Gulfport to Dauphin Island

Headed out from Barb and Bernie's in Gulfport around 8:30 following a decadent breakfast of granola and oatmeal in a bowl of hot chocolate.  Gone were the dark clouds and headwinds of yesterday and I had a lovely bike ride along the beach sidewalk as well as on the road through that part.  There were certainly cars on the road, but not too much traffic and I only had one person yell things out the window at me near Biloxi, MS.  Plus, I couldn't make out what he was saying, so I'm going to assume that he was simply cheering me on enthusiastically.  Perhaps the aggressive tone is simply a Southern cultural norm that I have yet to get accustomed to.

Blue skies and the Mississippi Sound

The guy I asked to take a picture of me seemed hesitant at first, but then proceeded to walk halfway across the road to fit as much of the shark's head as possible.

Ran into Fena and John from Oklahoma who were just finishing off their trip along the Gulf shore.  Happy to see some other brightly coloured cyclists and chat about the road ahead.  Check them out at www.mytripjournal.com/snowbirdsonbikes

Was not hungry nor brave enough for this, but couldn't resist taking a picture.  The Harte/Martz combination lives on in Pascagoula!

Awesome downhill coasting on this bridge

Just past Pascagoula I decided to make a slight detour via the Chevron refinery area.  Turns out that when one is hungry and bored of Route 90, the best decisions are not always made.  Decided to try turning down a road (which did actually have a sign for the town I had to eventually end up in) and enjoyed an awesome tailwind which lessened the presence of many enormous transport trucks.  Red flag!  Tailwind+bad traffic+no shoulder+no map/GPS means that looking at a map might be a good idea.  I wound up 4 miles down a dead end road and, when I turned around defeated, noted the Chevron security truck headed my way.  Apparently I was on private property.  I tried convincing the lady to give me a lift back to the highway (she said it takes her 3 minutes in her car, I explained it would take me 30 in this wind), but apparently she is not allowed to leave her designated Chevron route while on shift.  So they wanted me gone, but weren't actually allowed to remove me from the property.  Lame.  Anyhow, there wound up being two lanes on my side on the way out so I plodded back that old friend of a road.  Upon reaching the intersection I had left 45 minutes earlier, my appetite had doubled and I scarfed down that amazing jar of lentils and rice, flavoured with the gumbo spices Kristin and Dave had kindly given me.  

Followed directions from WarmShowers John to take the old highway towards Dauphin Island (his directions were great, thanks John!) and, along the way, crossed the Mississippi/Alabama border.  Excitement.  I stopped at a McDonald's to use the restroom as there was a kind-looking worker outside having a smoke who could keep an eye on Nancy and my gear.  Came outside to find a rather talkative woman who spent about 15 minutes talking about her kids, her car, and how she should take up cycling to lose weight.  As she described her weight loss/gain graph in great detail, I proceeded to eat what I would estimate to have been 1500 calories of trail mix, gumbo-jar-food, and granola.  Not sure if she noticed, but I certainly enjoyed the irony.

So long, Mississippi.  I enjoyed our time together.

As I got closer to Dauphin Island, my destination for the night, I noticed the beautiful sky colours.  This also meant it was getting closer to dusk.  Ack!  I gave Linda and Mike a call when I was at Alabama Port to say that I 'was just at the water tower, and would be a good half hour or so'.  Turns out I should have specified that I did not mean the Island water tower, but rather the Alabama Port one.  When she laughed at my estimated timing and said it would be much less, I should have known something was up.  I wound up going over the glorious 3 mile bridge to Dauphin Island (and yes, there was an actual hill to it) just in time to catch the end of the sunset and had my bike lights and reflectives going full force.  When I did reach the Island water tower, it was certainly the hour of streetlights being useful and, while I did go in to check for directions at the local food establishment to check directions as I knew seeing signs would be difficult, it was a good thing that Mike "the worrier" had come out in his car to track me down.  

When I had gotten in touch with the WarmShowers hosts on Dauphin Island, they had said that they would be out of town but were kind enough to ask their friends Linda and Mike if they might be willing to drag in a stray cat like myself.  Well, John and Jan, I am so thankful and pleased that you did this!  Linda and Mike greeted me with warm smiles, a locked spot for Nancy to sleep, a cushy room, a warm shower, delicious food, and a kindness that should not come as a surprise at this point but still seems to.  Linda's pasta, brussel sprouts (with pecans, will have to try that when I get home), and almond brownies would have made that McDonald's weight-loss companion throw her french fries into the wind.  It was great hearing about life on Dauphin Island, getting to play with their dog, Lucy, and seeing their excitement about an upcoming trip to Italy.  

Me with Linda and Mike, my Dauphin Island step-in WarmShowers family