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Summer Road Trip 2014_DayTwo

"Hawgs are runnin' hot today aren't they?"  
Yea buddy...they sure are!

Thats not something I would say, but the Canucks we met at the Mississippi welcome center were just as sweltering as we were on the bikes. They had come down from Ottawa to ride the south, and I'm thinkin' if you don't want to swelter, you should probably pick a more northern route to ride in the summer. Down here, we wear the weather.

We left Panama City with the expectatin of severe weather across our route; thankfully the weather forecasts were all wrong. Only experienced a slight spitting of moisture as we headed west toward Destin and Ft. Walton Beach.  Our plan was to stay on Old 98, a great secondary road...but the beach traffic proved too tedious. Stopped at Destin Beach to show Paul one of the WORLD'S Most Beautiful beaches. Emerald waters, white sugar sand beach....gorgous! Its a little awkward to stand on the beach in jeans, boots, and Under Armor heat gear as well.  We decided to jump on I-10 to skirt Pensacola and Mobile before dropping back down to 90WEST; I-10 has to be one of the dullest interstate rides in the south....with the exception of the bridge across the Mighty Mississippi River.

Just when we thought we were making good time....wham....traffic comes to a complete standstill on the section across Mobile Bay. It was akin to I-4 at rush hour....a slow moving parking lot. It was about this time that somewhen flipped the switch on the sun from a nice, comfy 'Bake,' to a brain blistering "Broil!'  We are suspended above Mobile Bay astride giant beasts pumping out thigh burning heat....and no one is going anywhere. Creeping along at 2mph, holding the clutch in, balancing the bike, and sweat dripping down my back....ya gotta love it.  We felt a small victory when we crossed the Alabama state line, since we had been traveling a day and a half and were still in FLorida!

Not a lot of sightseeing today; when the trip was planned, I knew where - approximately - we had to be in order to meet my daughter and niece on Saturday. We spent so much time wrestling the bikes in traffic that we needed to just roll to Lake Charles, Lousiania by Sunday night. 

Stopped in Gautier Mississippi for lunch; I whipped into a crowded parking lot of a little place called the Country Gentleman. I'm thinking....Mississippi, name like 'Country Gentleman,' theres gonna be shrimp n grits, or fried chicken with mac n cheese, little side of collard greens....nay, nay. The menu was ALL Greek food!!  Gautier is French, coastal Mississippi is about at Southern as you can get, and these people are serving gyros, tzazicki, and pita bread! Seriously?  It was a restaurant with an identity crisis; a rooster-castiron-skillet theme with the occassional fishing net seashell....serving Greek food. Our lunch was tasty though...not the shrimp n grits I had hoped for (because I truly do love Southern food) but way better than the Wendy's across the street (I truly dislike fast food).

Highlight of the day was crossing the Mightly Mississippi River; unfortunately, on I-10 its impossible to stop and take in the majesty of that sight. I've rode up the middle is Mississippi before (the Blues and BBQ tour), and parts of the Natchez Trace...gorgeous. The state is rich in music history with Clarksdale Ms being Ground Zero for the origin of the blues.....can miss the intersection where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil for guitar greatness!

I'm guessing the state of Lousiania borrowed the road construction manual from Pennsylvania! Second worse road I've been on!!  I had wrestled Bessie2 all day in heat and traffic, now I was slamming along on beat up, uneven, stipped and wavy pavement....my alread damaged shoulder was screaming, my legs were vibrating as badly as the bike, and my ass was numb. Five hundred miles is when a rider hits the wall....that wall that says, 'hey dumbass, its time to quit!'  Finally saw the sign for Lake Charles, another 53 miles and it felt like a small victory in this day of interstate travel. 

Thank you GOd for safe travel today and no thunderstorms!

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