Day 55 - November 3, 2017 - 57.58 miles, 482 feet ascent. 453 feet descent

Ocean Springs, MS to Dauphin Island, AL

I left Camp Jourrney's End this morning with Chris, and we rode hard all day until we reached our destination at Dauphin Island.  There were some slow times, against slight headwinds, but overall, it was one of my faster days.  We crossed the Pascagoula River, into Pascagoula MS, then across the Alabama state line.  This had to be one of the most flat days of riding (and I hate to use the words "flat" and "ride" in the same sentence!)

We were the first ones into camp, but we had not yet had lunch, so after unpacking, setting up our tents, and showering, we were famished.  It was Chris's turn to shop for dinner and tomorrow's breakfast and lunch, and I offered to help carry groceries back.  

So, after showering, we departed for the food section of town, and met Eileen coming into town right as we got to Captain Snapper's.  The three of us had a great lunch.  I had an appetizer of spicy smoked tuna and crackers, and a bowl of gumbo.  Fantastic!   We departed Cap'n Snapper's, and went to the local grocery store, where I waited outside while Chris and Eileen shopped.  I was there merely to carry the food back to camp in my empty panniers (which were no longer empty once the groceries were loaded!)

After depositing the groceries at camp, I set out sightseeing, although I didn't have much time.  First stop was Fort Gaines, about half a mile east.  Unfortunately, it was almost 1700, and too late to get in. I was able to see the outside, and read about some of the history.  The well preserved ramparts of Fort Gaines have guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay for more than 150 years.  It is one of the key sites in the famous Battle of Mobile Bay where Admiral Farragut shouted his now-famous order "Damn the torpedoes!  Full speed ahead!"

After visiting the fort, I rode back toward the bridge, to the west side of the island, where there were mostly single family vacation homes, on stilts.  In fact, almost all the homes on the island were on stilts.  After a few miles, it all looked the same, and I did not have enough time to see it all.  I had heard from a local resident that further west on the island, hurricane Nate changed the geography of the island on October 8 by taking the dunes from the south of the road, and depositing them on the north of the road.  The entire island is more of a sand spit, not very wide.   I was told that the road was six feet under sand after the storm.

The photo of the boat on the side of the road?  Not from a hurricane.  It looked like it had mechanical problems with one of the right wheels and the driver took it too far off the road, into the drainage canal.  Oops!  An accident at sea can ruin your whole day!

Day 54 - November 2, 2017 - 69.9 miles, 1001 feet ascent, 1296 feet descent

Poplarville, MS to Ocean Springs, MS

On the rode again, leaving Haas-cienda Ranch with Eileen, Chris, Erwin, and Tom C.  Well, Erwin and Tom C were with us for only about 100 yards, and then we were left in the dust.  Very nice ride Mississippi country roads, off of our published route.  In fact, our maps were of no use.  Some were able to load Ken's new route onto their GPS devices, but my device is not Bluetooth compatible, so I had to rely on others to tell me where the turns were.  In one section, three ponies came running through a pasture toward us, whinnying all the way.  We stopped, of course, and they obviously wanted treats, but had to suffice with petting.  It was so funny to watch them running toward us.

The three of us, Eileen , Chris, and I, were riding somewhat faster than Eileen's and my normal pace, but we were able to hang on.  We stopped at one backwoods convenience store, where we caught up with Tom and Erwin.  Neal and Ken soon joined us.  We had been leapfrogging with Neal since before the ponies.   This store also served hamburgers and other fare, so I had a cheeseburger.  Wow, that was the best burger I've had on this trip, so far.  It was far from the fast food type burgers, and helped fuel me for the next segment of our ride.  We were now 30 miles into the day.

We followed state route 53 all the way from Poplarville until we hit US 49, 40 miles into the ride. Then the turns started - right, left, left again, right, right again, and so on.  Ken left the convenience store with us, so there were for for the next segment of the ride, through Biloxi, and on to Ocean Springs and our destination at Camp Journeys's End.

Set up camp, showered, then a short walk next door to the Shed, a barbecue and blues place.   Wow, what a feast.  There was no music tonight, but there was filming for The Food Network, with Katie Lee.  It was strange to serve up the food on my plate and eat with a large camera in my face!  The food was excellent, and the restaurant was very eclectic.

Day 53 - November 1, 2017 - 47.67 miles, 1,145 feet ascent, 1,076 feet descent

Franklinton, LA to Poplarville, MS

Late start today, only because I knew it would be a short day.  I wanted to do laundry, but the laundromat did not open until 0900, which would have delayed my start even further.  So, I left with Eileen at around 0930.   Beautiful ride, and off the published route.  We decided to take a shortcut, and shave off some of the miles for today.  We took LA 10 from Franklinville to Bogalusa, where we stopped at a fast food place to eat.  We searched for a local restaurant, instead of a chain or fast food, but we were not successful in our search, and did not want to further delay our day.

Leaving Bogalusa, there was a strong odor emanating from the paper mill, which stayed with us for several miles.  The smell reminded me of my USNR time spent in Japan, many years ago.  Bogalusa - my first job out of college was in Des Allemands, Louisiana, working on supply boats for the oil industry.  One of the mates on my first boat was from Bogalusa, and that was his nickname.  I can't even remember his real name, and that job did not last long - I left due to lack of safety, and my life has been all the better for it.  I think Dianne is glad I didn't stick with Louisiana, as she did not want to move there.  Having been in this area for the last week, on the back roads, I think we could have lived here, albeit for a short time.

Back to the ride!  From Bogalusa, we crossed the Pearl River, the border between Mississippi and Alabama, then shortly turned off the highway onto back roads.  We really had to watch the map, as there were many turns in the last 20 miles into Poplarville.  It was trying to rain on us the entire time, but really didn't get anything wet...  until we got into town, and had two more miles to go.  Then the skies opened up for the rest of the way.   

Slightly wet upon arrival at the Haas-cienda Ranch, I set up my tent on a covered deck, showered, and settled in for nice steak dinner, cooked for us by the owners of the Ranch/RV park.  The kegerator in the lounge was a bonus!

The rain lasted until well past midnight, pounding on the metal roof of the covered deck.  Despite the rain, I slept well, and stayed dry.

Day 52 - October 31, 2017 - 84.06 miles, 2,018 feet ascent, 1,991 feet descent

Saint Francisville, LA to Franklinton, LA

Long day ahead of us today, so Tom R, Joe, and I got an early start out of town, riding through rolling hills of forests and farms.  We rode into historic Jackson at around 0900 (seems like every state has a town named Jackson), and bought Subway sandwiches for later in the day, as we did not anticipate any services for a very long time.

We rode through other historic towns, such as Clinton, where we elected to take the closed road along highway 10, as others who had gone this way yesterday said that we could make it through.  The road was closed because the bridge 1.5 miles away was being replaced. There was a detour, but we did not know how many more miles that would add to an already long day.  The bridge was fine - we were able to walk our bikes across a short stretch of gravel, and over the unfinished bridge, without incident.

We made our way through Darlington, which seemed nothing more than a couple houses and a grocery store, where we stopped for refreshment.  The owner, a 41 year old Vietnamese gentleman, was very glad to see us, and insisted on a group photo.  He was very talkative, and told us how he immigrated to the U.S. when he was 10, how he had worked in the shrimp boat industry in southern Louisiana, and how his brother-in-law sold him this grocery store in the middle of nowhere.  He lives in the house next door, with his wife.  He knew every customer who came in while we were there, and called them all by their first name.  Everyone is very friendly, and the grapevine is just as fast here as in any small town.  For example, a customer who came in told us that there were three other bicyclists a few miles back, and wondered why we weren't all together.  So we explained that we leave at different times, and that we all have a different pace.  It was a good visit at the Darlington Grocery.

Moving on, we rode through Tangiahoa, Bolivar, Richardson, and finally into Franlinton, our destination.  Somewhere around Bolivar, we stopped on the side of the road to remove a large branch that was blocking almost the entire road.  A driver on a quad rolled by, and said that it wasn't there 30 minutes ago, when he went the other direction.  This was our good deed for the day.  

Dinner at a Chinese Buffet, where the most important item for me was the four very large glasses of lemonade that I downed very quickly.  Seems I was a bit dehydrated!

Day 51 - October 30, 2017 - Rest Day

Ahhh,  it was nice to sleep in until after 0700!  After breakfast at the Hotel Francis, I went sightseeing with Joe and Tom R.  We visited the Rosedown Plantation, built in 1835 by Daniel and Martha Turnbull, over the span of six months, at a cost of $13,109.  Rosedown was a cotton plantation, consisting of 3,50 acres and at its height, 450 slaves.  The last of Daniel and Matha's heirs lived at Rosedown until the last, Nina Bowman, died in 1955.  The plantation was purchased in 1956 by Catherine Underwood, an oil heiress from Texas.  Over the next eight years, Catherine had the plantation restored, opening it to the public in 1964.  The State of Louisiana purchased the property in 2000, and it is now a national historic site.

We were led on a tour by a very knowledgeable guide, who described just about every piece of furniture and every artifact in the house.  Amazing!   

After the tour, the three of us went into the historic area of Saint Franciscville, and came across the Magnolia Cafe, where we had a wonderful lunch.  Back to the hotel, where I caught up on writing for the rest of the afternoon.  I also walked the hotel grounds, where I came across the sign advising to stay away from the water in the lagoon, as there are snakes and alligators!

Another big dinner, and off to pack for tomorrow's long ride.