We left out of Florence around 10:30 this morning, temperature a cool 50 degrees, blue skies with light clouds.
We kept to our goals, mostly. We were in the wrong lane with busy traffic when we got to Santee, where we were going to stop for a stretch. No problem, we'll stop at the next rest stop. Well, we went another 40 miles, with no rest stop, and Linda said she had a quarter-tank of gas. I don't have a gas guage, but I did show 115 miles, so we stopped in Walterboro around 12:30 and had lunch at the Huddle House. The waitress took one look at Linda in her leathers and asked, "Please tell me you don't ride one of those motorcycles!"
Linda laughed and said she did, to which the waitress replied "You'd have to hit me over the head to get me on one of those things!" Good thing we didn't invite her to come along.
The CB radios are good to have when you're traveling below 70 mph. Above that, the wind noise makes it tough to understand any more than a few words. At one point, I heard a muffled transmission come across, and then Linda said, "I didn't understand one thing you said!" Then a guy on a Goldwing that had a CB installed rode past and waved. Apparently, it was him.
The trucks are no more worrisome than when passing them in a car -- as long as you pass them. The tough part is the drafting as you approach them, and the wind as you pass their front end. But it only lasts for a second or two, and since you're expecting it, you're prepared.
What was harder to deal with was the cross winds. The weather reports called for gusts up to 25 mph. I had a few times I had to compensate for a gust of wind from the side, or be pushed into the next lane. And gusts that hit from the front just slow you down.
At one point, we passed a car from Ontario, and I started singing "Oh, Canada" (I don't have a radio, so I have to entertain myself). Unfortunately, that song stuck in my head for the next 30 miles!
We stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center for a breather, then for gas about 20 miles north of Brunswick. Not too long after that, we hit the road construction. Things slowed down to a crawl, and we thought it was due to the road work. No, it was the rubberneckers when they saw a police car on the northbound lanes. I had to put my feet down twice as we slowed to a stop, and when we saw the exit with a Fairfield Inn, we decided to pull in for the night.
As we passed over the Interstate, we got a good view of the traffic back up on the northbound lanes. It looked like it was about 3 miles long and growing.
Apparently, there is a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center around here. The only room available at the Fairfield was a King suite -- Horrors! It's actually costing us less than the room at the Daytona Quality Inn! I think we'll survive. There's a restaurant attached to the Holiday Inn next door that's in walking distance. I think it's gonna be an early night.
Addendum (after dinner): The restaurant turned out to be a Millstone Steakhouse. The filet was awesome!
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