Tallahassee rest day.

Spent last night with my niece Beth, her husband Matt and sons Henry, Owen and Oliver. Felt so bad when I said I was ready for bed at 7:30, then relieved to remember it was really 8:30, back on Eastern Time. We had been on Central Time since Texas, a wide time zone for sure.

Had breakfast this morning with the boys, got a haircut, took bike to be worked on, had lunch with a high school friend and classmate along with Beth and Matt for lunch, blogged some, got bike,  picked boys up from their school, got Fro Yo, and had a great day. Thanks everyone. Rained all day, supposed to rain tomorrow and Friday. Yeah!

Pictures of today.  Mike Jordan and myself, From the Class of '-- East Montgomery HS. The Boys, me and my haircut.

Shores that finally down loaded. And pictures from the 24th that finally downloaded.

Days 51-53... In and on the 90's

Day 51 Crestview to Marianna, FL 90 miles
Day 52 Marianna to Tallahassee , FL 80 miles
Day 53 rest Day. Last one taken in Tallahassee .

Before I get into the details of the rides for the past two days, I wanted to probe a little towards an answer to a question that a lot have asked. Actually, no one has really asked about this, but that is not the point I guess as I want to edge in here a little anyway with some thoughts. The area being, what do you think about during the hours of riding. You obviously have conversations, my riding buddy Gabe and myself have covered many a subject, but there is still a lot of time when it's just you. This personal time is not unique to just this trip and is actually one of the things that I like most about riding, there are times when it's just free flowing thought and just your world for the moment. I hope this doesn't sound selfish, it is really not and is hard to explain. But a sound, a smell, a view, so many inputs can trigger differing thoughts, memories, ideas, questions, etc.Indeed, this physical world of bike exploration can so easily and quickly lead to a vast variety of mental world travel also.

I enjoy these moments. You might be back in high school, reliving a good movie or book as I did with Lonesome Dove and Judge Roy Bean. Think of family, friends, issues, whatever. It is living the moment through the ride merged with those things that are simply you.

You have to be careful; maintain road awareness is foremost, but avoid getting a stupid song in your head, asking a trivia question that you can't answer, (Internet access helps here), thinking about the sheer mechanics of riding and how many times you have to complete the pedaling rotation in one day, (wears you out more quickly).  When tired, I am convinced one foot goes around faster than the other, not a good thought pattern.

Here is an example of this thinking. I was thinking more about the argument that I had mentioned at Dauphin Island where I interjected a note about my mother in law. Wanted to once again repeat what a great MIL I had, BUT...I remembered this one whispered conversation at our wedding. The service was about to begin, I looked over and then overheard bits of conversation. "This could be a mistake...Are you sure...I tried, but...etc". I thought about this when riding and then remembered that was my Mom talking to Tina!  Not my MIL,  see it works. Thinking is good.

The ride. I combined these 3 days as they really didn't end. We left Crestview with map instructions that we haven't heard since west Texas. Leave motel, turn tight, stay on US 90 until destination. So we traveled 90 (miles ) on 90 (highway) with the temps in the 90s with the humidity in the 90s it seemed. Long, hot day although there was a breeze that you really noticed when it wasn't there. At those moments, ouch, we were in the sun a long time.

Route 90 doesn't change. Trees, fields, farms, ranches, see yesterday's blog. We enjoy the day and riding, but few new stories.  We did find  a store with freshly baked, home made, donuts. The ride ended at the Mosquito State Park. Why do people wear long sleeves and long pants and hats when it's hot?  Find the answer in this park built apparently for breeding mosquitoes and then luring human food supply to come visit.

Dinner good, but quick. To the tents and DEET baths. Hot, humid and smelling of  Deet, sleep is as slow of coming as the next morning's storm was quick in its arrival. Paul woke us up at 5, advised us to pack up and wait out the storm in the park's bath house. Severe storm warnings and tornado watches tend to do that. I was not sleeping anyway, I had seen the radar at 4:00 AM and could only think of the disfigured, weakened looking tree next to me.

The storm hit and then didn't go away. So, what do mature, mentally sound folks do?  Ride anyway. 80 miles. The rain did ease, the lightning seemed almost distant and I had rain gear, so why not...actually many good answers to that, some of which I may need the next two days as rain continues. 5 more days to ride and 2-3 of those days wet. Where did we go wrong?  Lots of thinking time ahead.

Day 50. Moving into the Panhandle on our old friend US Hwy 90

Sunday April 27  Gulf Beach to Crestview, FL 72 miles

Today was an off and on mostly cloudy day. That was good, as when the sun came out it was hot and bad as it was incredibly humid. A nice breeze, meaning it wasn't in our face helped, but a lot of fluids were consumed!

The morning started with an hour or so at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola Naval Air Station. We could have spent hours here, barely seeing a fraction of it, concentrated on the carrier portion. The museum is Smithsonian in quality and has quantity also.

Great displays, good choices of aircraft, from the beginnings to space. In their Hall of Fame, noticed that naval aviators are assigned numbers that are in progression from number 1 upwards. Was interesting to read about The Number One and Two pilots, both born in the 1880s. What changes they saw and helped to facilitate in their lives.

One picture from below was from the wall of the museum, and no it wasn't the ferry that took us from Dauphin Island, it is the USS Constellation, '"4 acres of American sovereignty", that can go anywhere that we need. Massive!  I had the chance for an overnight visit on the USS Stennis while it was deployed in the Persian Gulf  in 2011, including carrier landing and catapult take off, which helped me appreciate even more this portion if the museum.

Back riding, we worked our way around Pensacola with incredible views of the Gulf, bays and rivers. We actually reacquainted ourselves with our old friend from the west, US Hwy 90. Spent the last half the day on 90 getting to Crestview.

The last portion of the ride varied from mostly flat to some gradual hills towards the end. Some pretty ranches, but mostly trees. Pine and oaks.

The shower rules shown in the picture below were not from our last camping area but from the Guadalcanal display in the museum.

There are still some pictures that I hope download when I get truly connected to good wifi in Tallahassee, but otherwise I am caught up for now. Yeah!

Day 49. Florida...the last state line

Saturday April 26. Dauphin Island to Gulf Beach, Fl. 40 miles.

Up early to catch the 40 minute ferry ride to the other side of Mobile Bay. A short day, 40 miles, we ease our way along the Gulf. White sands and brownish/blue water, lots of houses and a huge traffic jam as we near the site of the Mullet tossing event. Not that the mullet tossing was rapt he main event, it was good to be on a bike passing cars for 2-3 miles. That was nice.

Entered Florida. Camped at Big Lagoon State a Park. Saw an alligator, ate on the beach, nice camping.

Day 48. Welcome to LA (lower Alabama)

Friday April 25. Vancleave, MS to Dauphin a Island, AL 76 miles  (now totaling 2536 miles total)

Except for the wonderful folks, John and Lorrie, that owned the store and took us by truck to the new campground (see previous blog), Vancleave really wasn't our best stop. By way of saying goodbye, we missed the first real turn of the day. Given that it was only 0.1 miles off the main road, in retrospect it seems rather (fill in the blank) ------------ that we missed that turn. At least that seemed to be the reaction of the deputy sheriff that I flagged down about 3.5 miles down the road, evidentially on the road to nowhere even for this rural area.  The nice deputy said, " you want WHAT road? And you came out of Vancleave?  And you didn't notice that turn 0.1 miles off the main road?"  Now what was unspoken but delivered none the less, how do people like you survive and why did you have to come to my part of the world. Yet, he was very nice.

Getting our mid course correction early in the day, we set off for Alabama. LA, (lower Alabama) and we find the state line without much fanfare. A simple sign and there we are, in Alabama.

The real jewel of the day comes at the end. We cross over a long causeway along with a long bridge and we are on Dauphin Island. The waters are brownish from all of the flooding that is taking place locally. After all those miles where I talked about the lack of water we now have water, water everywhere.

The campground on the island was nice until about midnight. That is when the entertainment started. I will try to convey in a "G" rating the content of an "R", strong R, rated argument. Not knowing the exact relationships, let's assume there was a mother in law, a wife and the husband/son in law. Alcohol for sure played a strong role in the drama and it evidentially was on the scene early and in volume.

I awoke from a frenzied dream, I thought my mother in law had come back and was resurrecting her old conversation with me. "You're not a man, you're just a ----this is the R rated part! Now, the lady was efficient and limited.with her words. She basically stuck to the same word, used as a verb, adverb and adjective. She compared the man, using this word in various ways and combinations, with a word that is sometimes used to talk about cats. All was spiced with Cajun accents, got louder and louder, with words broken down into syllables, hooked on phonics kind of thing, with great emphasis on the constants. SSSSSSSS's  etc.

I realized my nightmare of past conversations was just a dream. (Actually my mother in law was a great lady, passed from us much too soon, we loved her and we miss her.). This drama was real. I expected gunshots any time. It was vicious. They finally decided to go to bed. About 1:00.  A Walton " goodnight John Boy", it wasn't. Not that there weren't suggestions of what kind of night each wished to the other. I think the police or security came, not sure. Not a restful night.

Also, FYI. Don't buy a spray on sun tan lotion and put it in a tight suitcase where something might press against the nozzle causing it to empty out inside. Trust me.

Pictures of the Mississippi

and Alabama line, Dauphin Island and the campground.

Days 46 and 47....MISSISSIPPI

April 23 Kentwood to Poplarville, MS  80 miles
April 24 Poplarville to Vancleave, MS. 76 miles.

Have fallen behind on blogging again. Long days and little connection, dinner responsibilities, etc. will try to catch up soon. The pictures here are from the ride on the 23rd, the ones from the 24th are not down loaded yet. Will add them later.

The good folks of Kentwood sent us off with a grand breakfast and parting gifts. These folks will not soon be forgotten, they did so much to enhance our time there.

We headed out on a beautiful day. The country was rolling, forested, peaceful and beautiful.  We went thru a town named Bogalossa. I just love saying that name. Two things happened as a first on this day. First, a flat tire. Had ridden nearly 2500 miles over some very challenging roads and this was the first. Hopefully the first and last. We happened to be in front of the Plsinview Baptist Church of Plainview, LA when the flat occurred and had a chanced to talk to the church secretary. This lady was also the recently retired assistant police chief of Bogulossa, checked our map, approved our routing and insisted on a detailed accounting of our trip.

The second thing was that I was told to "get off the road".  Not an unheard of directive heard on a bike, but the first on this trip. Oh well...

In Bogulossa, folks at the service station talked so much that we finally just had to excuse ourselves and move on. Then there was Baptista, an 87 year old man that was working out in the park that we ate in for lunch that was working out and in incredible shape.  So friendly.

We crossed the Pearl River into Mississippi. The Pearl was flooding, not unusual it seems for this time of the year, into Popularville and a night of camping. A lot of miles but it felt good.

The next day to Vancleave was simply a beautiful day. All the elements were there, good weather, great roads, some gravity but a series of real country roads. No state roads and if Gabe and myself had not 'experimented' with another of our shortcuts, where we did find a service station, the map route had no services for almost 70 miles. A three water bottle day.

The temps are now in the 80s, much higher humidity levels, more like late June at home. But it is nice.

Vancleave offered an interesting story of two. The campground that we were scheduled to stay in was closed due to non-functioning toilets. A show stopper anywhere. We were able to find a suitable camping area 6 miles down the road, off the route, meaning those same 6 miles would be added to the next day's ride which was already 72 miles, and...the road was terrible. No shoulder. A rumble strip from the white line right meaning you were in the traffic. Big time bad!

I was tired and not wishing to fight the traffic. So Gabe and myself did the logical thing, we pulled in for ice cream. After visiting for a while, the owner of the store took mercy on us and had her husband take us down in his truck!  Wonderful folks!  The ice cream was good too!

That evening, we were attacked by squirrels!  Bags raided, food taken!  And one badly behaved mockingbird was seen grabbing some remains.

We are by now incredibly close to the Gulf of Mexico. I awoke during the night to the salty, brackish smell of what I thought was the Gulf water. Wrong!  It was my socks from the previous day too close to my head!

Day 45. Rest days over, back to riding...

Tuesday April 22. Jackson, LA to Kentwood, LA. 48 miles.

A relative short day to greet us on resumption of the ride. Everyone enjoyed the time in NO, but were glad to get back on the road. Now less than 2 weeks left. Hard to believe...

Today was non-eventful. Very overcast, a smattering of rain with the threat of thunderstorms still lingering. We are at another church, mix of camping and staying inside the church.

No real stories from today, just a couple of reflections from NO.

We went to the WWII museum as I noted. Saw a movie that provided an overview of the war. During certain battle scenes, the seats vibrated to enhance the experience. When the first rattling hit, I thought I was back on the road from Del Rio, TX, hitting the chip and seal roads and their terrible riding surfaces. Flashback...

Also, spent Sunday night in a hostel. That was fine, except I was assigned an upper bunk with no ladder to get me topside. There was some rail type steps at the end of the bed, but they were about 3 inches from the wall, thus no use whatsoever. I spent 2 years at Wake a Forest in an upper bunk, but those years of youth and flexibility are long gone, so I was effectively trapped once upstairs. To get down, I ultimately worked out a 'controlled fall' to the lower bunk, ending in a bounce to the floor. I felt that I was in a gymnastics competition every time I had to 'dismount'.

Last story, the Easter Parade that we saw in NO was sponsored by and named for a lady that is the oldest, let's just say 'dancer'', in NO.  Age unknown, number of plastic surgeries also unknown.  She has been doing this for over 30 years.

Showers today were in homes of some of the individuals here in the church. I was fortunate enough to go to the home of a former mayor, who was also a WWII veteran.  Nick saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his wife were great fun to visit with.  This in home hospitality was a first for us on the trip. Nice.

The dinner provided by the folks of the church where we are staying was exceeded only by the gracious friendliness of the people themselves. What a treat in all regards.

Note. Our town tonight, Kentwood, I was told, is the home of Brittany Spears.

No pictures today. Back to work tomorrow.

Days 43 and 44. New Orleans.

Sunday 20th and Monday 21st

Easter Sunday was a full rest day. Went to the WWII Museum, saw an Easter Parade, hung out with Jenny and GG. We had dinner with all the folks on our trip last night, so glad Jenny and GG got to meet my riding family of these last few weeks. Such special people on both counts.

Stayed Sat night in a great hotel in the French Quarter, Place d'Armes. Wonderful in all regards.

Tonight, the upper bunk in a very small hostel room with no apparent way up or down. Gravity alert!

We will head back late Monday to the warm shower site, eat a prepared gumbo meal, camp and return to riding on the 22nd. So hard to think that we will then have less than 2 weeks of riding. Will continue to treasure all these days of riding, seeing the country, meeting people and being with my riding family.

Next rest day, the 30th of April in Tallahassee, where I get to spend time with my niece Beth and her family.

Last note. In the picture of the statue that was by the pool at the hotel, maybe a caption of "sometimes it just happens that way!".