Ride Day 61

Last night I stayed in a hotel with a Chinese guy I met on the road. He is going to graduate school in Maryland and is riding his bike to Key West Florida. We shared the room and compared notes on our routes. In the morning we both left early. I rode on quiet country roads that had shade for most of the day which was a good thing because the temperature and humidity were both high again. I only rode 62 miles after yesterday's 120. The State Park was on a river and there were hundreds of people floating down the river in tubes and mattresses or whatever would float. When I arrived they told me there was no room to camp. I pleaded my case that there was no where else close for me to put up camp and the woman told me I could share her site. I was eternally grateful for her offering to share because I would have had to camp on the road which is not always very safe. In the park, I had a nice swim in the river but did not float down stream. In the park there was a copperhead snake which was beautiful but deadly and some campers killed it for the "safety of the all the children". I don't really buy that idea. I would have caught it and moved it but they would not let me so they killed it with a brick. Snakes are just not very popular with most people. I set my tent up and went to the bathroom for a shower. When I came back the ground squirrels had eaten a hole into my tent. The little rats might look cute in cartoons but I was pissed at them. Now I have a big hole in my tent and lots of rain in the forecast. Such is life. I sat around and chatted with a bunch of local South Carolina campers. They were all very friendly and nice people. We compared politics a bit just for laughs and mostly just enjoyed ourselves shooting the breeze of the usual things. They seemed to like hearing about my travels around the world. They pumped me with lots of questions which was fine by me. I had a beer with them and then I had to go back and sleep. I was very tired from my long day riding the day before. I slept well and hit the road early in the morning.