Day Two – Valdosta
Todays walk (5.36 mi.) near the extreme southern margin of the starting point (at the junction of Arrowleaf Dr. and Loch Laurel Rd.), was met with some brief delays. I’ll not bore with details, but the Walk Around Lowndes website is only on day two. Like all endeavors more complicated than just flipping a switch, there’s a brief initial process of getting all components up, running, and synchronized. And so, while those details are being worked out, it provides a moment to strategize.
As mentioned in an earlier post, some of the targeted streets lie outside of the Valdosta city limit but, could be judged as “close-nuff” to be included in my walk. Valdosta’s border footprint is about as convoluted as a the flight path of a carpenter bee, and a decision had to be made about what streets logically to exclude. (Many of us are familiar with the stately grid design of Savannah Ga., laid out by Governor James Edward Oglethorpe. I’ve come to suspect Valdosta Ga. may have been designed by one, W. Nilly. But I digress).
In the spirit of being comprehensive enough to meet the challenge of truly “walking every foot of every street” I decided a cleaner margin of what I consider Valdosta to be established. That margin includes all of Perimeter Rd., North Valdosta Rd. and (where possible) the I-75 boundary to the west, back to the southern starting point at Ga. Hwy 31…and all public roads contained therein. Even with that expanded scope, some public roadways lie outside of Perimeter Rd. to the east, yet are inside the city boundary (did I mention our city footprint is convoluted).
Although in stutter step fashion, the march begins.