Bike Across the U.S. Day 4

I got a much better start today, leaving Monticello at 7:25. Looks like the earliest start I will be able to get is around 7:10 now as the sun is just up. Sets at about 6:30 p.m., which can make the day challenging. By about 3:00 I need to be well on my way to get to my goal. Today is the first time I've gotten to where I wanted to be. No camping for tonight as thunderstorms were forecast so I'm in a motel in Chattahoochee. Nothing that you would stop at unless that was all there was. And there will be many more towns where I have no choice. I relearned a lesson last night. I planned to ride Rte 90 instead of the route to Tallahassee as it would save over 20 miles. So I asked my very nice Innkeeper at the B&B what the road was like and if there was a convenience store along the way. Very nice drive and a wonderful little store. So that was the wrong question. I should have included does the road have shoulders and what time does the store open. Answer would have been all but 6 miles and it opens at 11:00 a.m. So again today there were several small towns and many more churches. I should be writing down the names of these churches. Food stops were scarce. Out of desperation for food I went in one in which I quickly decided to only eat packaged items and the bathroom was the worst I've ever seen,yuk. So today after a fast 29 mile start, the first time that I got off the bike was a disaster! I always get on and off on the left side. In this case the left parking lot sloped left, so when I lifted my right leg over, it caught on the top tube. It was a slow motion fall on my back, onto a curb with the bike on top! As I lay there for a time no one asked if I was OK, amazing. I lost some skin on my elbow and forearm. This happened in Tallahassee so there was a Walgreens across the highway so I have more bandage material now to go along with what I brought! They sold nothing for damaged pride. The roads had many small hills today and I did travel 72 miles, so I'm getting the miles up. An update on the saddle seat battle: it seems to be a stalker right now which is encouraging. So yesterday a record was set with a house that had 14 cars in the yard, looked like few would run and there was a close second today with a 12. Today's on the road observation: I saw a flashing yellow light ahead in the distance. Distance is much different on a bike, took me 7 minutes to peddle to it, geez! Oh yes, I have not paid more that $11.00 with tip for any meal. Tonight's only choices were a Chinese Buffet or Subway, so the all you can eat buffet was...................$7.29. More tomorrow!