So leaving New Orleans I continued along the Gulf Coast without actually seeing the water. It was several days before I actually got to the Gulf. The night before I camped in a cemetery. Normally there's no one around, but this evening first a couple of young guys in a truck came out to feed the wild hogs. They fatten them and then shoot them. Not shooting them tonight, are ya?, I ask. Nope. But the guy on the other side of those woods sometimes shoots this way. I guess I can hope not tonight:/ Then a lady drove through, but didn't stop. In the morning there was a truck just leaving as I got up. Busy place.
The neighbors are quiet:)
Art in the cemetery
Redneck sign made with red plastic cups...loved it!
The next day I got to the Gulf and a quiet beach area called Waveland and Bay of St. Louis. I understand this area was the worst hit during Hurricane Katrina. They've done a marvelous job of recovery because its quite sweet there, but then I don't know what it looked like before.
The best carved tree stump I've ever seen!
BagLady is looking too much like a "bag lady"!!!
Gotta love the beach architecture:)
Alabama!!!
Fishing boats
Sometimes finding my wild campsite is easy...well, most of the time. And it's not finding one that's the issue...it's whether or not I'll be asked to move. Never have locals asked me to move if they found me camped on their property. But I had my first cop incident in Gautier, Mississippi. Coming along the coast there were many areas unsuitable for coming because they were swampland. I had to keep a look out on Google Maps as to the conditions ahead. So this particular night, I decided to camp in a more populated area although not suburbia. There were woods. There were houses. I found a place with leafy open woods and looked for a flat spot. It wasn't evident who owned the land. Houses could be seen but down the road a bit. So I set up my tent before dark and moved it. I was chilling when I heard a car stop on a side street. A couple of cops came over to the tent and asked for identification. I got out and gave them my driver's license. They were friendly and asked me what I was doing. Biking across the US. We got a call about a suspicious person. Our supervisor says you can stay but if we get any more calls you'll have to move. I can't bike at night. You'll have to help me move. We'll deal with that if the time comes. Fair enough. (I always stay pleasant.) They leave and I crawl back in my tent. Not 10 mins have passes and now there are blue lights swirling outside my tent. That can't be for me. What's the chances they pulled over a car right outside my tent. I stay inside. Can't be about me. Then another cop car arrives. After some chatter, someone says Ma'am. (How did they know it was a ma'am?, I think.) So I crawl out...again. This is private property and we got a call. Can I ask the land owner for permission? They usually let me stay. Good idea, the lady cop s ays. The guy leaves to go ask the owner. So we chat. Didn't you hear me drive into the ditch, she chuckles. I didn't want the guy to know, but needed his help getting me out. He returns. They said OK, but you must be gone in the morning. No worries. They said I shouldn't be bothered again tonight. Thank goodness!
Two days later I crossed over to Dauphin Island. Now there's a sweet, quiet place I'd return to. Weather wasn't accommodating so after coffee and a muffin, I hopped the ferry to Fort Morgan and camped out there that night. What a storm! OMG! The rain I've been dealing with is unbelievable. After nearly 2 years of little rain, I'm making up for it. And my tent seems to want to leak even though I recently resealed the seams.
Then I cycled through Gulf Shores, all beach and no town...then on to Orange Beach, all town, but the sweetest bike path through the park. But now I needed to find a place to camp and this was hi rise city. I finally found an undeveloped development where just the roads had been put in. My kind of spot! This will work. I need to find a wind block because another storm is coming tonight and tomorrow. And I did. I might have to stay here through a couple of days with the storms coming. I was on my way to meet up with a hiking couple I met in New Zealand 4 years ago on the side of the road...Country Mouse and Shadow. I texted them. They offered to pick me up. I decided to stay through the night and see what the morning brought. Perhaps I can get up early and beat this storm to their RV park at Pensacola Beach. Rain! Lightning...blinding lightning! It hurt my eyes even with them closed! But my wind block worked and Spacey was steady eddie. I've never camped in a thunderstorm like that. Every time lightning struck and I knew it, I figured I'd lived through it. I feared ground lightning taking me out. Scary, that's for sure! Heavy rains like camping under an open faucet! But on sand it goes right on by.
Morning came and I pedaled my heart out. And made the 27 miles by 11 am ahead of the storm. Whew!!!
I took a delightful week off with Shadow and Country Mouse (aka Bj and Clara Romines) and got to experience RV living. Their rig was quite large and with the slide outs, larger yet. Didn't feel like I was in an RV at all, except when we had to convert the kitchen table to my bed and back. But hey, it was worth it to be indoors for a few days especially during some cold, wet, and windy weather. And boy could Mouse cook! I don't think their vegan, but she met my dietary requirements with vigor and flair! That was some good eatin'!!! I've gotten quite bored with my diet on the road and find myself eating the same old, same old, just to get food into me. But my taste buds and appetite were re-awakened! I remembered how delicious and delectable food could be. I gained weight during that week...joyfully so!
I got some repairs done while I rested and fattened:) Shadow is quite adept at figuring things out and found a way to clean out a clogged generator on my beloved Muka stove that the manufacturer resolves by having you replace the generator. He kept persisting one step at a time deducing where the clog must be. I learned a lot just being the tool handler:) And we messed with my derailleur...again, but couldn't get it fully, steadily functioning. So I took it to a bike shop. I must say, 2 miles down the road it was skipping and slipping again. Not your fault, Shadow! Just hasn't worked right since Denver. A Rohlof is coming, but I just can't bite the bullet yet. At least I have a 3 speed. When it's working well in a middle gear in the back, I just shift through my front gears as needed. It's Florida...it's flat here!
