Laurieton to Port Maquire

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Rest Stop: Gene Franklin

A simple ride today – just over twenty miles on the highway. It rained and there was little shoulder, but we did okay. We were passing some of the most beautiful beaches of the trip but we couldn’t see anything. The fog was thick, the rain the hardest we have experienced yet and at this point, sight seeing seems like a secondary issue. We stop at a grocery for coffee and chat with some people. Everyone is talking about the flood as to be expected. We get to Maquire and stop at a bike shop to get a new lock as ours broke. We find the information center and they tell us we can go no further and that the highway is closed ahead and that Grafton is already under water. We find a caravan park and join the other soggy campers.

I saw money on the ground all day today – always at times or in places where I could not stop to pick it up. It was uncanny. Not lots of money – just coins here and there. I asked God what to make of that – He gave me a number of thoughts to think through on that one. I pass it on for you to think on as well.

We walk the town dodging rain showers. The surf is huge, waves big and nasty brown. We think about taking in a movie but there is nothing of substance at the theater. We are now part of the ‘waiting’ community. We find a brochure about a program at the observatory and so we go take it in, learning about the stars of the southern hemisphere. We find this program fun and the day comes to an end. We have taken a nap, we have found a zillion bottle caps, watched surfers body board – too rough to stand up – and we have seen the stars on a screen though we haven’t seen them in the sky for days. There is a great breeze as we turn in for the night wondering what we will do. We pray and go to bed.