Pensacola, FLORIDA - 4/7

Another day, another state.  Todayi we entered Florida.  Yesterday we left Mississippi and entered Alabama.  Now we are in our final state, hooray!  A little more than 500 miles to go.

Our ride was shorter than usual today and the weather was great, except for a 15mph headwind.  We stopped to wade in the Gulf of Mexico.  The water was cool but comfortable.  The beaches were surprisingly empty for a spring break Saturday.  But without good waves for surfing, it makes sense.

We met a guy in Pensacola who collects lost shoe photos.  His website is www.oneshoediaries.com.  We'll keep an eye out for lost shoes for him.

After arriving in Pensacola we went to see a movie, The Hunger Games.  The theater was great, with movable chairs and tables for dining during the movie.  It's been a good day.

Yesterday when we had a flat tire, a couple offered to let us stay at their home if we couldn't find a room.  They gave us their number but we got the last room in the Days Inn.  Folks in the deep South are friendly.

Dinner last night was a Subway sandwich (healthy), eight Krispy Kreme donuts (dessert), and a half gallon of chocolate milk (got to get that calcium.)  I surprised myself by eating all that.  Ruth ate much less.  Good thing I'm burning a lot of calories.

Miles: 46.9  Average: 10.5

Photos:
Entering Florida.
Wading in the Gulf of Mexico.
View from one of the many bridges.

The truth from Ruth:  The temperature outside was perfect today, having dropped even a little lower.  I enjoyed the ride along the beach past all the fancy resort hotels.  It's exciting that we're so close to achieving our goal of riding all the way across the country!

Gulf Shores, ALABAMA - 4/6

Today we left Mississippi and entered Alabama!  The weather was beautiful and the terrain mostly flat.  We had to take a ferry which passed through a large field of oil derricks.

The ferry left from Dauphin Island, designated "America's Birdiest Coastal Town."  Wow!  I had no idea someone was measuring birdiness.

At the Entering Alabama sign we met a biker named Geoff, from Ashland Oregon.  He's following the same route we are but moving a little faster.

Just before the end of our ride today we took a bike trail.  The scenery was beautiful but there were bumps in the asphalt, one of which caused a snake bite flat in our rear tire.  Other than that, we had a really nice ride today.

Miles: 65  Average: 12.9

Photos:
Entering Alabama.
Leaving Pascagoula.
Dauphin Island.
Ferry.
Riding on the ferry.
Another flat tire.

The truth from Ruth:  Today was a great biking day.  It was a little cooler, and the scenery was interesting.  I enjoyed the ferry ride - traveling 9 miles without pedaling!  We rode across a long bridge over the ocean to Dauphin Island, which looks like a vacation paradise.  Maybe I'll come back some day.

Pascagoula, MS - Thur 4/5

Another short day, riding 60 miles from Waveland to Pascagoula Mississippi.  The weather started out beautiful but about a half hour before we arrived a passing storm completely drenched us.  Oh, if only we hadn't stopped to take so many pictures.  We arrived at the hotel soaking wet and had to hang everything up to dry.

The ride was flat with many miles along the beach.  There are some magnificent houses along the Gulf Coast.  We passed through some cute towns and crossed several big bridges.  The beaches were mostly deserted but it was a school day and there was no surf.

It was mostly a fun, easy ride, kind of like being on vacation after all the long hilly rides of previous days. 

I forgot to mention yesterday that at breakfast in New Orleans we met two families from France.  One family didn't speak any English so I got to practice my French.

Miles: 59.3  Average: 13.7

Photos:
View from a bridge in Mississippi
House on the Gulf Coast
Biloxi Beach
Biloxi Hard Rock Casino giant guitar (see bike at bottom)

The truth from Ruth:  The ride today was beautiful.  I'll take the beach over the bayou any day.  It was about 10 degrees cooler too.  But even so, when the rain came down, it felt good to get wet.
I've been really glad I brought a pair of sandals along.  When we get rained on, I can change my footwear.  Jeff has to keep wearing his soggy shoes.

Waveland, MISSISSIPPI - Wed 4/4

We made it to Mississippi!
This morning we awoke to thunder, lightning and rain.  We began making plans to stay another day in New Orleans.  Then at 10:30 the rain suddenly quit.  Check out time was 11 o'clock so we packed quickly and hit the road.

It turned out to be a beautiful day for cycling.  Overcast and not too hot and it never rained again.  We rode through the French Quarter, down the Moonwalk (along the Mississippi River), and through a neighborhood hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.  We saw a paddlewheel riverboat heading down the Mississippi.  I picked up a couple more spare inner tubes at a bike shop.  (I have used 3 of the 4 I started with.)

After leaving New Orleans we traveled through Louisiana swamps.  Then we entered Mississippi and traveled through Mississippi swamps.  Once when we stopped for photos we got attacked by mosquitoes. The houses are all up on tall stilts.  Most have creative signs.

Miles: 59.6  Average: 12.2

Photos:
Entering Mississippi
Bayou house on stilts
Bayou house sign
Bayou houses
Swamp

The truth from Ruth:
There was a Walmart near our hotel, and I bought a pair of capris.  The jeans I've been wearing when off the bike feel so sticky in this humidity.  I'm excited to have something cooler to wear now.

New Orleans, LA - Tue 4/3

Today was a short ride to New Orleans, although heavy traffic made it hard to converse.  Scenery for the past hundred miles has been mostly swamp.  Saw lots of dead turtles, frogs, and snakes but no alligators.  There were also hundreds of strings of Mardi Gras beads on the roadside along the way.

We rode through the Garden District on the way to our Bed and Breakfast and saw many magnificent homes.  Then we took the streetcar to the French District.  We strolled down Bourbon Street and Royal Street and made our way to the French Market.  We tried alligator jerky and had some gumbo and saw various street musicians.  There was a long line of horse drawn carriages waiting for tourists at Jackson Park.  Finally, we made our way back to our Bed and Breakfast and walked around the Garden District a bit more.  It was a long day with a lot of adventure.  Tomorrow we move on down the coast.

Miles: 33.0  Average: 11.3

Photos:
Swamp
House in Garden District
Waiting for streetcar
Andrew Jackson statue and the St. Louis Cathedral
French open air market
Hillbilly band

I'm getting used to riding in humid weather in the 80's.  Just plan on being wet with sweat all day.  I'm now wearing just one set of bike clothing and washing it out each night.  I mailed some of my warm items home.
New Orleans was different than I expected.  The French Quarter reminds me of the Latin Quarter in Paris where Jeff and I stayed a few years ago.  The Garden District where we are staying has the beautiful stately homes I expected.
The streetcar is the oldest in the country, with wooden seats.  It runs down the center of the street, and has been running for 150 years.
The restaurant we ate in in the French Quarter was called the Pere Antoine.  We sat at a table near the street with wide open windows, just a few feet away from tourists walking by.  That really reminded me of Paris.

Laplace, LA - Mon 4/2

We left Baker and rode 65 miles to the Oak Alley Plantation.  After the tour, we rode another 25 miles to a motel.  Sounds simple right?  It wasn't.

Shortly before the plantation, a storm totally drenched us.  By the time we finish the tour we were also cold from being wet.  We had a head wind most of the day so it was getting late and we weren't going to make it to the motel before dark.  As we were hurrying back across the Mississippi River from the plantation our front wheel got caught in an expansion joint slot, throwing us to the ground and flattening our front tire.  I set a speed record in replacing our front innertube.  Fortunately nothing else was damaged.  After that we walked the bike across every expansion joint.

Although we rode like crazy, the last 4 miles were in the dark.  we were so glad to get into a motel and dry clothes.

The plantation tour was interesting, though.  A huge house with giant columns, marble floors (since replaced with wood), dozens of servants, every amenity money could buy, but only three bedrooms.  The Alley of Oaks in front is about 300 years old.

Miles: 89.1  Average: 11.6

Photos:
Oak Alley Plantation
Plantation dining room
Alley of Oaks in front of house
Tour guide in period costume
Fixing tire on bridge over Mississippi River

The truth from Ruth:  Today turned out to be quite an adventure!  I was so glad to be with my wonderful husband.  He is always so optimistic; it's catching!  Scary parts of the day were riding in the thunderstorm to the plantation, and watching the lightning up ahead of us as we raced against time to make it to our motel before dark.  I was so glad to get there, I didn't even have an objection to a smoking room.

Resting - Sat & Sun 4/1

We're still in Baker after enjoying two days of rest and listening to LDS General Conference.  We've ridden a total of 10 miles around town.  It's been so relaxing that we have decided to give up riding to Florida.  We'll just fly home, and just relax.  No more fighting traffic, dealing with rain, flat tires, finding food and shelter, and soreness.  We're sick of it all.

 

April fools!  (Check the date in the title.)  We can't give up now.  The end seems so close, only 3 states away.  And we're still having fun and enjoying the adventure.

We're planning a detour, leaving the official Southern Tier route for a few days to tour New Orleans and travel along the Gulf coast.  It adds a bit of excitement when we leave the well-documented route and try to make our own way on roads that may be bike-unfriendly.  And the weather forecast for the next 10 days indicates lots of rain, but warm.

Time for a health status report.  I've had 3 problems over the course of this trip that have made me wonder whether we would make it.

1.  About 2 weeks after leaving home, I got a touch of vertigo (BPV).  That could be dangerous but it wasn't bad in my riding position, so we kept going and it went away after 2 days.

2.  About 2 weeks ago I woke up with some kind of pulled groin tendon.  That was painful when walking but not too bad when riding so we kept going.  That has nearly healed.

3.  Last week I started having pain in my left sacroiliac joint.  Certain motions were very painful, but riding was not.  That is healing and much better after 2 days of rest.  The injury was probably caused by riding at an angle to compensate for the groin pull.

Summary:  I've had minor issues that have slowed me a bit, but am nearly back to 100%.  My main riding soreness is in my legs.  I don't really have problems with the saddle, wrists, elbows, neck, back, knees, and feet anymore.

Ruth is usually affected at her pressure points in the wrists, saddle and feet, but not until 50-70 miles.  So now we consider anything less than 60 as an easy day.

 The truth from Ruth:  I loved listening to conference.  It made me miss my family, so I called and chatted with my three unmarried children and felt better.  I'm excited to tour New Orleans this week!