Not Lost, Just Confused

May 23, 2013
The GPS programmed for Raiford, Florida, I left the motel in Fanning Springs. Not that I'd ever heard of or needed to go to Raiford, but according to Google Earth it's a central location from which to line up with my northern destination of Douglas, Georgia, another place I've never heard of or needed to go, but it lines me up with back roads that keep me east of Atlanta, a place I "have" heard of and have no desire to go. First I had to get to Raiford, only 64 miles away. One hour.

It was a beautiful morning; Clear and dry; No sign of last night’s downpour; Pretty roadside flowers while meandering through quaint towns of Florida's backwoods. Birds were singing (I suppose).  The elevation was starting to rise, hanging in there between 150 and 200 feet. I made it to Raiford without a hitch.

I didn’t need fuel at Raiford but was in need of food, having missed breakfast. And there wasn't even coffee at the Park Inn in Fanning Springs. The granola bar and water I had in LaCrosse didn’t take. Nothing in Raiford but a convenience store / gas station called "Kangaroo Express". I've seen others. Must be a chain down south?

That'll do, I reasoned, thinking mainly of coffee in spite of the already sweltering heat. But what I really wanted to buy in the store was a Georgia road map. Though the GPS was working fine, I wondered about its sudden loss of calculating power causing me to stumble out of Saint Augustine two mornings ago. What if it happens again? I need a map backup. 
 

The store had no maps. Sign of the times I guess. Pretty soon paper maps will be obsolete, if they aren't already.  I settled for some Hazelnut coffee and two apple fritters, which I sipped and chewed while sitting "side saddle" on the bike in the semi shade, watching the locals come and go. Kangaroo Express is the happening place in downtown Raiford.

I set the GPS for Fargo, Georgia, another small town on my backroads quest, and followed it's directions onto County Road 229. As I did so a peripheral glimpse caught the words of a passing sign ... something about a bridge out on 229 in Baker County.

For six miles I wondered if that's what it actually said. I also considered the GPS information that I had to be on County Road 229 for 31 miles before turning onto Highway 2, to Fargo. It would be my luck to come upon the washed out bridge in 30 miles and have to backtrack all the way to Raiford. It was time to consult the GPS about its "detour" feature. I stopped in the isolated jungle, in the skin-melting-no-shade heat, and we discussed the situation.

The GPS advised a couple miles up the road was a left turn onto County Road 238. I went there and did that. The road was even narrower and more isolated than 229, if that's possible.  Two miles until a “right turn” on 3^rd street, said the GPS. How could that be? We're in the middle of nowhere. Okay, there must be a town in two miles. Wrong! There was a road though, or what used to be a road, never paved and was grown up in weeds. I rode on. The GPS went nuts, but just for a moment. Now it wanted me to take another right turn ahead. Yep. Another dirt road. Again I ignored it. Again the GPS panicked. We argued all the way to Lake Butler, a small town that surprisingly popped up out of no where. Soon thereafter we were north bound on Highway 100, a real highway with a center line and traffic, which we followed all the way to Fargo and beyond.

Nothing of consequence happened the rest of today's ride unless you count being rained on. I didn't mind. It was a quick dousing and actually felt good.

Taking a closer look at Google Earth, here at the motel in Douglas, Georgia, I wonder why I chose to go to Raiford in the first place? It was a waste of 23 miles there and back to Lake Butler, which should have been my choice from the start. 

The GPS would like me to mention the dirt road actually has a name. It's the "Dowling Cutoff Road" and  does in fact lead to a real road, eventually, albeit via a maze of other dirt roads.

Granola Bar Stop In LaCrosse, Florida

Breakfast At The Kangaroo Express In Raiford, Florida

Image From Google Earth Showing
The Dirt Road Suggested By The GPS.

Fanning Springs To Douglas, Georgia (197 Miles)

June 16, 2013 Progress Map at Ashland, Wisconsin (8,200 Miles)