Flying in as usual on the Saturday before the main conference, I was looking forward to seeing the Outer Banks of North Carolina and checking out some ferries. Things got kind of crazy before I even left Jackson.
I realized as I was waiting for my flight that I had forgotten to pack a belt and didn't know for sure if the pants I had packed were skinny enough to be "self-supporting". So I called my wife to see if she could rush back to the airport with my belt in time before my flight. Luckily the TSA folks were cooperative about her passing the belt through the X-ray machine to me. Unfortunately, she had a tire blow out on the van as she was leaving the airport. So wife and kids all got to sit on the side of the road at 6 AM watching the sunrise until AAA could get someone out to change the tire. I was very relieved on my next phone contact to find out that they all enjoyed the experience (as much as could be hoped for) and I wasn't in the doghouse for getting them into the mess.
Once in Norfolk, I made a look at where my motel for the week and Kinko's were, before grabbing some lunch at Hardee's. As I was eating, I was also observing the people around me and struggling with my Christian witness. The guy at the next table over particularly caught my attention. As he got up to leave, I was torn between regret at my lack of faith and wondering if I was off the hook now. But he didn't leave. He turned to me and asked if I was a Christian! When I said yes, he said "I thought you were. Sometimes you can just tell." Huh? Well, we spent the next half-hour or so talking about his walk of faith after being saved just a couple years ago. Lots of blessings. Please pray for Forest as he continues seeking to serve the Lord. Actually, I was impressed throughout my visit with how visibly Christian the area is.
After some minor challenges in finding where to buy a 7-day bus pass downtown, I headed southwest into North Carolina to look for some ferries. I was not able to reach the small river ferries that I was most interested in, thanks to the annoying fine print in the rental car contract forbidding me to go on unpaved roads. I got photos of the signs and considered walking the remaining distance, but there was not a suitable place to leave the car. Argh. I did a little better when I got down to the Bayview-Aurora ferry across the broad tidal Pamlico River. I caught the last ferry of the day at 7:30 (drastically reduced schedule due to budget cuts) and began the challenge of finding a place for the night.
I was afraid I couldn't make it around to Goose Creek State Park before the campground gate closed for the night, and I hadn't thought to bring a AAA CampBook with me. So I drove toward Washington with my eyes open for campgrounds. When I saw a sign for a campground/resort near Chocowinity, I figured I'd better give it a try. It turned out to be a lot bigger, fancier kind of place than I would normally bother with, but I kept thinking of that "bird in the hand" business. So I settled for having to pay thirty bucks as the one and only tent camper among hundreds of RVs, mobile homes, and yachts. The security guy kindly escorted me to a site and shared about how God had protected him and his church in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. And then . . . he put his truck in the wrong gear and backed into my rental car. Ouch. Amazingly, there was only a little bit of paint lost from the front license plate area. But you just never know how picky rental agencies will be when you return the car, and of course I didn't bother with any supplemental insurance. At least I had a nice comfy place to settle in for the night and wonder what Sunday would bring.
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