Surf and Turf '08 RIDE REPORT! (56k warning)

[bush]

I finished up my photo session with a quick ride around the perimeter of the island. I was back at my campsite by 7AM, took a shower, packed everything up, and planned out my route while I waited for the store to open so I could get some essentials.

I chose Edisto Island, SC because it was within a short day's distance and I didn't want to overexert myself any more. I had a little over a week to get back home, and I wanted to enjoy it. Onward!

I could have made a quick and easy trip out of it and just hit I95 north, but that didn't make any sense. So I immediately headed north after leaving Jekyll Island on GA25/US17. Nice, relaxing ride. Traffic was present but was easily dispatched, and parts of the ride were two lanes. It was reminiscent of the horror that was GA441 going south, but I was in much less of a hurry on the return trip.

At one point I came up behind a guy on a Honda Shadow, dressed in full leather and loaded up with luggage. I caught that the license plate said New Mexico, and just then we ended up side-by-side at a red light. We threw a wave to each other and I asked where he was headed. Seattle! God damn. The light turned green, I wished him luck, and ended up leaving him behind.

It was a little while, still in Georgia territory, when I realized that I'd passed no less than a dozen Waffle House restaurants since first entering the state several days ago, and still hadn't had the... Pleasure? Or the misfortune? So I stopped. Breakfast time. Eggs with bacon and sausage.

If you've never been to a Waffle House... you're not missing much.

Anyway, I was back on the road again. I was closing in on the South Carolina state line at a moderate pace, riding parallel to the coastline. When what did I see at the border? A black Honda Shadow, parked alongside the road. I honked as I passed, smiling to myself until I thought to myself that maybe I should stop too. I turned around and offered my assistance.

Turns out he didn't need help, he was just taking a picture of the "Welcome to South Carolina" sign. The guy was an older fella by the name of Don Nason, a retired Roswell, New Mexico native who had recently moved to Florida with his wife. He'd gotten up one day and said, "I'm going for a ride, I'll be back when I get back."

We shot the shit for a while, I told the story of my trip thus far and he regaled me with a few of his own. I may have convinced him to hit the Dragon and BRP on his way north, and I even gave him a rolled up collection of maps and brochures that I'd printed out for the trip (stuff I no longer needed) to help him along his way.

We parted ways at that very state line, and if anybody knows where Don might be, tell him to check out this thread and drop me a line.