Day 25 Georgia on my mind!

We were crossing a bridge apporachint Richmond Hill and saw the river view on the right. It was a kodak moment.






This was our welcome to Goergia. We must have found the only road into the state without a welcome sign.





We got off to a little bit of a late start at about 6:15 or so. We had some breakfast at the Days Inn. The desk clerk was a pain. The breakfast did not officially open until 6:00am. That guy would not even let us sit in that room to eat the food we brought with us and he was not very friendly about it. At the Hampton Inn a couple of days ago the said we could take whatever was out already even before the official opening. This did not leave a good taste in our mouths.

The start of the ride was great. The terrain was flat and the air was cool. There was only a slight wind. We rode about as well as we can. We rode though or right past the Savannah Wildlife Refuge which was quite nice. The scenery is very pretty with marsh and wetlands, and of course lots of birds. The costal scenery was beautiful and a change from the trees and fields of the past week. The terrain is very flat.

We rode on and crossed the first of two bridges across the Savannah River, crossing an island in the middle in between. The border to Georgia was somewhere along there but sadly there was no welcome to Georgia sign so we shot a picture of a route sign with the shape of Georgia as a background. Unfortunately I cannot post it today because I cannot connect to this motel’s Wi-Fi. I can connect to the router but there is no internet access. I just spoke to another guest who had the same problem with a different laptop. Yet another person’s machine was ok. It’s a mystery and a pain. When we leave Georgia we will snap a picture of the welcome to Georgia sign and edit our blog. Strange but it is the only way.

We’d managed 17 miles before we stopped for second breakfast around the Savannah airport. We then ate a bit more heavily than usual at a Blimpie. It was only about 8:15.

At about 10:30 we stopped at a Walmart in Richmond Hill to get some toothpaste, a comb, triple antibiotic, and nail clippers. Nails grow very fast in the summer when you eat well and exercise. We were approaching I 95 where most of the motels are located and decided that the motel in Midway, Georgia was a risky proposition. We were not sure about its quality and we had been told there were no eateries out there. So, seeing no benefit in going on, based on where the next reasonable accommodations would be found, we decided to stop at 34.7 miles at a very inexpensive Travelodge.

We pulled into the parking lot and “parked” the bike. We were approached by a man with a camera who said he had seen us on the road. He introduced himself as Jamie Parker, a reporter with the Savannah Morning News. He asked if he could “interview” us and took out a recorder. We chatted for several minutes and he took some pictures of us with our bike. I am hoping to get to see something in a paper if it appears very early and we are still here. That is the problem with bicycle touring. You have to start early so you sometimes miss things.

After this interview, we checked in and Wendy, the desk manager, was very pleasant, accommodating, and helpful. The rate we got was great and this place has a coin laundry and a pool. We chatted a lot.

As usual the first order of business after checking in and getting our stuff into the room was lunch. We went to a Waffle House nearby and had their grilled chicken salads and several diet Cokes. We chilled – I mean enjoyed the air conditioning.

We then walked around a bit. It had gotten very hot so we went back to the motel and I used the business center to do my school work. After that Debbie talked me into going into the pool. It was in the shade by this time and was very soothing.

I am blogging early since I have to use the business center because I cannot connect to the internet with my netbook. As soon as we finish, I think it will be dinner at a barbeque place nearby.

Today’s ride: We had a short day riding only 34.7 miles at an average speed of 9.4 mph. We were on the bike for 3 hours and 42 minutes. We are now 1060 miles into our trip and have finally gotten into Georgia.

Debbie’s emotionometer: It was a good day. Mood was happy, enjoying the scenery, not a crabby word or complaint heard.