I woke up late, about 9 or so. My plan was to go by the bike shop and look around and top my tires off. It took over an hour to find out that there is no longer a bike shop in Slidell. Also, I had a hell of a time finding my way out of the city center. Every time I went down a road it was a dead end. I really didn't get going towards Keesler until noon or so.
When I finally did get on the real road, man, the miles sure added up slowly. Some days I look down at my computer and cant believe it says, say, 30 miles--they came super fast. Today it was, really? It has only been 15 miles? It kind of went like this all day. Just a very slow day.
All the small things:
Starting in the swamp and ending on the coast. (It is the Atlantic pretty much right? I can say I made it now right?)
I found yet another toilet. Commode count now 8
The smell of salt air.
A dog, not chasing me, but after birds in the ocean. He must have chased the birds for 5 miles--His happiness at chasing said birds was greater than most people will ever be. Or so it seemed.
Boats. (Sadly, this made for another annoying thing for me. Every time I saw a boat I thought "Boats and Hoes" like the song from Step Brothers. Also, I now am trying to beat box--which I have no ability to do and sing like a monk about exactly what I am doing. For example, "ahhhhhhIIII ammmmm goooooiiinnnng arrrrounnnd a coooooorner." )
A man sleeping on a bench was scared shitless when I passed by him on my hog. He jumped up as I passed. I felt bad and almost went back to apologize, but was laughing too hard to sound sincere.
Thumbs up from at least 3 people.
I kind of "bonked" as my friend Tiffany calls it, at about mile 60. Just ran out of energy. I didn't eat breakfast or lunch because I thought I had a super short 45 or 50 mile day ahead of me. Thing was, I put the wrong address in my GPS and actually had an 80 mile day. 20 miles extra is a lot on a bike. By the time I got to the base I was famished and just wanted to get my room and get some food. This did not go to plan.
Lodging on Keesler is a little screwy. The office of the "motel" is about 1/2 a mile from the rooms. At least the room I got. I went to the office and paid for the room and got my key and they then said, you cant have your bike in the room. Um, I am not leaving my bike outside. It is a $3000 bike. ( I embellished a little.) This caused a supervisor to be called. After I talked with this supervisor, her supervisor was called. This person ended up telling me that the rules are the rules. And then the speech of "its on you if you choose to bring the bike in the room but we wont be doing room checks to see if the bike is in the room or not". Did I bring the bike in the room? I plead the one, two, three, four, fifttthhh!
Ok, so I get my key and directions to the room and head out. I get the the room and try the key. Doesn't work. Seriously? There are two room numbers on the key holder. I go to the other room number. The key works great. Problem is, there is a guy in this room. EFFF! I ride back to the office (half mile each way folks--still haven't had food today and it is 7 PM)
They fixed the key problem and I go back to my room. I am expecting the regular bed and bathroom kind of room. When I open the door my jaw dropped. I have had apartments that were smaller than this place. It is huge. I called the office and confirmed that I was in the right place. Turns out it is a DV room--all for 40 bucks a night sucka.
I talked to a man who is in training here for QA and he told me there is a Marina on base. A marina? On the base? I am going to check it out tomorrow. I hope to get to ride on a boat. There is also a disk golf course on the base so I am going to try and do 18 holes as well. Yes, I am staying here tomorrow providing I can get the room for another night. Many of my students have told me this base was a crap hole, but from what I have seen of it, it is an amazing place. If I can squeeze it in, I want to go run on the beach as well. If I lived by a beach I think I would run on it everyday.
According to my GPS, there is a little over 400 miles left on my trip. I am eager to complete the adventure but also am going to miss it. So, I am probably going to drag my feet just a little for the last little bit. I still will likely be done by this weekend though. Then--back to the real world.
*The picture of the trees and water at the bottom is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I am editing this blog after 7 years of completion and still think of the site. The picture doesn't do it justice.
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