We decided to stay in Atlanta a full day, just to go around and visit places. Also, we needed a time to rest our legs and reset our knees. At this point my uncle had been feeling his left knee which slowed down our average sleep a bit. Stopping for a day would also help me recover my legs, which have been sore since the beginning.
We slept a little longer, left all bags in the hotel and took off to Atlanta’s downtown with our bikes. It was about 8 miles away, so it took us about 50 minutes to get there. Upon arrival, we had breakfast/lunch in a sandwich place and went to the famous Georgia Aquarium. What a place! We saw all kinds of fishes, stingrays, sharks, whales and much more. I enjoyed this visit very much. I have actually been there when I was 11, but all I could remember from that visit was a corridor where we passed below a giant tank and could watch the sharks from below. It was very good to see it again after so much time. Well, not that much time. =)
We spend a good three hours walking in the aquarium, then went out and got in The World of Coca-Cola, the famous museum which is right next to the aquarium. There we learned about the history of the brand and how it came to be, and also tried other Coca-Cola brand sodas from all around the world. My favorite was a melon-flavored Fanta sold in Thailand. One more reason to go visit Thailand as soon as possible!
We then set down outside in the park that surrounds the aquarium and the museum to catch the Wi-Fi and get in touch with friends and family, then eat at a Subway and got back to the hotel.
This was a great day I’ll never forget.
Day 12 – 04/14/2012 – Tallapoosa, GA
We started riding towards a city called Tallapoosa, but right on the beginning we passed a place called Holly Taco and decided to stop for some coffee. We ended u spending over 30 minutes there and then moved on. We rode about 20 miles until we reached a gas station where we met a couple that as very interested in our trip. They asked about our goals and our motivation, and also about some of the tales we had to tell. After a nice conversation we went to find a place to have lunch. As usual, we ended up stopping at a Subway.
I hadn’t slept well in the previous night, so I wanted to cut down some miles anyway possible. We decided to enter interstate 20 just for a few miles to save us from a big detour suggested by the GPS. There, we found a picnic/resting area and decided to stop for information. The guy there was very nice and we had some good conversation. Other people, seeing us dressed up the way we were, stopped to ask about what we were doing and talk. We spent about 30 minutes there, and then moved on through the interstate. After a few more miles we returned to our regular path through back roads. Here are a few pictures (click to enlarge):
No major things happened in the road and we arrived in the campground safely. We then assembled our tents and set out to find a plug to connect our electric pan and heat up the dinner. There were no tables around and the only plugs were in front of the bathrooms. So we took a piece of wood and improvised a table. There we cooked some pasta with shrimps and Alfredo sauce, eat and had some orange juice. We then washed the dished in the bathroom, took shower and set out to sleep.
In the next day, no one was around to receive the payment. We filed out the registration form we found in a box in front of the office, added a thank you note, placed the money together with it and left it in the drop box and left.
Day 13 – 04/15/2012 – Lincoln, AL
When we woke up that day the grass was humid and none of the clothes I had left over our tents had dried, so I packed them went in a bag and prepared for breakfast.
The ride was easy and without major events. That was a good thing since we wanted to arrive at the destination early and assemble our tents with at least a little bit of sun light.
At some point our planned route was again crossing interstate 20. We then decided to test our luck one more time and cut our some miles by riding in the interstate. We were able to progress well for a few miles, but then we faced a construction site that seemed to be stopped due to the fact that was a Sunday. No workers around. Without further options besides returning to where we came from, we took our bicycles down the construction area and moved forward riding in it. Later on, we found out a few newly constructed lanes were closed to the cars, but the pavement seemed dry enough for bicycles. We then started riding in there, while all cars were passing us using the old lanes. Thankfully, no police cars passed by us, or we would be in big trouble. That was nice, we were able to shorten our path in several miles and ride without any incidents.
When we arrived to our destination, we found nothing. Google had marked our campground in the wrong place and we spent several minutes riding around trying to figure out where was it. When we finally found it, an old guy greeted us and allowed us to pitch our tents without problems. We cooked in the bathroom since we couldn’t find plugs anywhere else. Then we eat showered, washed clothes and went to sleep.
Before falling asleep we checked the forecast for the next day: heavy rain and thunderstorms. We thought we would maybe ride with a few drops here and there… the fact was we had no idea what the next day had reserved for us.
