We had a leisurely breakfast this morning in Orangeburg SC and I was determined to find a car wash to get all this salt off my bike, trailer, and pickup. We got directions for this cramped multi-bay car wash that turned out to be an obstacle course for trailers. Low and behold, after weaving my way in, the car wash pipes were frozen but the owner “expected them to thaw out around 1pm”.

Our target destination for tonight (Thursday – St Augustine, FL) is only about a 6 hr drive away so the salt crust on everything will have to stay for now. The roads were dry and moving well today so we fired up our audio book again (The Stand – Stephen King) and enjoyed the sunny drive south through Georgia.

We stopped for gas and a late lunch in N Jacksonville, FL. The area looked a little iffy and Martha witnessed her first drug buy in the McDonald’s parking lot. I have never seen Martha gulp down her meal so fast when she said, “lets get the hell out of here before the gunshots ring out”. The gas station across the street was even worse with people cutting into the gas lines ahead of us, so we decided to go further south before tanking up.

We checked into the La Quinta Inn (St. Augustine) around 4:30 and found a working car wash to finally clean things up. Martha felt like having supper at the Cracker Barrel near the interstate and she signed the geocache log hidden on their front porch.

It’s Friday and finally we have a nice warm day for our trip towards Florida City. Traffic was moving well and we made good time. We stopped in Boca Raton for lunch and gas. I couldn’t wait to get through busy/commercial mainland Florida and enjoy the more relaxed nature and pace of the Florida Keys. We stopped for the night at the Best Western in Florida City. It was warm and balmy so after a nice meal on the patio at the nearby Captain’s Restaurant, we went back and enjoyed the pool at the hotel. Tomorrow we arrive Key Colony Beach home.