Day 18 Almost to South Carolina

                      

Every time we cross into a new watershed there is a sign indicating the new river. This is the one in which we are currently located.

We left at about 6:24 after a very disappointing free continental breakfast. Oh well, the room was very inexpensive. The first 5 miles were unfortunately hilly. Consequently my characteristically slow warm up was difficult.

Our first stop was in Benson at about 11 miles. It seemed like a long 11 miles but the long day was yet to come. We stopped first at a gas station and then at a grocery store and bought the breakfast we should have had at the motel.

We left there and continued on. We crossed into another river basin and we had to climb into it but then it was not so bad. It seems as if we are in a different river basin almost every day. SO
Bensen to Dunn was reasonably comfortable. We stopped at a minimart and had hamburgers. I would love to know where they get their meat because these were tasty and not at all greasy. We also tanked up on Gatorade. We were at about the 18 mile mark and it had gotten quite hot.

We left Dunn and stopped in Godwin at the 25-mile mark. We went into a thrift shop for a restroom stop and met several interesting ladies who worked there. They were amazed at what we were doing. We got some drinks and Debbie bought two books. We stayed longer than we should have but soon it was on the road again. It was really hot now.

We rode on and stopped in Wade where there was a Founder’s Day celebration winding down. We bought some crackers and used the rest room. It was a pretty short stop. We had miles to go before we could sleep. Later on in Eastover we got a Gatorade and had a very short stop.

We were very close to Fayetteville (our presumed resting spot). We finally saw the city limits sign but we had learned that it could be several miles before actually getting into the city. We were hoping to bypass the downtown part of the city. We were going to bypass on 301 but the 301 bypass looked to much like an interstate and we got out the map and chose another (much quieter) route. When we finally got to the “strip” it was busy enough. We still had about 6 miles to go and characteristically the last mile was uphill.

We finally got to the Quality Inn on the south side of the city. We got a room. The woman who checked us in said” You’re from Cortland?” She was from Buffalo and had been to Cortland, Marathon, and Virgin, and knew something of the area. Wow, small world.

I realized when I was talking to someone that I met at one of our stops that some of the most interesting events on a trip like this involves the people that you meet. People you would never meet if you’re in a car. It is what makes the trip interesting.  I wish were could ride much faster so that we could spend more time chatting along the way. As it is, if we do not spend more time on the road we do not get to our destination. We are well over half way there now and expect to be in South Carolina tomorrow.

Today’s ride: We rode 46.2 miles at 7.8 mph.  We rode for 5:55. We are now 746 miles closer to Mickey Mouse.

Debbie’s emotionometer: Mood wasn’t too bad today. The usual complaining about the wind and the hills and the heat. We seem to be getting in the rhythm of the road. Always stressful at the end of the day if we hit very heavy traffic like we did going into Fayetteville this afternoon. We had a late lunch/early dinner at a Waffle House after we checked into our hotel.