Road trip - Day Four - Northern FL, Southern GA

[brianreynolds]

Not much in the way of road-related observations on this day.

Over breakfast on New Year's morning (Tuesday), I was studying the map of Florida, and refining my planned route.  It was then that I noticed that my earlier route through northern Florida omitted Hamilton County.  That fact, combined with the setbacks of late Monday, rendered obsolete my original plan to visit all Florida counties on this trip.  I was also growing a bit weary of the topographical flatness and sameness of Florida.  I resolved to visit the remaining peninsula counties, then head for higher ground, leaving the panhandle counties for another trip.

I was fed and packed and loaded fairly early Tuesday, but not before daybreak.  West on I-4, then FL-60 across the causeway.  There was a light fog that obscured the long view.  It was possible to see far out into the bay, but not see the other side.  On the causeway, the illusion was that this is a road to nowhere.

Once on the far side, US-19 into Pasco County.  FL-52 east to I-75 north to CR-470 northwest to FL-44 west to Inverness.  US-41 north to Newberry, FL-26 west to Trenton, US-129 north to CR-430 west to catch a corner of Dixie County.  FL-349 and US-27 into Branford, then US-129 north through Live Oak and Hamilton County and on into Georgia. 

Florida is not nearly as thoroughly developed as I had imagined it to be.  I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of wide-open space.  Some places were reminiscent of east Texas.

Continued on US-129 to US-221 east of Lakeland (GA).  US-221 north almost to Douglas, then the bypass around the west side to GA-206.   Northwest on GA-206 to US-319 to Fitzgerald, then US-119 north to Abbeville.  US-280, GA-87 and GA-230 to Hawkinsville.  It was twilight, almost the last light of day on GA-230 where I saw several white-tail deer crossing the road single file.  I know from lots of personal experience that these critters are a real traffic hazard.  US-129 north to Warner-Robins and GA-247 to Centerville and overnight accommodations.

I got a Garmin GPS navigator for Christmas to replace the old worn out Tom Tom (the battery failed, and cannot be replaced).  The new Garmin has several nice features that the Tom Tom did not have.   I don't know whether this is a matter of technological advancements over time, a superior product line by Garmin, or a model upgrade, or some combination thereof.  I used the Garmin only sparingly to and through Florida, but started using it routinely in Georgia headed north.  Throughout the trip, I used it to locate motels and restaurants, but started using it as an interactive dynamic map.  I like the wider screen, the speed limit feature, and the split-screen at major interchanges that indicates which lanes to use.

[jwolfer]

Not much in the way of road-related observations on this day.

Over breakfast on New Year's morning (Tuesday), I was studying the map of Florida, and refining my planned route.  It was then that I noticed that my earlier route through northern Florida omitted Hamilton County.  That fact, combined with the setbacks of late Monday, rendered obsolete my original plan to visit all Florida counties on this trip.  I was also growing a bit weary of the topographical flatness and sameness of Florida.  I resolved to visit the remaining peninsula counties, then head for higher ground, leaving the panhandle counties for another trip.

....
Florida is not nearly as thoroughly developed as I had imagined it to be.  I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of wide-open space.  Some places were reminiscent of east Texas.

The panhandle would give some relief and very different topography than the peninsula.  North Florida is very lightly populated compared to the coastal south.  I was working in Tallahassee a couple weeks and got to do some limited exploriation.( damn getting dark early!)  I really like US 319/Thomasville Rd between Tallahassee and Thomasville, once your leave Tally suburban area it widens to a parkway with very wide medians and 65MPH speed limit.  It was twilight so no pictures

[NE2]

Eastern Lake County has some nice hills. Even on the Turnpike there's one place where you can look down and see the whole valley up ahead.