We started the day walking through the historic part of Savannah, Georgia. What a great place to walk. There are parks, called squares (guess what shape they are), between the residential blocks. That's a lot of parks. You can see one in the picture. Some have fountains, some statues, all have many old trees, benches, and paths. After a nice morning walk and breakfast in Savannah we got onto highway 95 and headed south.
Half way through Georgia, Nathan and Laurie and I parted company. We were going to be going our own ways soon according to plan and our riding styles and preferences were already diverging. So I suggested we go ahead and part ways today. I hear they had a good ride and they are spending the night in Vero Beach. I rode a little longer and got a room in Lantana, Florida. I had a good time riding with friends but that was only part of the plan for this trip. I am looking forward to the rest of this trip alone to see where my thoughts will go. It is interesting to me how different of an experience this ride is already. All distractions are my own. All decisions are made without consideration for others. Even my thoughts are different. In physics, there is a principal that the observer always affects the observed. I believe that traveling partners do the same. I am curious how a few days of thinking and experiencing this trip alone will compare to previous days. I have enjoyed myself both ways so far.
Traveling on through Florida I found highway 95 mostly flat and mostly straight, most of the time. The sky is huge and the clouds were big today. Once in a while the road would rise to go over a water way, train track, or another road. That was the best time to look all the way around at the sky, especially during sun set. It was neat to see the several areas off in the distance where it was raining in distinct sections of sky. As the sun went lower, the greys turned orange, pink and purple and the feeling in the air was calm. Riding was peaceful. My mind became calmer. There are times riding home from work when the sun is setting and I think "I could just keep on riding for-ever." I'm in luck now, I get to keep on riding. I feel good on the bike. I could do this for a long time. Not forever and not in the current reality. I would not want to miss the life Tami and I will have with The Kid. But under different circumstances, I could do this ride-every-day traveling-thing for at least a couple of years.
I also saw a gigantic road sign this morning that said "Who is John Gault?" How cool is that? That was the first philosophical road sign I had seen today and the only one that didn't mention Jesus or abortion on this whole trip. If you are not familiar with John Gault, he is a character in Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged." It is a thought provoking book that I enjoyed. There was a time when I had "Who is John Gault?" written on my college binder in large letters. The road sign said nothing else. I liked it. Of course, the sign may still have been trying to drum up business. But, I hope it was put up by somebody with some extra cash to spare who realized more people would see the road sign than her or his college binder. Wouldn't it be cool if people put up thought provoking signs with no other motive than to make people think?