I am parked at the Walmart in Newnan Georgia, the state where the trajectory my old life was taking suddenly look a wild detour! Tomorrow, I get to start adding new states to my map! 🙂
The morning was a bit rough. I couldn’t get online (note to self, reboot the phone next time this happens) and with the laptop being nearly dead, I decided to drive to a rest area about an hour and a half away for breakfast. So I took off without even having coffee.
The GPS routed me at a diagonal through secondary roads back to I-85 just ahead of the rest area. This route was a little bit of work first thing in the morning, but nothing too difficult.
I got back on the interstate and drove through Gaffney, which boasts a big peach for a water tower:
I cheered when I saw the sign announcing the rest area just after and went WTF???!!! that it was closed with no information about how far the next one was. I checked the DOT website last night and there was no mention of a closure!
I drove. Short of stopping in a busy town and looking for a place to stop, this was the only option. I did want to get through Atlanta sooner than later, so I decided to just get some mileage under me.
At Piedmont, I saw a sign for a Pilot Travel Centre, so I took a chance that there would be room to park. Nope, and I barely got out without having to unhook again. I am NEVER going to a Pilot again!!!
I got out of there, stopped at a red light, and saw the most beautiful sight ahead of me: a crumbling shell of a building with an unblocked U-shaped driveway.
I managed to get online while the coffee was brewing, dealt with my most pressing matters, made a couple of calls (including that I could park here in Newnan), and got under way again.
I passed a rest area at Anderson, shortly after Piedmont (figures), then the Georgia Welcome Center, but I wasn’t ready to stop. Little did I know, there would be no more obvious stops available to me.
I didn’t know that Tiger Direct has an actual physical store.
Before long, Atlanta was upon me:
First glimpse of Atlanta.
I’d done my research and knew that driving straight through in the middle lanes was the best course of action. The semis have to use the by-pass, so that means there are no vehicles bigger than an RV driving through downtown.
Traffic was a little thick in spots, but Montreal traffic is never this easy. So I was really glad I didn’t get worked up over crossing Atlanta or lose any sleep over it!
Cruising through downtown Atlanta, the pace and traffic relaxed enough to enjoy the scenery.
It’s a bit early to be stopped for the day, but I am knackered! The lot is big and mostly empty, so I’m not taking up valuable parking space. I’ll take this time to clean up the rig a little (don’t ask me how, but my shredder flew across the office and the cats got into the shredded paper and there is now confetti EVERYWHERE), then I might go to Applebee’s for dinner (hey, I can’t remember the last time I went to Applebee’s, so I’m due!).
I also need to figure out where I’m stopping tomorrow. I was thinking of a Walmart in Mobile, but I wouldn’t mind finding a place where I could park for a couple of nights so that I could take a road trip into Florida. I have only most technically been to Florida, so I side trip to Pensacola might be in order.
Then, New Orleans, probably for a week! I’ll be staying at an inexpensive RV park so that I will have the option to take off with the truck to explore the environs and possibly even overnight. I really need a break from my cats. 🙂
The power situation is good so far today. It’s been too cloudy to get a full charge, but the sun has come out and there are a few hours left, so I will be fine tonight. The batteries are at 94% right now and we’re supposed to stay above freezing tonight! YAAAAAY.
My mood is much improved over yesterday. How could it not knowing that tomorrow I will finally see the Gulf of Mexico?
I continue to be amused by the comments I get that my blog is not about travel when, even with a year’s hiatus in Lethbridge, I have covered this much ground in just over four years:
