From Sea to Shining Sea

I'm in Longs, South Carolina. I got here just at sunset yesterday after a 420-mile ride. It featured some wrong turns and another amusing mishap. At about 400 miles, zooming down a lightly traveled freeway through the pretty coastal plain, I was feeling very stiff in my neck and shoulders. I started rolling my head around, shrugging my shoulders, and making other moves for some relief. I tilted my neck back a little farther than usual and, with a minor sound, my face shield detached and tumbled down the pavement behind me. There was distant traffic following, with no place to turn around for many miles, and I doubted that the shield had survived in good condition anyway. I rode on wearing my sunglasses, but every now and then a bug, or grains of sand thrown up by another vehicle, would sting my face where the glasses don't cover. I am going to get another shield at the earliest opportunity but, here in the South, a very large number of merchants close on Sunday, including all the motorcycle dealers and accessory shops.

Yesterday's ride covered a lot of beautiful country. My no-freeway vow is over, and I tackled Interstate 20 with a vengeance, but the ride through Georgia before I hit 20 was very pleasant. I didn't stop to take many pictures, but this pasture outside Monticello was typical.

Last night I took Jackie and Jim to the restaurant of their choice, the local Outback, where we feasted on many desirable food items. This morning, I'm going to church with them.

I haven't been to a church service in so long, I can't remember the last time. I'm not a church person. But I'm glad to go to this one, because I want to pray alongside them for God's grace and mercy as Jackie battles her illness. She's a fine person and she deserves some grace and mercy.

I started this ride in Los Angeles, on the shores of the Pacific. After church, I'm riding six miles down to the local beach, the Atlantic. The freaking official checkpoint. The shining sea. Then I'm going to turn around and see how many miles I can ride toward the northwest. I hope to cross the Smoky Mountains and get into eastern Tennessee today. I have one week, almost to the very hour, to get to San Clemente, California, on the shore of that other ocean, to be with my mom on Mother's Day. Lots of miles every day, and I've done about 4000 miles already.

No pictures today. I'm kind of disorganized. I should be able to catch up a little after nightfall and beef up this post a little bit, talk more about the ride from Georgia over here.