I loaded the bike and was waiting for the office to open so I could
get a breakfast before leaving. The owner of the Super-8 was working
and as soon as he opened the dining room, he put on a movie from India
on the satellite TV. He and I chatted for awhile while the MTV-like
musical played. He really enjoyed the movie and was talking to me
like I was an old friend. I liked him.
I headed north. It was about 90 miles to the Santee State Park and
with no traffic, I made it quickly. In the park, I rode to the area
Ruth had described to me and the only thing there was a visitor center
and a dock. There was about 40 vultures all sitting either on the
railing on the dock or on a car that was at the dock. I don't know
why they chose that particular car because there were others there
also but it was funny to see them there.
I went into the visitor center and asked about notable structures.
They didn't know of any and when I checked the GPS, it appeared the
site was right there!
I now headed north toward Little Rock, SC. It was another 90 miles
toward South of the Border, a tourist trap on the SC/NC border. The
good news was that it was also easy to find so by now, I've gone
nearly 200 miles and already gotten a couple good sites.
My next stop was near Rocky Mount, NC (just over 100 miles). It was
called Nashville and again, it was fairly easy to find.
I know it doesn't sound like much, but this was a good start to a day.
It was about noon and I'd already been to three sites and gotten a
lot of miles in.
I had a lunch at a Subway and turned north toward Richmond, VA. There
were two things here to get; a NPS stamp and another GPS point. I
went to the National Park first. I had a bit of confusion though as
there was a 295 going through Petersburg and a 95 heading to Richmond.
I took the 95 and the first sign for a NP Battlefield was heading
back toward Petersburg. I then searched and found another in Richmond
so I went that direction. The GPS took me toward one but then I saw
another sign for a different battlefield and I foolishly ignored the
GPS and went toward the sign. It was apparently a NEW site that was
only open on weekends so I wasted a half hour finding it. I then just
followed the GPS to the Richmond NPS site that was a former
Confederate hospital. It was a very interesting site. It told me
about the state of surgery and medicine during the Civil War.
From there I headed toward the GPS point. It turned out to be another
NASCAR racetrack; the Richmond Speedway! I had a security guard take
my photo and I then headed the 100+ miles to Washington. This is
where the day turned very sour. I dislike cities and the traffic
associated with it. I'll make this brief and just say that of the 3
everywhere towns and 1 GPS point in the Washington/Baltimore area, I
didn't get any of them. I ended up staying at a hotel between
Washington and Baltimore.
Tomorrow, I should get to sleep in my own bed for the first time in 57 days....
--
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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach
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