Day 27: Aug 7 - Thank god for nice people

Overnight a cur got into some of our groceries and they were strewn all over the field when we woke up the next morning. He ate an entire loaf of bread for god sakes! At least it was an early start because we had a long day ahead of us to catch up on the miles we lost yesterday.

We ended up doing 92 miles today...and although it was as hot as it was yesterday (there was a 105 degree heat index), it was much more humid so pretty much worse for riding. The foliage is starting to get interesting with lots of Spanish moss on all the trees and...oh, what's this? The soil is actually pretty much sand...and what's this??! There's ants on every square inch?! OH JOY!! Everything you own (including your body) gets pretty much swarmed if you leave it one space long enough. So that's nice.

I ended up calling the Walterboro Fire Department to see if they would put us up for the night...just a cool place to sleep with a roof over our heads. Eventually, after several calls and transfers, Fire Chief Barry hooked us up with the Colleton County Fire & Rescue just outside of Walterboro...thank god we wouldn't have to sweat all night in our tent.

On the way to Statesboro, SC we met a guy named Dan who was on his afternoon bike ride and he gave us his address just up the ride so that we could stop by for some cold drinks and a break in some AC. Dan was originally from Northern England, near Yorkshire, and he lived with his wife Sharon (who I believe is a coordinator for the Special Olympics...maybe). We got a nice break at the house and as a storm started rolling in we headed out for the last 8 miles to the Fire & Rescue center. The wind and some rain came in and often I would swerve to the center line of the road as I heard branches creaking and cracking overhead. Luckily no large branches crushed either of us and we arrived at the fire station in one piece.

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with the fire fighters: Scotty, Duane, Ashley, and John. We heard plenty of crazy stories, from guys getting tazered on calls to getting shot at by the locals with their shotguns as they were putting out a fire. Crazies left and right in the county were well known amongst both the veterans and new guys, with plenty of stories to be told about their crazy antics. This was podunk country and these guys readily admitted it. I think Scotty's quote of "See if anybody in your hometown ever had their girlfriend's dad arrested for trying to shoot them" pretty much sums that up.

The guys were great to hang out with and we also got beds...BEDS I TELL YOU!!!...so the sleep was great.