Riding day 12: Wiggins, MS, 44 miles

We didn't want to leave the golf coast without having some good seafood. So last night we went to a recommended restaurant and I had crabcakes and oysters with our salad. It was so good we would have gone again if we were still in town. Sharon is modeling the hat that was thrown from one of the Mardi Gras floats yesterday.

Biloxi got hit very bad in the Katrina hurricane 10 years ago. The motel where we stayed had 25 feet of water. We asked where to walk to see the downtown and we were told that there isn't much downtown because of the storm. Many of the buildings that look older are reproductions because they were destroyed.

We had quite a stash of Mardi Gras beads we gave them away to some guests in the hotel who said they will cycle them by throwing them from a parade float next year.

We kept a few for our bicycle decorations.

Now to tell you about today--we left at 7 AM in 30 degree weather. Temperature was not the problem it was the wind. We stopped after seven hours of battling the wind.  The computer shows a weather warning for High winds here. It has 14ph winds now mostly headwinds all day. One wind gust stopped both of us. Our speeds were pretty slow!  But we are safe and in a nice Hampton Hotel.

At 4 pm it is now 54° with 16 mph winds.

Rest day in Biloxi--happy Mardi Gras!

We did not do much today except went to a great Mardi Gras parade. tomorrow we head north to Poplarville to reconnect with our Southern tier bike route.

It was a cold 34° with wind we bundled well waiting for the parade.

The main event of the parade is the Mardi Gras beads throwing & catching. Ron and I got hundreds of necklaces!

It was fun.

Day 11: Biloxi Mississippi; 45 miles

We started our day going for a southern breakfast. Sharon had grits along with a biscuit and Ron had biscuits and gravy. The biscuits are delicious--we don't want to know how many saturated fat's are in that recipe!  We chatted with a table full of men--they were very entertaining.  

We started riding when it was daylight enough and reached our new state of Mississippi.

We have been in communication with some friends from Salem (Pam and Gary Ray) Who are full-time RVing. They were in the area driving east as we were riding West.  We had lunch together and a short but nice visit.

We then continued riding about 10 miles into Biloxi Mississippi.  They are celebrating Mardi Gras in this area with the big parade tomorrow. We have decided not to go into New Orleans. Several people told us it would not be smart on bicycles during Mardi Gras. So we are going to take a rest day tomorrow and stay and watch the parade here.

Day 10: Bayou La Batre 56 miles

This was another great day for bike riding. Since we went to bed at 8:30 we got up at 6 o'clock & actually left before it was quite daylight. By the time we were finished with breakfast at the waffle house we took off. We were trying to get ahead of the wind and peddled fast and hard.  We Made very good time for about 7 miles until we saw the dead end sign. Ended up going about 14 miles out of our way.

 But the wind was at our backs the rest of the day. During the ferry ride we had a beautiful view of the bay with the oil/natural gas wells. We were told the water is only about 10 feet deep except for the boat channels that they dredge every day.

We had to wait about 45 minutes for the ferry and the ferry ride was 30 minutes. So we were hungry when we landed. We found a great bakery and had a hoagie and a pastry that Ron said was one of the best he has ever had!

The ride after the ferry was nice and included a bridge that was 4 miles long. 

It is Mardi Gras season & there are bead necklaces all along the road. For the last 10 miles we decided to stop and pick those up--our bikes are now decorated for the event!

Tomorrow we will head to Biloxi Mississippi. Friends of ours from Salem who now full-time RV are there now and we hope to meet up with them. We still plan to go to New Orleans but we will be there after Mardi Gras.

Day 9: Gulf Shores Alabama 33 miles

This was a short day in miles but a long day in effort. We rode along the gulf most of the day with very strong headwind. We were often going only 5 to 7 mph (compared to our usual of 12 mph or so). 

The gulf has white sand beaches. Many places the beaches cannot be seen because of the huge condominiums. We met a young Canadian woman cycling solo to New Orleans from Jacksonville. She rode with us for several miles it gets lonely when you're riding solo.

We are now in Alabama. We have now ridden over 500 miles and still have had only one flat tire. Praise the Lord!

We are staying at the best Western in Gulf Shores. What a view!

Tomorrow include a ferry ride and our goal is Bayou La Batre. We hope the wind has died down.

Day 8: Pensacola Florida 57 miles

The temperature was cold this morning 28° when we started. Had breakfast at McDonald's and sat at a table with two local retired men and had a nice chat. 11 AM it was 44° so we were shedding clothes gradually all day.

We rode on the brick road for a while but it was quite bumpy.

We reached Pensacola about noon. But it took us over an hour to find a motel. It is quite a confusing downtown. Staying at a Marriott so it is nice; there were not many choices since they have a Mardi Gras parade tonight in town.

24 miles from the Florida border. Will stay in Gulf Shores Alabama tomorrow.

Day 7: Crestview Florida 68 miles

The weather continues to be good so we keep on pedaling.  There was no risk of taking a wrong turn today since we stayed on highway 90. Is mostly a 2 Lane Hwy with a good shoulder.

We enjoyed looking at signs. Some of the names are very interesting.

we had our second breakfast at a convenience store.  we bought coffee and eight from our "stash".

We had pizza and salad for lunch and then later stopped at a roadside stand for a treat. They advertised fresh pie. The two choices they had were sweet potato pie and Kool-Aid pie. You could only buy the whole pies so We had to pass. We did have a cup of their homemade chocolate ice cream.

Last night we rode over 2 miles out of our way to get a motel by the I-10. That adds up to over 4 miles off route. tonight we are staying in a cheap motel on route.

It is predicted to be 26° here tomorrow morning!! It does warm up fast (high of 56). Our route takes us to Pensacola Florida tomorrow. That will probably be our last day in Florida.