Days 6 & 7: "Lake Sando," GA

There were severe thunderstorm warnings on Friday after we arrived at Laura S. Walker State Park to camp ($30/night +$5 parking fee, with power and water).  So we opted not to cook outside in the rain and lightning, but instead went in to Waycross, GA for Mexican food (with a 22 oz margarita only costing $4.75, we couldn't help but enjoy our meal).  We emerged from the restaurant just as the leading edge of the big storm was passing over.  It was moving at 45 mph, so by driving 65 mph we managed to get a bit ahead of it.  Which is when we saw these rotating clouds forming on both sides of us, just a few miles west of our campground:

So we raced back to the campground and ducked into one of the concrete block toilets until the worst of the storm had passed.  A tornado watch remained in effect until 4 am, but we received no further storm warnings on our cell phones.

As we arrived at the campground there was a touring cyclist named Harold setting up camp nearby.  We wanted to set up in the site next to his, but his dog Daisy wasn't interested in having Lana as a neighbor, so we set up a few sites down the lane.  He set out last April from California seems to be nearing the end of his travels.  He tows himself, his dog (45 pounds or so?), dog crate and other gear with an older Schwinn bicycle, which he claims in-total weighs 160 lbs (we believe him!).  He said he had ridden 42 miles that day, and started to explain how that was a high mileage day for him, but with a 160 pound load that is a huge mileage day for anybody!  He was thinking he had ridden about 2,000 miles, but after he showed us a map of his trip I'd say it was more like 5,000.  The shortest direct crossing of the US is about 2,800 miles, and he didn't take the direct route.

Harold, Alea and Steve, at Laura S. Walker State Park, GA.

Daisy, watching over Harold's bike (that is her crate covered in silver tarp material).
(Both photos by Harold Palmquist.)

There was a LOT of rain overnight, so much that we awoke to find the "SS #531" standing in 4" of water.  We had a raised campsite with a fine gravel base, but the water wasn't draining.  By using a T-square to dig out the joints between the 6" x 6" retaining wall timbers along the perimeter of our site, we were able to slowly drain off the worst of the water, though that took well over an hour to do.

Lake Sando

SS #531, on her maiden cruise.  ;-)

We passed much of the day talking with our neighbors, and had Harold over for dinner in order to swap tales.  We had a great weekend despite the rain, and are looking forward to more of the same in the weeks to come.