22 December 2017
I never thought I would get out of Georgia. Somewhere around Gainesville my GPS seemed to go crazy and routed me back to the park. I cleared it and restarted with Orlando as the destination. In a fit of pique, it then took me down back roads, and then eventually two separate dirt roads before it decided to head south. I think it was the Russians.
Recently, I paid to have the GPS updated and ever since, it seems to be more confused than I. No update is a good update.
I finally crossed the state line at Lake City. The old downtown is rather quaint. I then made excellent time until just below Gainesville, Fl when I75 became stop and go traffic until I reached Wildwood. I kept wondering why my GPS kept saying I was still and hour and a half out of Orlando.
Much later, I got to the Ronald Reagan Turnpike and found sections of it were also stop and go. Damn those holiday travelers – spoiling traffic for us retired hikers.
In any case, I pulled into the DoubleTree Hilton just off I4 around 7 pm. I started the trip this morning at 7:30, so it made for a long 11 1/2 hour day of driving. That’s what happens when you get lost in the Georgia backcountry.
This is my first time in a DoubleTree and it is nice. I got a good rate through my Hilton Card which I never use. Tomorrow should be an easy 3 1/2 hour drive home.
