Sign on my sister Jane's home to welcome me

Lucille:

May 29 - Thursday -  This was a wonderful day!  The ride was easy today.  The roads were easy to find and they had very light traffic.  I stopped in the town of Hartwell to look around.  Again I found some interesting shops and nice people to talk to.  Just after we crossed the Savannah River, we were in South Carolina.  We stopped at a boat landing near the river and had our lunch.  The weather was good enough and we were only about 30 or so miles from Donalds, so we decided that I would just go ahead and not have any more stops.  Tom's arrival a few hours later was such fun.  His sister Jane had told all of the family and close friends the approximate arrival time, and all of them that could came to the house to watch Tom pull in.  There were balloons on a post outside the house and a welcome banner on the house.  There were reporters from 2 of the area newspapers there also who took pictures and interviewed us.  As we saw the speck of red and orange coming closer, everyone came out to the lawn and applauded.  It was so much fun.  That evening Jane served us and the immediate family a delicious dinner. We will spend about 2 weeks here in Donalds visiting friends and family.  We will not be doing journals during these 2 weeks.  When we leave here, we plan 2 1/2 days of biking to get to Charleston and will do journals those 3 days, and then that will be the end of the biking adventure and journals.  

Mural on building in Iva, SC

The last state - Nine

TOM:

Day 35 – This was a good day for biking.  When we got up, there was a light rain and some clouds.  By the time we had breakfast and I got ready to ride, the rain had stopped and the road was not even wet.  The temperature was in the mid-sixties at the start and got up the mid-seventies by the time I arrived in Donalds. There was a light west or northwest wind blowing, which made riding easier going east.  There was also a 250 feet downhill elevation change.  There were rolling hills but much flatter than the ones in the Smoky Mountains.  After the first 15 miles, at Lavonia, GA,  I got on rural roads for the remainder of the trip.  I crossed the Savannah River after 45 miles along the way.  Lucille caught up with me about one mile before reaching the Savannah River and we planned to stop for lunch at the first suitable place. We stopped at a nice boat landing just across the river in South Carolina for lunch. Naturally, the river was the lowest point at 450 feet along the route.  It is a lot of fun riding along the rural roads with very low traffic and seeing the beautiful scenery along the way.  There were lots of farms, trees, creeks, and rivers.  The major colors are the blue sky, the white clouds, and the green trees and grass.  It was fun riding through the familiar areas of Abbeville County.  When I reached my sister Jane and brother-in-law Louis's house, there was a welcome sign and lots of family and friends to great me.  This was a special surprise for me.  Another great day of biking.

My home town

Day Thirty-Five - 5/29/2003

One of many ponds in South Carolina

Total Trip Distance: 2870.47

Lucille at the Savannah River

Toccoa, GA to Donalds, SC 75 miles in 5 hours 21 minutes for an average speed of 14 mph.  This was an easier ride than the last few days with the elevation going from 1000 feet to 770 feet over a much flatter terrain.