need to time that correctly.