I had planned to visit the Okefenokee NWR visitors center today, be we discovered last night that it was closed due to a staffing shortage. A small railroad museum in Folkston was closed as well, so today ended up being another day of just getting from Point A to Point B.
It was cool this morning, so we hung around the motel until the temperature rose above 60 (I'm such a wimp!). By 10:15, with the temp a balmy 61, I headed out.
US-90 east of Macclenny. Another road with great shoulders.
Just west of Balwin, I came across some new pavement that had a rumble strip. The rumble strip looked very shallow and almost smooth, so I had the stupid idea to test it out. Turns out it was very rough, and it bounced my cameral out of its holder. I discovered that the "smooth" portion of the shoulder was very rough as well, because it scratched the camera all to hell. Fortunately, as the following photo attests, it still works.
Just a few hundred feet further down the road, I made a left turn and the camera bounced out again as I crossed the center rumble strip. Fortunately, I caught it in my lap (one advantage of a recumbent), but I made a mental note to adjust the bottle holder at my next stop, which I did. I was lucky with the second incident, because as soon as I cleared the intersection, a log truck rumbled by.
Yes, the camera still works. That little strip is a lot rougher than it looks!
I entered into Georgia just a few miles east of Saint George, where we had planned to have lunch. However, shortly before I got there, Jeanna called and said that the restaurant was closing due to some family emergency. The only other restaurant in town was closed as well, so I ended up having a banana and a bottle of tea from the Dollar General for lunch. (Jeanna had a much better lunch - a banana and Fritos)
I picked up GA-23 in Saint George and rode it all the way to Folkston. Even if I hadn't seen the state line sign, I would have known that I had left Florida because of the lack of a shoulder to ride on.
GA-23 - nice pavement, but no shoulder and a high ratio of trucks to cars.
For several miles outside Saint George, there was a steady stream of semi's hauling sand, as well as many garbage trucks. It didn't make for a very relaxing ride, especially when there was oncoming traffic, and the trucks could not move over. From the number of garbage trucks, I assumed there was a landfill somewhere ahead, but was surprised to see the sand trucks enter the landfill as well. After I passed the landfill, the truck traffic died down considerably and the rest of the ride was much more pleasant.
The destination for all the sand and garbage trucks
I stopped by the Folkston Funnel, hoping to see some trains. After taking some photos and hanging around for a short while, I gave up and went to the motel because I was hot (it really warmed up as the day went along!) and hungry.
Jeanna greeted me at the door with a plate of cheese and crackers and a cold beer, so even the though museums were closed, and we didn't get a real lunch, IT WAS A GOOD DAY!!!
Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km) Total: 175 miles (282 km)
