Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Crooked River to Harris Neck

After a rather sudden temperature drop which left me pleased with my sleeping bag and Sam wearing lots of layer of clothing, we packed up camp and quickly got on our bikes in an attempt to regain circulation in fingers and toes.  I had mentioned that I had seen so many Waffle Houses (for you Vancouverites, think the Starbucks of the South) that I felt compelled to eat at one at some point.  We happened to come across one and it seemed like fate.  A delicious pecan and strawberry waffle with some accompaniments filled my stomach up and, while I don't know that I would make eating there a daily thing, it certainly appealed to my thrifty side and pecans in waffles is certainly something to replicate.  Pecans certainly are big down here, and I'll have to come back when they are in season just for the novelty of eating local pecans!

I watched the bridge approach thinking that it was the interstate and I wouldn't have to climb up it...turns out I was wrong.  Beautiful view from the top though

Good ol' America



From the bridge


Nap spot just over the bridge in Brunswick, Georgia





It was lovely riding, though I had a feeling it would be a long day as we were pretty slow to get moving and consume waffles.  I stopped for a nap in the park in Brunswick and was getting ready to rev up for the next number of miles when I stopped by a gas station for some water refill.  I was re-entering land of traffic when I saw a fellow cyclist approaching from where I had come from.  It was Sam.  Apparently he had had his fair share of delays and had just stopped for lunch.  We were both happy to see a familiar face and, well, I was super pleased to have someone to draft off of for a dozen miles (aka right right behind and use as a windbreak).  While it was nice to get some ground covered, even with the magic of physics I was exhausted riding at Sam's pace and left him around the town of Damien so I could have a snack and snap some photos.

I wound up arriving at the turn-off to our WarmShowers host's place just as darkness set and put on my lights for the country road.  While I remembered Sam's iPhone had suggested a slightly shorter route down side-roads, I was worried about being able to see roadsigns so I decided to stick to the highway and just turn off on their street.  After one mishap of going to the wrong side of the street and a call from Darlene to check in, I arrived expected Sam to be showered and sipping on some sort of fluid.  Turns out that, as Darlene put it, the tortoise had arrived before the hare thanks to the confusion of country roads and GPS versus my paper map skills.  Sam did show up and we both got cleaned up and enjoyed a delicious supper with Ken, Darlene, and their daughter, Joy (and dog Russell).  Ken and Darlene seemed surprised we weren't running off to sleep immediately, but we enjoyed talking with them so much that bedtime kept on getting pushed back a bit further.  What lovely people and the warm place to stay was welcome as it was another night of relatively cold temperatures.

Also, even though I don't have a mileage computer and am perhaps frustratingly lackadaisical when it comes to keeping track, I feel that it should be mentioned that this was a near-century day for me (and I believe Sam may have mentioned in passing that he did over 100 miles due to his over-enthusiasm) so our legs were certainly satisfied by the end of it. 

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