June 23rd, 2006
Each day continues to be a big adventure. Today we left Bayou La Batre, AL, at 6:45 a.m. and headed out right into headwinds for the first 36 miles. It’s certainly a strength building opportunity! The heat was a major factor today, too – for most of the last two hours or more it felt like riding right into a blast furnace. The terrain was fine – but we had pretty busy traffic all the way past Wade MS.
We were then routed into a back road that goes through the Pascagoula River Wildlife Management Area. It was too hot and too late in the day (though it was only 11 a.m.) to see much in the way of wildlife, but we really enjoyed the route and the lower traffic. We had one wild experience in that section – we could see a road department mower up ahead of us – the kind that just chews up and spits out anything in its path. The cloud of dust it was blowing up was really amazing, and it was billowing out right into the road. We knew we had to pass, so we speeded up a bit and swung wide to go ahead. Even though we have wide-coverage sunglasses, we still had to squint our eyes nearly shut, and had to close our mouths almost flat shut because of the bits of debris – it was like going through a debris hailstorm.
Just as we were getting into this cloud, Chelsea yelled out “Get going! Dog!” I glanced back, and sure enough, here came a big dog moving fast after us, barking like mad and going for the bikes. It must have been hilarious to see how fast we sped up and got away from both the dog and the mower, with our eyes squinted nearly shut, and having to breathe only through our nose! I’ll tell you, it certainly improved our average speed for the day.
I should mention here how much we are appreciating the Adventure Cycling maps. We have taken to copying the next few days’ maps so the support team can follow along with us, and can find us when needed. It also gives them a chance to go ahead and scout the area for accommodations for us, although that system still needs tweaking. 🙂 The maps are very detailed and easy to use, and give local weather data, local services, local accommodations, and points of interest, as well as having an incredibly easy-to-use system of daily maps.
We’ve also gotten to realize that whenever possible, they route us onto much more scenic byways, with lower traffic. Very often that translates into more shade as well. On the days when the support crew follows the same route by car, they enjoy it, too, much more than taking the busier main roads. I would honestly consider buying these maps just to take a driving vacation; they are that interesting and useful. Check them out at www.adventurecycling.org.
Weather and hurricanes continue to be major factor – we were so excited to be camping for the first time, but we had a rude awakening – the first campground appears to have become a semi-permanent home for many who have lost homes – and it was not a welcoming situation at all. We kept on down the road, and found out that the KOA has become only an RV park since Katrina hit, and going even farther, found out that the hurricanes appear to have closed nearly all the campgrounds in this part of the world. We went for quite a ways in all directions to find a place to stay, and then in the midst of our search the skies opened up into a spectacular thunderstorm. We got lost finding our way back, and ended up seeing some amazing homes and neighborhoods bordering on the Gulf, where it comes way inland near I-10. It was a bit of a challenge with all the rain pouring down, to see everything, but it was sure distracting in a good way from the fact that we were temporarily lost and really needed a place to stay! We ended up over 20 miles away in a Days Inn at the freeway.
Ah well, I must say, putting up a brand new tent in the midst of a pouring thunderstorm is very low on my list of fun things to do.
Signs of hurricane damage are visible, but much more so near the beach. Alabama was in pretty good shape – the parts we saw from the roads, but it’s certainly more noticeable in Mississippi. The Days Inn we are staying in tonight is still missing most of its sign – as are many other local places. The motel clerk said that she lost her home completely, and that she got only $2,000 as an insurance settlement. She said that insurance companies have behaved really badly, and was very specific in identifying Allstate and State Farm as the worst offenders.
Bayou La Batre was very ‘country’ – almost every vehicle was a pick-up truck, and it was clearly a working town. There are some new homes going up, and we continued to see signs of new “subdivisions” all along our route today. I need to look at a road atlas to place where we are, as many of the homes that are going in don’t fit with the surroundings – all I can think is that they must be “bedroom communities”.
Mississippi had much nicer homes in general, so far – we saw a great number of beautiful and well-cared-for brick homes. We also saw more activity in terms of bigger developments going in, but it was by no means what I’d call “hot” yet. Those Go Zone benefits may make this a very desirable place to invest, especially with what is likely to be a strong rental market for quite a while.
Tomorrow we are leaving Vancleave and are wanting to make it at least 13 miles past Perkinston. From what we understand, the roads are hillier ahead of us, which will slow us down until we get stronger. I can already see signs of our strength growing daily – we are able to go really fast on the flats, and we can make it up steeper hills using only our large chain rings. I also noticed that to slide one of my favorite pairs of capri pants up over my calves now – I have to loosen the snap on it as my calves have already gotten bigger. Chelsea and I can feel ourselves walking differently, too. We are looking forward to the increasing strength!