Day 45: A New State of Mind

Franklinton, LA to Poplarville, MS

50.8 miles and 1,529 feet of climb

The Franklinton police couldn't have been more accommodating to us yesterday when they let us stay behind the police station. Karen was disappointed there wasn't an empty cell for her to sleep in.

Today we left Louisiana and crossed the Pearl River into Mississippi. Unlike yesterday, which was generally hilly, today's route had hills on the beginning of the ride and the end of the ride with a generally flat middle. The first 20 miles went by fast. The road had a wide shoulder with little debris, which is always a blessing. Debris makes riding more stressful and causes flat tires.

James and I stopped at the brewing Beans Coffee Shop in Boglusa, LA. Karen and Sharon (pictured) were already there and soon the very small place was packed with most of the people in our group. I had hot chocolate and while it was superior to most cups of hot chocolate I've had on this trip, the hot chocolate in Round Top, Texas is still the best.

The road leaving Boglusa was a little rougher than the road in, had no shoulder, and traffic had increased. Three miles out of Boglusa, we crossed the Pearl River into Mississippi.

We turned off onto a lesser traveled road which was fine until we turned again onto a local road that rivaled the "asphalt islands" we encountered in Imperial Valley, California. Fortunately, this was only for a few miles.

The landscape began to change again. There were still areas of forest with random hectares of clear cutting. This gave way to green, rolling pastures. After riding rough and bumpy roads through the middle of Poplarville, we arrived at an RV park for tonight, and had pizza instead of making dinner. We needed a break.

Here are some pictures of the campground. The top row is the campground office and the hot mess of charging cords but at least there was electricity. The bottom row is the shower accommodations. While there were several showers, there was one 40 watt bulb for each shower area. Note the plywood in the bottom of the shower. It was a bit squishy!

The person who was telling us about the RV park amenities told us that the pool was adults only after 8pm and he didn't care if we went swimming naked. I don't believe there were any takers and I am not sure I wanted to swim in that pool.

The ride is fast coming to an end. The mountains seemed endless across three states. Then there were the deserts, the starkness of the terrain, the scrub, the elemental forces like the wind. Then there was the Texas juggernaut. It seemed endless. It morphed from dry West Texas, to the lush hill country, Austin (certainly a highlight), and finally East Texas as it morphed into green and swampy Louisiana. We've now left Louisiana and are going to scream through Mississippi and Alabama. (With a side trip to New Orleans on our rest day tomorrow.) That only leaves the panhandle of Florida and has me reflecting more and more on this coast to coast journey that we have been on.

"When you go on a journey alone, you learn something from the road; if you go on the same journey with a wise person you learn a lot about the road, and even the road learns something because wisdom, like the sun, sends its light not to a specific place but everywhere!” Mehmet Murat ildan - shared by my nephew Tony Bock.

Thinking about this quote and the bike ride, there is the beauty of the ride itself, though when you ride day after day it's easy to get a kind of tunnel vision and worry about the miles, not your surroundings. When you ride with a group, the dynamics change again and you are torn between the competing goals of the group.

It will take some time to reflect and process what this all adds up to. When I was in New Mexico climbing mountains, I kept thinking I would find Georgia O'Keef's New Mexico, but what inspired her was farther north, around Santa Fe and Taos. We bumped the border with Mexico in a much different environment. Not better or worse, just different. Don't know what's ahead, but I'm charging right into it.