18 July 2007
I know I was beat last night, but this morning is the reason I want to
be on the way out of town before I stop for the night. (Although how
you can be "on your way out" of the south Florida megapolis I don't
know.) From where I started, it was 30 miles to the beginning of I-95.
It took me almost an hour and a half to get to the freeway (20 mph
average). And this stretch is the only place I saw rain all day; and
not much of that. In retrospect, I probably should have taken the
"Florida Turnpike." I hate screwing with toll roads, but it would have
cost me a few bucks and saved almost an hour.
It was such a relief to
be moving again, I didn't mind that it was an interstate. And move it
did, mostly 10-15 over, with occasional slowing in construction zones.
At
my first gas stop, I got out the wet towel, which helped some with the
heat, although it was pretty humid.
I stopped at a rest stop half way
through the tank, and renewed the water in the towel. I was getting low
on gas as I approached Jacksonville, but there was construction, and I
didn't want to stop in town ... finally, a major exit appeared. I still
had 12 miles showing on the gauge, but figured "why push it" and got
off. As I slowed at the bottom of the ramp, the engine died. It
restarted, roughly, and I made the turn, but then it died again, and
wouldn't start. At this point, I'm hoping it is out of gas; if it's
anything more serious, that won't be good... There's a gas station on
the right side of the road, about 100 yards, so I push it in, fill it
up (and it takes 6.078 gallons--never put in that much before--time for
a pump recalibration?) and it starts. Whew!
Shortly before the Georgia
border, I got off I-95 and back on civilized roads--what a relief! It's
still hot, but it's a lot more relaxed. I figure I'll stop at the first
opportunity after 1600, and that appears to be Jesup. There are a
number of handy motels, I pick the Western ($50); drive around looking
for groceries, and end up at Wal*Mart for the third night in a row
($13)
States:
Florida, Georgia.
492 GPS miles (6021 total), 60.6 moving average (took a lot of
interstate to get it that high after the bad start), 83.1 max.
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