The wind forecast is for 20 mph winds from the west. I think it is time to go east ;-}! Since I just came west, I'll start by riding north a bit and the ride northeast to cross back over the Savannah River at the next bridge upriver. My planned route follows small roads back to Princeton and on to Laurens, about 70 miles from here. Today started grey and windy. I delayed starting for about an hour to give a line showers a chance to move through Elberton. Then I headed down to McDs - which was on the corner of 17 and 77, the place where I needed to turn north - for breakfast. I visited with several folks at McDs, but folks working there and customers, about my ride. It was fun. When I headed north, I had strong side winds form the west, but riding was pretty good on GA 17. I saw several Ga Bike Rt 85 signs on that road and even considered riding it on north to Hartwell when I reached the point where I planned to turn east. I rode on a bit beyond the turn to see what teh shoulder did. It went away (!) and, given the traffic level, I wasn't happy about that 'bike route', so I turned back and headed for Iva, South Carolina. It was a very nice ride to the Savannah River. Smooth roads, a moderate amount of climbing - it averaged 400 feet per mile pretty much all day, a a good tail wind made riding fun. There was light traffic and some interesting stuff to see along the way. Elberton is 'Granite capital of the World' and I passed several ganite companies including Boyd Granite Company. Maybe a distant relation ;-}. After crossing the Savannah River, the road became rough and stayed that way for the next 20 miles or so. Some times I could find a smoother section at or near the white line or in the middle of the lane. Traffic was very light, so riding in teh middle of the lane was no problem. Other than noise from my bike and noise from the wind, it was extremely peaceful and enjoyable riding. Iva turned out to be a nice town with services I didn't take advantage of since, with a good breakfast and the good wind, I didn't need a break after 20 miles. Iva offered me sevral photo opportunities including one I have been looking for everday on this tour. Back near Greenville, I passed a small house in the country with both white and pink blossoms on it trees. I hadn't yet figured out and easy way to get my bigger camera out of my bigger handlebar bag, so Imissed that shot. I thought I'd get another chance, but I didn't see that combination again until Iva. Iva also offered me a house with many palm trees. It looks like it should be Florida. I'd seeen a few palms before, but nothing like this blatant exhibition. After Iva, I headed for Antreville. That turned out to be pretty much of a bust, but the ride there, past Seccession Lake, was nice. After I passed trough Antreville - blink and you won't see it - I turned north towards Anderson and spotted a road to Honea Path that wasn't on my maps or my route. It was a nice road, so I took it ;-}. Half a dozen miles later, I stopped for my first snack break of the day. I wanted someplace dry to sit that was out of the wind but in the sun. I spotted a downed tree tunk in a field which met my requirements and had my break sitting on it. I used my monopod and a very small bungie cord, which I found on last summmer's tour, to park my bike near the ditch which separated the field with the palce to sit from the road. That arrangement worked well and I had a good break. Unfortunately, my butt started itching shrtly after that break, but, other than scrathing it, I ignored it until I finished my ride. then I discovered a small red ant in my pants! When the small road got near Honea Path it ran into US 178 a mile or so south of that town. As I rode up to the intersectio, I saw a solid stream of slow moving traffic heading north. they were doing major paving jobs in and around town, so I ended up having take the lane in that traffic and ride as fast as I could - not very since I was dealing with a 20 mph cross wind and a loaded bike - for half a mile or so until I was able to get over on a side street. I stopped in Honea Path - nice town except for work being done on the streets - for a small hamburger and coffee. Then I rode 25 mile on SC 76, with a brief segment on US 25 in Princeton - to Laurens. The ride on SC 76 wasn't bad, but it was more getting down th road riding than the first 2/3rds of the trip. I didn't take and images, I just got on down the road, arriving in LAurens about 5 PM. when I got here, I stopped t ask a young woman about motels. She thought a while and gave me directions which were correct, but to vauge for me to follow. After doing a loop back to near where I got my first set of instructions, I got much better instuctions from a woman managing a Subway. She told me ther were two motels in town, but one of them was not good and mainly used for short - i.e. hour long - sessions ;-}. The other was OK then she proceeded to give me elaborate instructions - five turns - on how to find the better place. Those instructions worked, but only because She specified landmarks as well as the number of lights to go through ;-}. The last instruction was to go under a railroad tressle. Since it was this or the bad place, I figured my earplugs will help me deal with the train noise. While I've been writing this three trains have passed and they are VERY noisy. Tomorrow I ride back to Greer - 36 miles - to meet my daughter for lunch and then I'll head home. I'll write that day up as well, but it won't be nearly as nice as this day was.