The campsite at Lake Waccamw was much better than where I was at the first night. It was quiet, there were bathrooms with running water, and it was clean and open. I did wake up around 3:30 when the wind picked up becuase I got cold, but it wasn't bed enough for me to get up to do anything about it. My parents called and wanted to come visit me to give me some things I had forgotten at the house. I took my time getting started and packed, and it was already about 11 when I finally started rolling back to the visitor's center. There is a very informative museum inside that talks about the history of the lake and about Carolina bays in general.
Lake Waccamaw is unique because it is the biggest lake from Maine to Florida (according to a lady who happened to overhear me talking to my parents about it), and because the limestone it's on neutralizes the water, making it more hospitable for plant and animal life. Both Jones and Singletary Lakes have a pH in the 4 range, and only have fish species numbering in the teens. Waccamaw, by comparison, has a pH of around 7 and has over 40 species of fish! They have also discovered a huge whale skeleton in the bottom of the lake from back when shallow seas covered the area. Needless to say, this place was right up my alley.
Not long after I left, I passed my parents. We decided to meet up at the depot museum near the north side of the lake, which had more history of the area, and to get lunch, and I directed them to the visitors center where I had just been to look around while I made my way leisurely around the lake. Unfortunately, the museum was closed, so it was on to lunch at Dale's restaurant. A few nice people came up to ask about my trip and wish me luck. After we ate, I changed into something more suitable for distance riding, and continued on my way.
I was soon stopped by a gentleman mowing his lawn who invited me back onto his deck to sit and stay a while. I wish now that I had, but if I was going to make it to Tabor City before dark, I really needed to get going. Just going around the lake was a 10 mile ride, and it was going to be another 30 to get to Tabor City! I tried to reason that the first 10 miles were so nice and relaxing that they didn't really count.
Saturday was a hunting day, which I knew but didn't think too much of. I know better now. I had more dog encounters than I could count, most of which were nothing too serious, but there was one that I legitimately thought I was going to have my legs ripped off from the knees down. My whistle did nothing but infuriate them, and I was unable to get my pepper spray out of its' compartment. I was flying down the road going almost 18 mph with the dogs snapping rabidly at my ankles (they were in fact up past my rear panniers), when I looked up to realize I was inches away from going off the road on the wrong side... I don't know how I got out of that one to be perfectly honest. Maybe I finally got out of their territorial zone, but they did eventually slow down and stop. That one is going to stay with me for a long time, and I really want to send in a formal complaint on that house about how those dogs, being as vicious and protective as they are, should not be out like that... I will probably write a page just on what I've learned about dealing with dogs in the future.
After the dog encounter, I was mentally and physically done. I still had about 10 miles to go and they were the most torturous 10 miles I think I've ridden yet. Every time a dog barked I about died: I was cursing and praying that I wouldn't get chased again. I rolled into an RV campsite about 6 pm, right around sunset. the office closed at 5, so no dice. I stopped into the ice cream shop to see if there was a way for me talk my way into a site for the night. Then I called my mom to see if she could find out how much a room would be at the hotels in town while I enjoyed some fresh waffle cone tastyness. No one was answering their phones, she said, so I rode on, hoping for the best.
My GPS said there was a hotel that didn't exist, and I passed by the same stretch of street about 3 times looking for it before I finally decided that it just wasn't there. I passed by a fire station-looking EMS building and took a mental note that they might put me up for the night if i was nice/desperate enough. I stopped into a gas station to ask what they knew and they told me the nearest place was about 5 miles away. 5 miles was out of the question for me at this point, as it was about pitch black out now, and I was cold, tired, and just done. I found the police station, which was closed, but there was a guy outside that told me there was a place about a mile down the road, if all I wanted was a roof over my head and a hot shower. I thanked him and headed off.
The Economy Inn in Tabor City is the nastiest, sketchiest place I've stayed in a very long time, but desperation does things to a person... The owner claimed that all the rooms were non-smoking, even though both rooms he sent me to reeked of tar and had ashtrays on the nightstand, and no no-smoking signs to be found. I just wanted this night to be over so bad that I didn't even argue after the second room turned out to be worse than the first. I was halfway into the shower when the room phone started ringing. I had a moment of panic as I realized the inside of the bathroom door had no knob, but I was able to turn the mechanism to get out with my fingers. He wanted to now if this room was OK, and then started asking me personal questions about my trip. It was the one about whether I was in a group or traveling alone, and how he said it, that got my spidey senses all up in a bunch. I called my mom and begged her to find somewhere else for me to stay, but the line was so broken she couldn't understand a word I was saying. It was like a horror movie unfolding before my eyes. I double locked the door and took my shower, and when I came out I checked the closet for false panels.
When I was able to calm down enough to think sensibly, I went back out and had a long relaxed conversation with the guys who were sitting outside when I came in. I wanted to make friends, to take the mystery out of the new girl (I thought that if I got to know one or two of them and they all knew I was now buddies with so-and-so, I would be less likely to be bothered by any of the others), and to get a feel for what they thought of the owner. It turned out to be pretty cool, the Spanish guy that didn't speak any English literally staring me down with a half smile till I left freaked me out, but he kept his distance. There was even a nice little dog that we played fetch with for a while, and I was even gifted a small video camcorder to use for my travels, since I didn't have one. (I should probably figure out how to use that. I haven't really had time to look over the manual.) I made sure to tell my dog attack story so that I could mention that I was in possession of pepper spray. (I mentioned the words "pepper spray" a few times till I saw the look of understanding sink in to everyone's eyes.)
Soon it was time for them to go to bed, as they had work in the morning (they were working on a plumbing project nearby). I looked through the fast food literature that seems to breed in these kinds of places, and decided I wanted a Philly cheese steak from Dominoes, because they delivered. After trying a few numbers that were out of service, and finding out that the online website said they don't deliver here, I had to wonder about all the promotional stuff and where it came from, and the thought of a bad horror movie came creeping back into my consciousness. I did laundry in the tub like I had all last summer, and strung out a line through the room to hang my stuff from: I wasn't going to lay my clothes on anything that lived in this room. I made myself a sort of picnic with what I had, and started thinking about bed. I decided that the sheets were clean, but the pillowcases and blanket were not, so off they went. I pulled out my own pillowcase and sleeping bag, put the trashcans in front of the doors, made sure the window was locked (or at least closed...) and went to bed with my flashlight in one hand and my pepper spray in the other.
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