Saturday:

Well this portion of the trip has been flip'n awesome! I started out my trip in Atlanta and was pleasantly surprised. My expectations of the ATL was pretty much ghetto... BUT, it was wonderful! A nice mix of DC, SF and a hint of Vermont. It was a big city with lots of suburbs and business people like DC. The hipster young energy and progression of SF but with nice quaint/beachy vibe of the Northeast. I stayed with this wonderful couple (first couple of couchsurfing) in their trendy loft in the Reynoldstown. Which was originally an area that housed freed slaves from the Civil War. Then in the 50's it became the mecca for the railroad industry and now is a trendy area with an abundant amount of converted lofts and flats from the old railroad buildings. The downtown area is soo unique something I've never seen before. Two of Atlanta's biggest colleges (Georgia Tec and U of Georgia) are all downtown. So strolling thru all you see in this a super urban setting and college kids laying in the parks, sitting at cafe's and walking around among all the business people. It's a really cool vibe "young vs. old" Not to mention all the cool shops and underground mall! Fortunately, my last day in Atlanta was perfect California weather. It was 82 with hardly any humidity. Score!

Then of course Savannah! Wow! It was sooo beautiful! There are all these beautiful big droopy trees the with Spanish Moss hanging from them like you would see in a swamp. The classic big French looking houses with a real old world charm. Went down River Street and went to all the cool shops and candy stores to get free samples, woot woot! This was the most unique couch surfing experience I've had so far. I shared my space with Arthur (fellow couchsurfer and Matt my host) which the two of them were soo inspirational and amazing! My host Matt was originally from Detroit, Michigan and had moved to Savannah a couple month ago to join the Police Academy. He had the desire to do this because he had just completed a few cross-country trips and had A LOT of good- samaritan help all over the US on his journey. After doing this he felt like he wanted to do the same for others. Unfortunately, he didn't get in. Now he's just hosting travelers and finishing up this book (Highway Humanity) to hopefully give back in someway to others. Matt is the ultimate domestic traveler! He had just finished a 5000 miles walk. Yes, I said walk! During his walk across the US he had documented all all of the "good things" random people had done for him. Granted he was only carrying a backpack and had little to no money doing this. So, this experience was set up to depend on others for help (food, water and lodging). Just hearing him talk about all these people along the way. He remember all of their names and what city they lived in. It really moved me that there is sooo much humanity still in the world. People would see him walking on the side of the road and give him water and talk to him about WTF is he doing in the middle of Texas! He would knock on doors asking to stay in their backyard in his sleeping bag and most of the time they would offer him a shower and extra money to food the next day. He would also show up a churches and they would put him up in hotels. He would be sitting at a convenience stores and people offering him rides. He survived on the kindness of others for two months. And he wrote about it.... he's in the process of trying to get it published and I was lucky enough to read the first three chapters. It really brought tears to my eyes hearing all of these stories of people just helping people. Which is what couchsurfing is all about. About paying it forward.

The other guy who happen to be staying at Matt's place with me was Arthur who is from Pilly. He had just rode in from a 3-week bike trip from there to end in Savannah. He also just had a backpack, hammock and two water bottles. He averaged 120miles a day (140 being his longest) and sleeping in the woods in his hammock and surviving on Little Debbie snacks. He had decided to do this trip because he had just lost his job and just wanted to do it. He had never done a multi-day road trip ever before so he had gone into this pretty blindly. Both of these men were so amazing that I was memorized by all their stories and what's next for them. I felt so inspired and travel is just that easy. The hard part is decided to do it. Since this trip my fear of traveling has diminished and I feel totally capable of doing more. Much more!

After that inspirational couple of days. I headed over to Goose Creek, South Carolina where my girlfriend Jane and her husband Thom live. We spent and afternoon in Charles towne (Charleston) and then spent a day at Folly Beach. Got a great tan and and lotsa Vit-C. It's sooo great to see people from back home and comforting to have my peeps here! They treated me soo well... we made a crazy home-made dinner and took me to The Cracker Barrel! It was awesome it's a botique that's a resturant. So, I tried grits and friend Okra for the first time. They were both delicious! So, we had a lot of good-times and catching up.

What's next: I heading Charolette, North Carolina, Asheville and then spend a few days in the Smoky Mountains.