Day 123 - Dearing, GA

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Last evening was one of the few on this trip when I had trouble going to sleep.I camped right beside a cemetery, so maybe something to do with that. Anyhow, it must have been 11 or so before I finally dozed off.....several hours later than normal. It was a nice evening, cool, but not cold at all. When the wake up call came at 6, the cool had changed to cold......but still not the teens we had a while back. I hit the "snooze" button for another 30 minutes or so, and was packed and ready to go before 730. I want to be in Augusta by late Friday, so need to get some miles today.

Warrenton was only 3-4 miles from where I camped, so I was there around 830 looking for a place to eat breakfast. The locals recommended "Miss Jane's Restaurant", so that's where I headed. I asked if I could charge my computer while eating, and the woman found an outlet for me to use. A sign on the wall states: "This is not a fast food place, so give us time to cook it!" I was in no hurry because of the computer charging, and it did take a while to get served. I ate, packed up the computer, and walked across the street to City Hall to ask some questions about directions. I am really struggling with directions.....when out west, there were few choices, so it wasn't an issue. Now there can be as many as 5-6 different routes (including walking routes), and that gets confusing.

The people at City Hall were no help.......it's really hard to get a non-walker to think about a route different than the one they normally drive. So, I headed out down Hwy 278, the easy choice. Traffic was light, there was a nice shoulder to walk on, and the temp was warming. Not a lot of scenery between Warrenton and Thomson, just a nice walk in the country. As I was just entering Thomson, a car pulled alongside me, and a woman handed me a Sonic bag and a soda. The two people in the car introduced themselves as Jeff and Jade Brazzle. They were in the area visiting family, and had seen me walking down the road. I asked where they were from, and Jeff replied "NC". I asked where in NC, and Jeff replied "near Charlotte". So I asked where near Charlotte, and Jeff replied "Gastonia". Can you believe that......these two people from my original home town and I meet in Thomson, GA, under these circumstances?

We had lots of fun talking about Gastonia, and their trip to GA. They asked about my trip, and I gave them a card and told them about the blog. Sorry I didn't take a picture, just forgot. We talked a while, and then they headed west. I sat down beside the road and ate the sandwich and wrap, then headed into town......the computer still needed charging a while longer. I spotted a YMCA, and decided that would be a good place to charge it. I stopped in, and talked to the woman behind the desk. She said it would be ok, but they really didn't have a good place to do that. She suggested the hospital across the street, so I went there. The guy at the front desk, Ray, said sure and showed me where I could sit and do the charging. He and I talked a while....he's originally from Maine, lived in FL for 30 years, moved to GA, and now thinking about moving back to FL.

Ray loves the water and boats, so we had something in common there. While I was waiting, a woman from the local newspaper came in, introduced herself as Danielle Everson, and asked if she could interview me for a story in the local paper. So we talked for a while, and she took a few pictures, and said the story would be in next week's paper. I had stayed in Thomson longer than planned, so packed up the computer and headed east. I stopped at a gas station to ask once more about the directions, but ended up taking the safe choice and staying on Hwy 278. I wanted to reach Harlem today, but doubt I can get there now. As I'm moving further east, dark seems to come earlier.

As I entered the city limits of Dearing, decided I needed to find a camp site. Found a spot in a group of pines near the road, and put the tent up there. It is still not cold, but probably will be by morning. It's still about 25 miles to Augusta, so I'll need to get up and get moving tomorrow.

About the picture:
A marker about a historic Indian route.