Update #38 - Sept. 21, 2003
Americus, GA - 8,366.5 miles (13,386.4 kms.)

The past ten days were basically riding Southwest away from the coastline and then westward to Americus. Because of Hurricane Isabel, I thought it would be best to do so instead of riding down the coast on U.S. 17 as I had originally planned to. The ride went pretty well. Along the way (especially while still in South Carolina),there were thoughts about turning around and heading up to the North Carolina Outer Banks to help out in the recovery effort but I felt that I would be a hindrance instead of a help. The federal, state, and local governments had plenty of time to put the proper disaster relief people in place.

There isn't much to say. The scenery went from woods, to cotton fields, to pecan groves, to peanut fields. The people were okay. In Mt. Vernon, I met the Presbyterian minister of the Vidalia church who was a cyclist. He took me out to lunch at Subway. We had a good talk about cycling and religion.

Overall, I'm in good spirits. I'm a little tired. I need to find a way to incorporate more rest days along the way. My nose is peeling more and I have a slightly sunburnt lower lip. It is good that I'm taking a couple of days off the road and staying out of the sun.

From Americus, I'll be heading back down to Florida. I'm not sure what I'll be doing. There are a couple of ministries that I want to check out to see if they might have a volunteer program that I can get involved with. I do want to take a few months off the road. Maybe, I'll then have the time to at least get a start on the book that everybody wants me to write.

I'll try to post an update as often as I can if there are any changes in my plans.