Day 40 - Orange Beach, AL to Gulfport, MS

I started off the morning by stuffing my face with some pancakes that Jerry had made. They exactly what I needed to start a long day. I had about 115 miles ahead of me so I was happy to pump my stomach full of carbs.

It was a beautiful morning! The weather was perfect for cycling. I had left Jerry's at about 7:45 and was making killer time. I was averaging somewhere around 20 miles per hour for the first hour or so.

The horizon ahead of me was absolutely beautiful!

I saw a lot of birds today. I'm sure my old friend Stefan would be jealous.



The scenery can change quite drastically in Alabama. One moment, I was on the beach, the next I was on a winding road through a forested area.



The bay was also quite beautiful. The water was very rough today. You can see storms off in the distance and the ocean swells were getting pretty aggressive.



Back along the ocean, I had to struggle to keep my bike on the road. It wasn't just the wind, but I found my sight wandering around and as a result, my tire wandering into the sand alongside the road.



Just before the ferry, there was Fort Morgan. This is an old military fort for some war or whatever. This picture isn't of the fort, but of some barracks that were built a little more recently.



I had to wait a good 45 minutes for the ferry to arrive so I helped myself to a pink lemonade slushy. It was yummy. Notice: the oil rigs in the distance. This place is littered with them.



A close up of the oil rig from the deck of the ferry.



The ferry took a good 45 minutes to cross to Dauphin Island. I've come to enjoy ferry rides because, for whatever reason, other people on the ferry feel obligated to talk to me. Unfortunately, the person that decided to occupy my time on this ferry was a middle aged man who had a thing with spitting tobacco off the side of the boat. Yuck.



Welcome to Dauphin Island!



You can't really see here, but there was a raised portion of the bridge that, from where I was standing, looked like a completely vertical climb. All I could do was laugh at the thought of having to pedal my bike up it. Luckily, most things aren't as steep as they first appear.



There is a bird in this picture, can you find it?



The south loves to go "shrimpin'."



This must be where I'm supposed to stay for the night?



Just a long road that lead me west.



I immediately noticed the difference between Alabama and Mississippi: Mississippi doesn't quite care for the conditions of their roads.



But there are apparently still plenty of old people.



I mean, look at these road conditions! They were awful.



The sky didn't seem too pleased that I was there.



I didn't really feel like I was in Mississippi until I rolled onto the main drag of stores and restaurants. Standing on the side of the road were two young men, both wearing white button down shirts tucked into slacks. They were holding signs that read "Love Jesus" and had rifles slung around their backs. Yep, I was in Mississippi alright.

The wind on this bridge was outrageous. Have you ever had to pedal going downhill to keep from stopping? I just had my first experience with such an occasion.



The view, however, was quite nice.



I found myself in the gambling center of Mississippi. It's too bad I'm so broke, this could have been fun!



But I still enjoyed the extravagant casino/hotels along the way.



This one was huge!


The oaks that were killed by the hurricane were carved into beautiful sculptures.



I found a lone palm on the beach and decided it was a perfect photo-op. The water was pretty rough.



But the beach was still beautiful.



While I was standing around the beach taking pictures, two people rolled up to the sidewalk. I chatted with them for a while - they though I might have been a friend of theirs that was doing something similar. They were extremely nice and told me that if I ever needed help with anything, to give them a call. They were exactly the type of people I hope to meet throughout the trip. They also offered to take a picture of me with the lonely palm.



I had crushed some serious miles today. I set a new record for myself: 100 miles in 5 hours and 52 minutes of saddle time. That's a new record for me both loaded and unloaded.



RAWRR!



There were many bare foundations along the coast - the aftermath of Katrina.



The wide sidewalk was nice, it gave me ample room to goof off on. Unfortunately, it sometimes disappeared and I would end up toppling over in the sand.



This was some one's house...someone famous...someone with the last name Davis. I can't remember.


Or maybe this was the house.



This was just a nice survivor of the storm.



And so was this one.



After lollygagging for a while, I finally made my way to Bernie and Barb's house. The were excited to greet me and offered me a beer right away. Bernie served me some local craft beer that was absolutely delicious. During our conversations, I found out that you can't buy Yuengling west of Alabama. Crazy! I'm so used to having it everywhere.



They fed me and kept me entertained with stories of their travels and the stories of others that they have met. They were and absolutely wonderful and fun couple, I really enjoyed my stay with them.

They had me try something very southern - peaches with mayo and cheese. I've got to say, it was pretty good!

I called it a night relatively early. I was exhausted from the hard ride today.

Off to NOLA tomorrow!

Total mileage: 110