Day 280, 80 km
In the morning i said good bye to my hosts in Jacksonville. They gave me a lot of oranges and grapefruits from the trees in the garden.
Then I drove through Jacksonville, a beautiful old town.
It was big enough to get two more flats (I also got one the evening before...)
They also had the same kind of rail-bus as I saw in Miami.
In the evening my headlight hit the welcoming sign to a new state. Not far behind the sign I found a good sleeping location in the woods.
Day 281, 85 km
In the morning there was frost on my panniers!
It was a beautiful day but I had a bad headwind and I felt tired. I asked myself why I should hurry to NY, where it still was cold? So I took a long lunch break with a nap. In the eveinig I passed another welcoming sign:
Not far behind the sign I found a small road leading into a wood and in a glade somebody had prepared a lot of matresses for me.
I chose a king size which was big enough to put my tent in diagonal upon it. (I took the picture next day). I slept wonderful that night!
Day 282, 135 km
I continued through the marshlands of Georgia. Sometimes a passed bridges with beautiful views.
Even the roads were scienic.
In the afternoon I came close to Savannah and followed a bike path called 95 which I thought would go like Interstate to NE (where I planned to go) but it brought me NW. This detour took me about four hours! I really missed the possibility to find backstreets on google maps on my phone, but I had ordered a new phone, which I should pick up at my next warmshowers host in Charleston.
Again I met the next border when it was dark:
And again I found a good sleeping location not far behind the sign.
Day 283, 125 km
It was a wonderful morning when I woke up at the Savannah Wildlife Refuge. I decided to take a tout through the refuge and was the first visitor for the day.
This is the view towards Savannah paper mill.
And this is the view in opposite direction.
I rode over the dikes which were used houndred years ago when slaves used to grow rice in the marshlands and watched all birds in the sunrise.
Some birds run over floating leaves so it looked like they could run on the water surface.
After this wonderful nature experience I could agree with the advertisement I found along the road not far from the wildlife refuge:
Outside a wifi-restaurant a black guy saw me eating my trial mix. He waved with a huge jar of biscuits and gave me a lot. Then he wanted to hear about my trip and became a fan of me. His girlfrind took this picture which I promised to publish on my blog.
In the afternoon I passed many bushes of Azalea, the same sort which was in bloom around Talahassee when I passed it two months earlier.
Now the distance to my next stop in Charleston was not so far, so I decided to stop early that afternoon. I found a nice Wildlife View Point in a wetland wood.
There I made a camp fire and cooked a nice dinner. I also boiled a dozen eggs on the fire.
In the middle of the night I woke up because everything was wet in my tent. First I thought I had sunk with the soft ground of the wood, but soon I found out that the tide hade come. I had to wade back to the path and move my tent and everything to the path. When I had done it, it begun to rain and it rained a lot until next morning!
Day 284, 50 km
Next morning I had to go/ride back over the board walk of the nature trail, but now all boars were wet and slippery, so it was not so easy!
I found this sign at the entrance of the nature trail.
If somebody had seen me with a camera he certainly had have a good entertainment.
After this wet experience of the wetlands I arrived in Carleston at Charles' and Missee's house already in the afternoon. There I could take a warm shower and could dry my sleeping bag and my clothes.
Missee took me already in the afternoon to Charles Towne Landing, where I could explore the park while she had a meeting. I watched the otters on the zoo playing in a tank.
Then I went down to the river where the first european people once landed in a ship like this.
The shipper was very enthusiastic and told me a lot about it.
In the evening Missee showed me the town by car. She was a really good guide!
Day 285, 40 km
I relaxed until noon. Then I took a ride downtown to see everything once again by day. In a nice park I ate my lunch
Then I decided to visit the famous Aquarium.
In one tank they had a white alligator!
If you enlarge the picture you can read more about it.
They also had a baby alligator which I was allowed to touch.
It felt very smooth.
In the afternoon I picked up my phone at Charles job. Then Missee took me to a peninsula south of Charleston.
First we went to the beach, where Missee took a picture of me.
Then I took a picture of her, but I am not a so good photographer...
We went to a very popular restaurant called Bowens Island and ate fried fish,
We went to a very popular restaurant called Bowens Island and ate fried fish,
watching the sunset.
Most other people there ate oisters.
Day 286, 135 km
I left at sunrise. On this bridge I was (for the first time in the US) stopped by a highway patrol. He considered that it was a part of the Interstate and ordered me to lift my bike over the wall to the sidewalk. Fortunately a passing jogger helped me.
From the bridge I had a wondeful view back to Charleston and its port. Actually it ios possible to take a cargo ship from there to Europe, but I have decided to rather test a cruis ship this time.
I had good weather that day and in the evening I came to Huntington Beach State Park. In a Nature Education Center I found an unlocked resatroom where i cooked my dinner and stayed for the night.
Day 287, 125 km
In the morning I left my warm sleeping location and went to the beach
to see the sunrise
It was very beautiful but the air was only 0 degrees Celsius, so I decided not to take a bath (have I become spoiled after visiting Florida?)
I continued along the beach and passed Myrtle Beach, a coastline of very touristified attractions and fairgrounds. I did not take any pictures there. But somewhere I also saw this old church.
Then I passed the border to the next state (this time by daylight!)
Day 288, 135 km
Finally a day with tailwind! And even the weather was warm and sunny. I enjoyed that day very much In the middle of the day I took a nap in the sun.
I passed more marshlands and old "ghost" houses.
In the evening I found a church with a good hiding place behind.
Day 289, 125 km
Another sunny day, but now headwind. Passed many trees in full bloom.
The afternoon was cold and cloudy.
Day 290, 110 km
Headwind again. I decided to have a long brunch under a roof of a ghost house. The veggies from Walmart became a delicious soup!
In the afternoon my second Continental Contact finaly exploded. Hope I will not have so many flat tires any more...
In the evening I found myself on a dangerous highway near Elisabeth City at the same time as it became dark and very foggy. The shoulder was impossble to ride on because there wer "ripples" which are supposed to wake up driver who are falin asleep. I decided to sleep on the roadside, close to a fenc, only 50 m from the highway.
Day 291, 65 km
Day 291, 65 km
This is the place where I slept. Many people must have seen me but nobody claimed...
I continued north and passed the border to a new state, but no welcoming sign! (unless I missed it).
When I came closer to Chesapeake I found a bike path. As many times before it stopped in the middle of nowhere in a field....
Now I am in a library not far from there updating my blog!
Outside there are daffodils, but most grass still is very brown.
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