This morning, I boiled water in the microwave and made instant coffee that I had brought along. No coffee at the motel. No room cleaning the first day, either, for a 2-day stay. I could tell, because my bed was not made, and the two dead roaches were still in the bathroom. No matter, I forgive a lot for a $40 room. I also had a breakfast sandwich and a bowl of Grits (that’s what they call Polenta here) that I had bought the previous evening at the grocery store.
My grand plan was to cut miles off my route today by following highway 26 instead of the winding ACA route. I left at 9.
Highway 26 was a good road with adequate shoulder in Louisiana. Here I am, about to cross the Pearl River into Mississippi.Welcome to Mississippi, where we put the rumble strip right in the shoulder, to force bicycles out into traffic.
I decided that I couldn’t take 42 miles of annoying the cars that were waiting to pass me. So I jumped onto the ACA route at the next junction.
Okay, I yield: back to the ACA route. It had no rumble strip, but basically no shoulder, either. At least traffic was light. The route was longer, and had a lot of small hills.And in some spots, the road is worse.
After about 28 miles, I came upon the only town for the day, except for the endpoints: Poplarville, MS. I texted a brief post from there, not knowing whether I would have internet at camp.
I stopped at the first gas station I saw, on the outskirts of Poplarville. That special looks good.Definitely lots of calories. And cake for desert was included. The Gomen Wat was my favorite, which they called Greens, locally.Marcel was sitting at an adjacent table. He was also an avid cyclist, riding 25 miles to a nearby town and back on occasion. However, he was recovering from an accident. A pit bull came out at him when he was riding. He escaped from it, but another dog came at him from the other side and fouled his front wheel, sending him flying. Broke his femur. He’s recovering now, just riding the 2.5 miles from his home and back.Everybody seemed to know everybody in this town. Aaron on the left lives over by Bogalusa. He sells household items door-to-door. He said that he usually tells the store to pack up the cake from the lunch, so he can finish it later. I completely understood. Lester on the right just got red beans and rice, which is maybe what I should have done. I couldn’t finish my lunch. Maybe the heat took my appetite. Lester is fixing a light post that rotted in the ground. That’s no surprise, as the ground seems so flooded or at least wet in this area.I see the advantage now in having a cage for one’s trash cans. I don’t know if these were tipped by wind, water, or animals. I think we can rule out water, because the trash has not been carried far.
The ACA map had an error, with the narrative calling out 2 miles instead of 7 miles to a turn at Ten Mile Road. Very confusing. Good thing I had my phone with me, otherwise I would have had to knock on doors and ask people where the junction was. I’ll have to send a correction to Adventure Cycling.
There were no motels in the area, but there was camping at the Mill Creek RV Park. It’s a beautiful park, right by the river, and very green.When I got to the office, there was no one there. I called the posted numbers, but there was no answer. So I scouted around the park and met Eddie, who does maintenance, and was in charge while the manager was gone. He said I could pitch my tent on the grass, and showed me the room where the laundry / bathrooms / showers / soda machine was. I’ve already had 2 cold sodas so far. Here’s Eddie with his fiancée, Rachelle.Eddie told me that there was a gas station with all kinds of food up the highway. I’d become expert at spotting gas stations from a distance. Even from a mile away, I could tell that this was an Exxon.Yes, it was Exxon. Dinner!My whole dinner cost $2.76 with tax. The pizza was half price, and the 32 oz Powerade rang up as 99 cents. I told the cashier that the sign said $1.99, but she said that some of them rang up as 99 cents, and that’s the way the computer was. Maybe it was a sale. I also had the sausage from lunch which I packed up.There were a few mosquitoes outside at the picnic tables, and it was still kind of hot and humid in my tent, so I set up my computer in the laundry room. This room wasn’t air conditioned, but I borrowed the fan from the bathroom for cooling. The park has wi-fi, so I’ll be posting, soon.
The temperature outside is now more tolerable. I’ll brush my teeth then head off to bed.
Tomorrow, due to lack of motels, I’ll likely be camping again. Vancleave is a possible destination.
