Tuesday, April 26
New Orleans, LA to Waveland, MS
57 miles

It was hard to get up this morning after staying out late listening to New Orleans Jazz last night. I love it! I’d love to hear more music in NOLA, but I’m also feeling ready to get back on the road.

When I first checked the weather this morning, there was the possibility of hail and lightning and 60 mph winds where I was heading. I put in a load of laundry to see if it would go away. And it did. The weather advisory ended, so I left at 9am. I stopped at a Walgreens on the way out of town to load up on water, and asked the locals in line what they had heard about the weather, though, just in case.

“It’s only 30 percent. We need it, so we won’t get it.” That reasoning worked in Texas, too.

I had thought the area I was riding through would be pretty desolate, but it wasn’t. First I passed through a Vietnamese community, which reminded me of San Diego.

I had been thinking the same thing about banh mi and po’ boy sandwiches!

Then there was a steady stream of homes up on stilts. Most were very new, and on about ten to fifteen foot poles.

Like this igloo-shaped one.

I could still see some of the old poles, where I assume the pre-Katrina homes had been. Those seem to have generally been around four feet off the ground.

See the old posts in the foreground.

Here is the biggest hill I went over today. I wanted to have lunch at a small State Park with interesting looking battlements at the foot of this bridge, but it was still closed for repair.

So far, my impression of Mississippians, from a small sample of about four people in two different convenient stores, is that they are not nearly as friendly or helpful as Texans, in particular.

But more helpful than Google Maps, which sent me down a more gravel than paved road for three miles towards the end of my route today, which wouldn’t have been too bad, except I was bouncing down the road as fast as I could, because I was being chased by biting horseflies. Horseflies are either faster or more tenacious than regular flies, which you can usually lose at around ten miles an hour. These horseflies were holding on up to around 13mph. And did I mention they were biting? As soon as I got back on pavement, they disappeared. How do I report this issue to Google?

Then my directions also sent me to a locked gate at the back of Buccaneer State Park, so I had to circle back around to find the front entrance to finish my day. I paid for my site and went directly to the shower. If only I could figure out how to work in five showers a day along the way on these hot, humid days!

I have had so much great visiting with such wonderful friends and family lately, but I am more than happy to be alone in my tent tonight. No matter how much I miss everyone, not having to talk to anyone is rejuvenating for me. After a few days of this, I’ll be ready to spend time with people again!

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