Open Road Press

We have been pleasantly surprised by how much we have enjoyed our southern sojourn. Crossing into South Carolina today, our third state on our Mom-to-Mom tour, has been relaxing–and satisfying. People are slower moving around here, so they have time to chat. One man stopped us outside of El Cheapo, a gas station and convenience store (that actually had the most expensive Gatorade of our trip so far) and started talking about the weather, the economy, his boyhood memories of losing his marbles, his big brother, and other bicyclists he’s seen along these parts. Another man at another “bathroom stop” convinced us to cool off and have a sandwich there before getting out in the heat again. At that stop, we noticed across the street The Robertville Church, which was marked with an historical marker, one of several we have seen since entering South Carolina.

We’ve noticed Georgia and South Carolina have distinctly different approaches to roadside cleanup. In Georgia, we found state prisoners working on cleaning up the roadways. As soon as we entered South Carolina we saw a sign threatening to throw anyone who littered into prison, and slap a $1,000 fine on them. However, despite the warnings, we noticed many spots along the roadways with an excessive amount of trash. I asked one of the service attendants where the prisons are, and he said we just passed one. I asked if the prisoners ever do road work to clean up around here, like they do in Georgia, and he said, “OH no, they don’t do that here.”