15 July 2007

According to the forecast, it's raining down south. So I bundled up...and ran into very little all day.

I saw a couple of interesting pieces of architecture in Tennessee--a high school with dome-like buildings, covering the entire structure, and with one or two of (the four) feet in water--various ponds, or lakes or streams. Shoulda took a picture. (It's Montgomery Central High School--zoom in on my track between Clarksville and I-40; it's just north of where 13 splits west off of 48.) Then, a bit later, I think it was some performing arts place, but part of it was a huge black ball, maybe 50 feet in diameter. Again, shoulda took a picture... (This is part of the Renaissance Center; it's midway between Dickson and I-40.)

I actually took a break half-way through my first tank of gas. Maybe helped some, but the miles were sure going by slowly. And the stupid GPS...I was heading down the road, crossed over I-40, got to a point, and it wanted me to go back and take I-40. So I did--I should have had the courage of my convictions. (The GPS apparently uses a different algorithm from the one MapSource does--so given the same route points, the routes can be different.) So instead of a direct shot down SR46, I zigged and zagged on a couple of Interstates. While I was bopping down I-65, I went into the GPS preferences and turned on "Avoid Toll Roads" and "Avoid Highways," then did a re-calc and it immediately took me off the interstate, and seemed to follow my intended route the rest of the day. But it'll probably bite me some other way again tomorrow.

There was some pretty riding today, but it took a long time to do 400 miles. I kept expecting to get to Georgia, and when I finally did, it turned 1700, and time to quit. I saw a few motels in Columbus, but waited until I got out of town again to stop. ($67-ouch!) No grocery stores, either, so gas station sandwiches, etc ($12).

States: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia
398 GPS miles (4627 total), 51.9 moving average, 279 max (aw, come on!).
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