Getting back on track

After a fun-filled 3 day lay-over in New Orleans (Thanks again to our fabulous hosts Mel, Carolyn, Isabel and Maddie!) we were in serious need of hitting the road again before we mistakenly thought that we could continue to drink like college students for more than 2 nights in a row! And after having only ridden 3 out of 7 days in the previous week, we had to get our butts used to the seat again, and our legs used to peddaling. A new addition to my (Alison's) complaints is a nasty poison ivy/oak/sumac rash on my butt, waist and thigh. I'm assuming it's the result of squatting on it while peeing on the side of the road at some point...classy! Apparently it can take weeks to subside, but thankfully the itching only wakes me up about 2-3 times/night now, rather than 5-6.

Anyways, we had an ambitious first day of cycling 89 miles to a town called Livingston that we were hoping would have some sort of cheap accommodation. It was a reasonable sized dot on the map, so it seemed likely. However, we found out that the 'campground' did not accept tents (that is the way of the US these days it seems...camping is now driving something as large as your house to a different town and watching TV inside), so were at a bit of a loss. I asked in a gas station about a hotel and found out that we were only 7 miles from a hotel, which wasn't a terrible option, but then a woman waiting in line overheard me and offered her backyard to camp in. Once again, we were so lucky to meet such a generous person with a nice yard and a hot shower for us!

The next day we rode only 45 miles to rejoin the ACA route in Easleyville and ran into a group of 8 cyclists, a self-organised group of both friends and strangers. We were informed that a huge storm was coming through anytime from the next hour to 5 hours, so we all decided to camp at the community park/campground for the night. The highlight of the day was a swim in a 'bayou' (aka swamp) that may or may not have had alligators or other disgusting things in it, but was the perfect temperature for a hot day, and I figured that out of 4 of us in the water, what were the chances that it would get me?? The storm didn't hit until nearly 6pm that night, but we were glad not to be out on the road! We spent the night sleeping on the concrete ground of a covered patio, and awoke to a cool, but beautiful and sunny morning. The best part about the rain in the Southeast is that 1) it cools everything down, 2) it gets the pollen out of the air so my allergies aren't out of control and 3) it actually makes the air less humid, believe it or not!

We rode into Mississippi the next day, towards Poplarville, where we had organised our first Warm Showers stay with Steven, which was fantastic! We were greeted with freshly baked homemade pizzas, a double bed, our own bathroom for the night and homebrewed beer. Seriously fantastic! The next morning we had scrambled eggs, fresh from their own chickens - total luxury. Riding through Mississippi though proved to be our least favourite state, which was a disappointment. Partly our route was to blame, as we didn't go through any other towns, and the route was just plain boring. Long roads of all the same scenery. The best part about it, we both agreed, was the breakfast we had at a greasy spoon cafe in Vancleave, where Matt had a plate of biscuits and gravy the size of his head (this is a meal that will take 10 years off your life!) and I had an omelete with all kinds of meat and cheese inside - it was delicious! But a once in a lifetime sort of meal I hope, as I really don't want to lose another 10 years of life... So other than 1 great breakfast and a good host, we were happy to cross into Alabama for our brief stint of 1 night. We rode over a 3 mile long bridge to Dauphin Island, where we arrived in time to relax and enjoy ourselves for the evening with a bottle of wine and a pint of ice cream. Hmm...maybe that's another couple of years gone already?? We were excited for beaches and pictured the island to be a bit like Rottnest (a shout out to all you WA folks!), so we were again disappointed that the water was brown, surrounded by oil drilling vessels and everything was developed. Regardless, we had a nice evening and caught the ferry to the other side of the Mobile Bay to Gulf Shores, Alabama the next morning. The 45 mile ride along the coast to our current destination was nice, although almost all of it was developed in strip-mall fashion, with hi-rise hotels and apartment buildings lining the coast, so we haven't actually really seen the beach yet. The big news is that we crossed into Florida yesterday, midway along all of the aforementioned sprall, and are now in our last state for the bike trip!!! We are having a day off camping at Big Lagoon State Park, planning to have a swim in the lagoon today (again, hopefully it is alligator free!) and otherwise just relax. Tomorrow we will ride through Pensacola to another state park, and then continue our journey east. As we have actually allowed ourselves WAY too much time for this trip, we are slowing down quite a lot and looking for detours - so if anyone has any suggestions to detour in Florida, please let us know!!